title: Spatial and Temporal Control of Evolution through Replication-Transcription Conflicts.
abstract: Evolution could potentially be accelerated if an organism could selectively increase the mutation rate of specific genes that are actively under positive selection. Recently, a mechanism that cells can use to target rapid evolution to specific genes was discovered. This mechanism is driven by gene orientation-dependent encounters between DNA replication and transcription machineries. These encounters increase mutagenesis in lagging-strand genes, where replication-transcription conflicts are severe. Due to the orientation and transcription-dependent nature of this process, conflict-driven mutagenesis can be used by cells to spatially (gene-specifically) and temporally (only upon transcription induction) regulate the rate of gene evolution. Here, I summarize recent findings on this topic, and discuss the implications of increasing mutagenesis rates and accelerating evolution through active mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Health Sciences Building - J-wing, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. Electronic address: merrikh@uw.edu.
authors.forename: Houra
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Merrikh
mesh_terms: D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004261:DNA Replication; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D016296:Mutagenesis; D062211:Spatio-Temporal Analysis; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins
keywords: Evolution; Evolution of evolvability; Genome organization; Lagging-strand genes; Mutagenesis; Replication–transcription conflicts; TC-NER