Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 19 December 2003:
Vol. 302. no. 5653, pp. 2107 - 2109
DOI: 10.1126/science.1088848
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Adaptation Limits Diversification of Experimental Bacterial Populations

Angus Buckling,1* Matthew A. Wills,1 Nick Colegrave2

Adaptation to a specific niche theoretically constrains a population's ability to subsequently diversify into other niches. We tested this theory using the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens, which diversifies into niche specialists when propagated in laboratory microcosms. Numerically dominant genotypes were allowed to diversify in isolation. As predicted, populations increased in fitness through time but showed a greatly decreased ability to diversify. Subsequent experiments demonstrated that niche generalists and reductions in intrinsic evolvability were not responsible for our data. These results show that niche specialization may come with a cost of reduced potential to diversify.

1 Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.
2 Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, King's Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: bssagjb{at}bath.ac.uk

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Adaptation increases the likelihood of diversification in an experimental bacterial lineage.
C. C. Spencer, J. Tyerman, M. Bertrand, and M. Doebeli (2008)
PNAS 105, 1585-1589
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Complex Genetic Changes in Strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Derived by Selection in the Laboratory.
J. T. Witten, C. T. L. Chen, and B. A. Cohen (2007)
Genetics 177, 449-456
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Metabolic Characterization of Escherichia coli Strains Adapted to Growth on Lactate.
Q. Hua, A. R. Joyce, B. O. Palsson, and S. S. Fong (2007)
Appl. Envir. Microbiol. 73, 4639-4647
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
How does resource supply affect evolutionary diversification?.
A. R Hall and N. Colegrave (2007)
Proc R Soc B 274, 73-78
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Quantifying antagonistic epistasis in a multifunctional RNA secondary structure of the Rous sarcoma virus.
R. Sanjuan (2006)
J. Gen. Virol. 87, 1595-1602
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Experimental Adaptation of Salmonella typhimurium to Mice.
A. I. Nilsson, E. Kugelberg, O. G. Berg, and D. I. Andersson (2004)
Genetics 168, 1119-1130
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)