Paul B. Rainey

Jul 13, 2024 | biorxiv.org | Andrew Farr |Peter Lind |Paul B. Rainey |Christina Vasileiou

AbstractMutation rate varies within and between genomes. Within genomes, tracts of nucleotides, including short sequence repeats and palindromes, can cause localised elevation of mutation rate. Additional mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here we report an instance of extreme mutational bias in Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25 associated with a single base-pair change in nlpD. These mutants frequently evolve in static microcosms, and have a cell-chaining (CC) phenotype.

Jun 24, 2024 | biorxiv.org | Michael Barnett |Lena Zeller |Paul B. Rainey

AbstractCapacity to generate adaptive variation can evolve by natural selection. However, the idea that mutation becomes biased toward specific adaptive outcomes is controversial. We report the de novo evolution of enhanced evolvability in experimental populations of bacteria. Key to realisation was a lineage-level birth-death dynamic, where lineage success depended upon capacity to mutate between two phenotypic states, each optima in a cycling environment.

May 14, 2024 | biorxiv.org | Guilhem Doulcier |Philippe Remigi |Paul B. Rainey |Daniel Rexin

AbstractThe evolution of multicellular organisms involves the emergence of cellular collectives that eventually become units of selection in their own right. The process can be facilitated by ecological conditions that impose heritable variance in fitness on nascent collectives with long-term persistence depending on capacity of competing lineages to transition reliably between soma- and germ-like stages of proto-life cycles.

May 7, 2024 | biorxiv.org | Michael Barnett |Lena Zeller |Paul B. Rainey

AbstractIt has been proposed that capacity to generate variation can evolve by natural selection such that mutation becomes biased toward adaptive outcomes. However this idea has remained largely theoretical. Here we detail the de novo evolution of evolvability in experimental populations of bacteria, making explicit the selective processes and molecular events.

May 3, 2024 | biorxiv.org | Michael Barnett |Paul B. Rainey |Lena Zeller

AbstractIt has been proposed that capacity to generate variation can evolve by natural selection such that mutation becomes biased toward adaptive outcomes. However the idea that selection might drive the evolution of evolvability has remained largely theoretical. Here we detail the de novo evolution of evolvability in experimental populations of bacteria, making explicit the selective processes and molecular events.