Pathogen evolvability

Research question

Does host species diversity select for high evolution potential?

Description

Populations can adapt when variation produces a better fit of an organism to its environment. One important outcome of evolution is that populations sometimes evolve to produce more useful variation than others. It makes intuitive sense that this improved evolvability might be beneficial in the long run, but since evolvability does not directly increase an organism’s current fitness, it is less clear how it can emerge in the first place. This project explores whether and how host species diversity generates conditions that favor the evolution of increased evolvability. Combining computational simulations (a collaboration with Dr. Zaman from Michigan State University) with field surveys (collaboration with Prof. Shimon Harrus and Dr. Ricardo Gutiérrez), an in vivo evolution experiment, using the natural bacteria-rodent system, and genetic analysis (collaboration with Profs. Barrick from the University of Texas at Austin and Lenski from the University of Michigan), this project aims to identify specific aspects of pathogen ecology that promote or hinder the evolution of evolvability. Understanding what favors more evolvable pathogens may improve society’s ability to identify potential emerging diseases and inform management strategies aimed at reducing selection for pathogen evolvability in nature.

Relevant publications

Gutiérrez, R., D. Morick, C. Cohen, H. Hawlena. and S. Harrus.2014. The effect of ecological and temporal factors on the composition of Bartonella infection in rodents and their fleas. The ISME Journal  8:1598-1608. https://www.nature.com/articles/ismej201422

Gutiérrez , R., C. Cohen, R. Flatau, E. Marcos-Hadad, M. Garrido, S. Halle, Y. Nachum-Biala, S. Covo, H. Hawlena, and S. Harrus. 2018. Untangling the knots: co-infection and diversity of Bartonella from wild gerbils and their associated fleas. Molecular Ecology, 27:4787–4807. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328508740

Gutiérrez, R., B. Markus, K. Carstens Marques de Sousa, E. Marcos-Hadad, R.C. Mugasimangalam, Y. Nachum-Biala, H. Hawlena, S. Covo, and S. Harrus. 2018. Prophage-driven genomic structural changes promote Bartonella vertical evolution. Genome Biology and Evolution, 10:3089–3103. https://academic.oup.com/gbe/article/10/11/3089/5140195

Rodríguez-Pastor, R. N. Knossow, R. Gutiérrez, L. Zaman, J. E. Barrick, S. Harrus, R.E. Lenski, and H. Hawlena. A roadmap for in vivo evolution experiments in blood-borne parasitic microbes. In review.