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Evolthon: A community endeavor to evolve lab evolution.

ABSTRACT: In experimental evolution, scientists evolve organisms in the lab, typically by challenging them to new environmental conditions. How best to evolve a desired trait? Should the challenge be applied abruptly, gradually, periodically, sporadically? Should one apply chemical mutagenesis, and do strains with high innate mutation rate evolve faster? What are ideal population sizes of evolving populations? There are endless strategies, beyond those that can be exposed by individual labs. We therefore arranged a community challenge, Evolthon, in which students and scientists from different labs were asked to evolve Escherichia coli or Saccharomyces cerevisiae for an abiotic stress-low temperature. About 30 participants from around the world explored diverse environmental and genetic regimes of evolution. After a period of evolution in each lab, all strains of each species were competed with one another. In yeast, the most successful strategies were those that used mating, underscoring the importance of sex in evolution. In bacteria, the fittest strain used a strategy based on exploration of different mutation rates. Different strategies displayed variable levels of performance and stability across additional challenges and conditions. This study therefore uncovers principles of effective experimental evolutionary regimens and might prove useful also for biotechnological developments of new strains and for understanding natural strategies in evolutionary arms races between species. Evolthon constitutes a model for community-based scientific exploration that encourages creativity and cooperation.

SUBMITTER: Kaminski Strauss S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6440615 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Evolthon: A community endeavor to evolve lab evolution.

Kaminski Strauss Sivan S Schirman Dvir D Jona Ghil G Brooks Aaron N AN Kunjapur Aditya M AM Nguyen Ba Alex N AN Flint Alice A Solt Andras A Mershin Andreas A Dixit Atray A Yona Avihu H AH Csörgő Bálint B Busby Bede Phillip BP Hennig Bianca P BP Pál Csaba C Schraivogel Daniel D Schultz Daniel D Wernick David G DG Agashe Deepa D Levi Dikla D Zabezhinsky Dmitry D Russ Dor D Sass Ehud E Tamar Einat E Herz Elad E Levy Emmanuel D ED Church George M GM Yelin Idan I Nachman Iftach I Gerst Jeffrey E JE Georgeson Joseph M JM Adamala Katarzyna P KP Steinmetz Lars M LM Rübsam Marc M Ralser Markus M Klutstein Michael M Desai Michael M MM Walunjkar Nilima N Yin Ning N Aharon Hefetz Noa N Jakimo Noah N Snitser Olga O Adini Omri O Kumar Prashant P Soo Hoo Smith Rachel R Zeidan Razi R Hazan Ronen R Rak Roni R Kishony Roy R Johnson Shannon S Nouriel Shira S Vonesch Sibylle C SC Foster Simmie S Dagan Tal T Wein Tanita T Karydis Thrasyvoulos T Wannier Timothy M TM Stiles Timothy T Olin-Sandoval Viridiana V Mueller William F WF Bar-On Yinon M YM Dahan Orna O Pilpel Yitzhak Y

PLoS biology 20190329 3

In experimental evolution, scientists evolve organisms in the lab, typically by challenging them to new environmental conditions. How best to evolve a desired trait? Should the challenge be applied abruptly, gradually, periodically, sporadically? Should one apply chemical mutagenesis, and do strains with high innate mutation rate evolve faster? What are ideal population sizes of evolving populations? There are endless strategies, beyond those that can be exposed by individual labs. We therefore ...[more]

PMID: 30925180

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Project description:As cornerstones of biomedical engineering and bioengineering undergraduate programs, hands-on laboratory experiences promote key skill development and student engagement. Lab courses often involve team-based activities and close communication with instructors, allowing students to build connection and community. Necessitated by the pandemic, changes to class delivery format presented unprecedented challenges to student inclusion and engagement, especially for students from underrepresented minority backgrounds. Here, we present a multi-faceted approach for fostering inclusion and community-building in a hybrid bioengineering laboratory course. A basis for this project was an approach for team-based project work which allowed students to have hands-on experience in the lab and collaborate extensively with peers, while abiding by social distancing guidelines. Members of each student team worked together remotely and synchronously on a project. One team member executed the hands-on portion of each lab activity and the remote student(s) engaged in the project via online communication. The hybrid lab course was supplemented with interventions to further promote inclusivity and community, including instructor modeling on inclusion, team-based course content, attention to lab session logistics, and instructor communication. Students responded positively, as indicated by the median ratings in course evaluations for the four lab sections in the following categories concerning course climate (using a 5.0 scale): their overall comfort with the climate of the course (4.8 to 5.0), feeling valued and respected by lab instructor (4.8 to 5.0) and their peers (4.8 to 5.0), peers helping each other succeed in the course (4.5 to 5.0), and the degree to which the experience in the course contributed to their sense of belonging in engineering (4.2 to 5.0). When asked to describe aspects of the class that contributed to inclusivity towards differences, students cited a collaborative environment, course content on implicit bias and inclusivity, and an approachable teaching team. Overall, our approach was effective in fostering a sense of community and inclusion. We anticipate many of these initiatives can transcend instructional format to positively impact future lab course offerings, irrespective of modality.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43683-022-00081-4.

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Evolthon: A community endeavor to evolve lab evolution.

Publications

Evolthon: A community endeavor to evolve lab evolution.

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