Tag: mutations

Challenges in determining gene copy number using bioinformatics approaches

September 25, 2023

On occasions, a gene may be duplicated in the genome, and there is copy number variation between different strains of the species, some with gene duplication, and some which do not. Bioinformatic analysis may offer an expedited path to determining gene copy number variation using a sequenced genome. However, practical application of the idea is … More Challenges in determining gene copy number using bioinformatics approaches

Fast growing bacterial species tend to be more suitable for long-term adaptive evolution experiments

November 16, 2022

Long-term adaptive evolution experiments seek to use growth fitness as natural selection lever to select for more efficient phenotypes. This process is iterative and typically require long time duration. All bacterial species can be subjected to long-term adaptive evolution experiment, but the time required to achieve a satisfactory result depend critically on the doubling time … More Fast growing bacterial species tend to be more suitable for long-term adaptive evolution experiments

Stability of evolved traits in microbial species depends on a variety of factors

March 8, 2021

Mutations in DNA is the bedrock on which natural selection acts on and from which evolution build on. Evolved traits are thus based on mutations in genes and pathways, but are evolved traits stable? Would they revert back to the original state of the gene? Answering this question requires knowledge on the different factors that … More Stability of evolved traits in microbial species depends on a variety of factors

PCR cloning could introduce mutations into inserts during molecular cloning

October 25, 2020

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is commonly used to amplify a gene of interest from genomic DNA during colony PCR. In this process, a DNA polymerase is used to synthesize the complementary strand of the template DNA, thereby, resulting in final PCR product that are double stranded and which contains the specific gene of interest. While … More PCR cloning could introduce mutations into inserts during molecular cloning

Mutagenic source is needed to drive evolution experiment

September 28, 2020

Evolution is a common tool for developing new microbial strains able to perform new functions or existing functions more efficiently. But, what is the source of information for which evolution and natural selection is able to act upon? The answer is mutations. Without mutations and the diversity it engenders, natural selection would not be able … More Mutagenic source is needed to drive evolution experiment

Evolution experiments arrive at different solutions to a common problem

October 19, 2019

Adaptive evolution experiments are commonly used for strain engineering such as development of new metabolic capabilities or enhanced functionalities in cell. One example is the development of enhanced ethanol tolerance in Escherichia coli in the context of high titer biofuel production. Through the acquisition of mutations in different genes and pathways, wildtype E. coli could … More Evolution experiments arrive at different solutions to a common problem

Biochemistry utilizes only a small set of chemical reactions available to chemists

August 28, 2019

Biochemistry is powered by organic chemistry. Specifically, metabolic reactions in cells uses the same chemical principles that organic chemists use to guide their chemical synthesis. However, biochemistry only uses a small subset of all possible organic reactions. The key reason for this lies in the need for cells to operate at mild temperatures and pressures, … More Biochemistry utilizes only a small set of chemical reactions available to chemists

Evolution experiments could traverse wrong segments of the fitness landscape

August 10, 2019

Evolving a microbial species towards higher fitness for a particular function requires appropriate selection forces for screening the multitude of mutations generated in the system. In fact, appropriate choice of selection forces play an important role in determining the success of the evolution experiment. However, appropriate use of selection forces does not guarantee success of … More Evolution experiments could traverse wrong segments of the fitness landscape

Visualizing mutational events in bacteria

May 3, 2019

A recent article in Science, Vol. 359, Issue 6381, pp. 1283-1286 (Link) visualized mutational events in bacterial cells at the single cell level using a combination of microfluidics cellular assays and fluorescent readout. The research opens up our understanding of how mutations are potentiated and propagated from parent to daughter cells. Furthermore, it reveals more … More Visualizing mutational events in bacteria

Mechanism underlying the emergence of antimicrobial resistance

December 27, 2018

Resistance to antimicrobial compounds is commonly thought to arise due to emergence of mutations after exposure of the microbes to the compound. This is not entirely true. What actually happens is that mechanisms underlying resistance to an antimicrobial compound exist in a few subpopulations of the species prior to exposure of the population to antimicrobial … More Mechanism underlying the emergence of antimicrobial resistance