Slightly beneficial genes are retained by bacteria evolving DNA uptake despite selfish elements.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: van Dijk B
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7316506 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Slightly beneficial genes are retained by bacteria evolving DNA uptake despite selfish elements.
van Dijk Bram B Hogeweg Paulien P Doekes Hilje M HM Takeuchi Nobuto N
eLife 20200521
Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) and gene loss result in rapid changes in the gene content of bacteria. While HGT aids bacteria to adapt to new environments, it also carries risks such as selfish genetic elements (SGEs). Here, we use modelling to study how HGT of slightly beneficial genes impacts growth rates of bacterial populations, and if bacterial collectives can evolve to take up DNA despite selfish elements. We find four classes of slightly beneficial genes: indispensable, enrichable, rescua ...[more]
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