[R35] Population and evolutionary dynamics of recombining genes and alleles in bacteria
Ente: National Institute of General Medical Sciences
Scadenza: 2031-06-30
Importo max: 415.788 EUR
Paese: US
Descrizione
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Recombination is nature’s ultimate shortcut to generating genetic variation on which evolution acts. It
reshuffles DNA molecules into various assortments and novelties, sometimes without regard to the
phylogenetic distance of the organisms from which the new DNA segments came from. The consequences of
genetic recombination to the organism are profound. It allows a bacterial cell to rapidly acquire novel traits and
features that would have otherwise taken millions of years through mutation alone. It can result to the
emergence of new genotypes or hybrids with unique phenotypes such as multidrug resistance, hyper-
virulence, vaccine escape variants, and adaptation to new hosts. At the population level, it influences levels of
standing genetic variation, niche expansion, and rapid adaptive changes in response to new or fluctuating
environmental conditions. However, gaps in current knowledge about bacterial recombination remains, in
particular about the different types of recombination systems within and between taxa. The goal of our
proposed research is to elucidate the causes, evolution, mechanisms, and consequences of genetic
recombination in bacterial species and populations. Building upon our research progress and published
work from our ESI MIRA, we address fundamental questions in the field of microbial evolution using
comparative population genomics, phylogenetics, experimental evolution, networks, simulations, and ancestral
reconstruction. We will investigate three research areas: (1) How does recombined homologous DNA
proliferate in bacterial populations? We will study two aspects of variation in how homologous DNA is
disseminated: micro-, macro- and grouped imports of recombined DNA, and ancestral recombination that is
vertically inherited by descendants versus recurrent recombination among contemporary strains; (2) How does
illegitimate recombination contribute to variation in populations? We will focus on short-patch double
illegitimate recombination (SPDIR), which involves genomic replacements occurring with very low sequence
similarity or microhomologies; (3) How did the different recombination systems (homologous, transposition,
illegitimate, site-specific) evolve in bacteria? Output from our research is fundamental to investigations across
biological contexts, including microbial taxonomy, population genetics, speciation, infectious disease ecology,
and host-pathogen interactions. Understanding the contributions of recombination to bacterial evolution has
broad, direct implications that are critical to society and public health, such as whether emerging diseases are
new species or variants of existing ones, what factors make antimicrobial resistant strains successful, and how
a pathogen will respond to selective pressures. The results of the studies proposed in this application are
expected to lead to many opportunities for fruitful, exciting cross-disciplinary research at the intersection of
evolutionary bi
Istituzione: STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT ALBANY
PI: Cheryl Marie P Andam
Progetto: 2R35GM142924-06
Settori: National Institute of General Medical Sciences
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