What is it about?
Bacteria quickly adapt to changing environments due to their short generation times. The wild type strain of P. pseudoalcaligenes CECT 5344 is unable to assimilate furfural, although it harbors the genes required to metabolize this compound. Selective pressure with furfural as the sole carbon source allow the appearance of a mutant able to assimilate it. The comparison of the genome of the evolved strain in comparison to the wild type reveals that a single point mutation in a regulatory gene seems to be enough for this gain of function.
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Why is it important?
Next generation sequencing (NGS) allows determining the genetic changes behind evolution. These studies will be important to understand some mechanism driving evolution.
Perspectives
The study of adaptive laboratory evolution will allow the development of genetic engineering in the context of applied biotechnology.
Dr. Rafael Blasco
Universidad de Extremadura
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A Case of Adaptive Laboratory Evolution (ALE): Biodegradation of Furfural by Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes CECT 5344, Genes, June 2019, MDPI AG,
DOI: 10.3390/genes10070499.
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