title: Reinterpreting Long-Term Evolution Experiments: Is Delayed Adaptation an Example of Historical Contingency or a Consequence of Intermittent Selection?
abstract: Van Hofwegen et al. demonstrated that Escherichia coli rapidly evolves the ability to use citrate when long selective periods are provided (D. J. Van Hofwegen, C. J. Hovde, and S. A. Minnich, J Bacteriol 198:1022-1034, 2016, http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/JB.00831-15). This contrasts with the extreme delay (15 years of daily transfers) seen in the long-term evolution experiments of Lenski and coworkers. Their idea of "historical contingency" may require reinterpretation. Rapid evolution seems to involve selection for duplications of the whole cit locus that are too unstable to contribute when selection is provided in short pulses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA jrroth@ucdavis.edu.
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Roth
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, USA.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maisnier-Patin
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D002951:Citrates / Q000378:metabolism*; D029382:Dicarboxylic Acid Transporters / Q000378:metabolism*; D048168:Escherichia coli K12 / Q000378:metabolism*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D027361:Organic Anion Transporters / Q000378:metabolism*; D012641:Selection, Genetic
chemical_list: D002951:Citrates; D029382:Dicarboxylic Acid Transporters; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D027361:Organic Anion Transporters