Hidden Randomness between Fitness Landscapes Limits Reverse Evolution

Longzhi Tan, Stephen Serene, Hui Xiao Chao, and Jeff Gore
Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 198102 – Published 11 May 2011
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Abstract

In biological evolution, adaptations to one environment can in some cases reverse adaptations to another environment. To study this “reverse evolution” on a genotypic level, we measured the fitness of E. coli strains with each possible combination of five mutations in an antibiotic-resistance gene in two distinct antibiotic environments. While adaptations to one environment generally lower fitness in the other, we find that reverse evolution is rarely possible and falls as the complexity of adaptations increases, suggesting a probabilistic, molecular form of Dollo’s law.

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  • Received 16 August 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.198102

© 2011 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Longzhi Tan*, Stephen Serene, Hui Xiao Chao, and Jeff Gore

  • Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

  • *Corresponding author. tantan@mit.edu
  • Corresponding author. sserene@mit.edu
  • Corresponding author. gore@mit.edu

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Issue

Vol. 106, Iss. 19 — 13 May 2011

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