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dc.contributor.authorMcLeman, Amy
dc.contributor.authorSierocinski, Pawel
dc.contributor.authorHesse, Elze
dc.contributor.authorBuckling, Angus
dc.contributor.authorPerron, Gabriel
dc.contributor.authorHülter, Nils
dc.contributor.authorJohnson, Pål Jarle
dc.contributor.authorVos, Michiel
dc.date.accessioned2016-11-21T14:59:50Z
dc.date.issued2016-11-21
dc.description.abstractThe adaptive benefits of natural transformation, the active uptake of free DNA molecules from the environment followed by incorporation of this DNA into the genome, may be the improved response to selection resulting from increased genetic variation. Drawing analogies with sexual reproduction, transformation may be particularly beneficial when selection rapidly fluctuates during coevolution with virulent parasites (‘the Red Queen Hypothesis’). Here we test this hypothesis by experimentally evolving the naturally transformable and recombinogenic species Acinetobacter baylyi with a cocktail of lytic phages. No increased levels of resistance to phage were found in the wild type compared to a recombination deficient ΔdprA strain after five days of evolution. When exposed to A. baylyi DNA and phage, naturally transformable cells show greater levels of phage resistance. However, increased resistance arose regardless of whether they were exposed to DNA from phage-sensitive or –resistant A. baylyi, suggesting resistance was not the result of transformation, but was related to other benefits of competence. Subsequent evolution in the absence of phages did not show that recombination could alleviate the cost of resistance. Within this study system we found no support for transformation-mediated recombination being an advantage to bacteria exposed to parasitic phages.en_GB
dc.description.sponsorshipThis work was supported by NERC grant NE/K000926/1 and the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Convergence Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly to the ECEHH (MV and AM) and by Norwegian Research Council grant 204263/F20 (PJJ and NH).en_GB
dc.identifier.citationVol 6, Article number: 37144 (2016) doi:10.1038/srep37144en_GB
dc.identifier.doi10.1038/srep37144
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10871/24522
dc.language.isoenen_GB
dc.publisherNature Publishing Groupen_GB
dc.rightsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ © The Author(s) 2016en_GB
dc.titleNo effect of natural transformation on the evolution of resistance to bacteriophages in the Acinetobacter baylyi model systemen_GB
dc.typeArticleen_GB
dc.date.available2016-11-21T14:59:50Z
dc.identifier.issn2045-2322
dc.descriptionThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.en_GB
dc.identifier.journalScientific Reportsen_GB


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