dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaThe maintenance of sex in bacteria is ensured by its potential to reload genes
| Authors | Gergely J. Szollosi, Imre Derenyi, Tibor Vellai |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | q-bio/0609052 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0609052 |
| DOI | 10.1534/genetics.106.063412 |
| Journal | Genetics 174, 2173-2180 (2006). |
Abstract
Why sex is maintained in nature is a fundamental question in biology. Natural genetic transformation (NGT) is a sexual process by which bacteria actively take up exogenous DNA and use it to replace homologous chromosomal sequences. As it has been demonstrated, the role of NGT in repairing deleterious mutations under constant selection is insufficient for its survival, and the lack of other viable explanations have left no alternative except that DNA uptake provides nucleotides for food. Here we develop a novel simulation approach for the long-term dynamics of genome organization (involving the loss and acquisition of genes) in a bacterial species consisting of a large number of spatially distinct populations subject to independently fluctuating ecological conditions. Our results show that in the presence of weak inter-population migration NGT is able to subsist as a mechanism to reload locally lost, intermittently selected genes from the collective gene pool of the species through DNA uptake from migrants. Reloading genes and combining them with those in locally adapted genomes allow individual cells to re-adapt faster to environmental changes. The machinery of transformation survives under a wide range of model parameters readily encompassing real-world biological conditions. These findings imply that the primary role of NGT is not to serve the cell with food, but to provide homologous sequences for restoring genes that have disappeared from or become degraded in the local population.
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"abstract": "Why sex is maintained in nature is a fundamental question in biology. Natural\ngenetic transformation (NGT) is a sexual process by which bacteria actively\ntake up exogenous DNA and use it to replace homologous chromosomal sequences.\nAs it has been demonstrated, the role of NGT in repairing deleterious mutations\nunder constant selection is insufficient for its survival, and the lack of\nother viable explanations have left no alternative except that DNA uptake\nprovides nucleotides for food. Here we develop a novel simulation approach for\nthe long-term dynamics of genome organization (involving the loss and\nacquisition of genes) in a bacterial species consisting of a large number of\nspatially distinct populations subject to independently fluctuating ecological\nconditions. Our results show that in the presence of weak inter-population\nmigration NGT is able to subsist as a mechanism to reload locally lost,\nintermittently selected genes from the collective gene pool of the species\nthrough DNA uptake from migrants. Reloading genes and combining them with those\nin locally adapted genomes allow individual cells to re-adapt faster to\nenvironmental changes. The machinery of transformation survives under a wide\nrange of model parameters readily encompassing real-world biological\nconditions. These findings imply that the primary role of NGT is not to serve\nthe cell with food, but to provide homologous sequences for restoring genes\nthat have disappeared from or become degraded in the local population.",
"arxiv_id": "q-bio/0609052",
"authors": [
"Gergely J. Szollosi",
"Imre Derenyi",
"Tibor Vellai"
],
"categories": [
"q-bio.PE",
"cond-mat.stat-mech",
"physics.bio-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1534/genetics.106.063412",
"journal_ref": "Genetics 174, 2173-2180 (2006).",
"title": "The maintenance of sex in bacteria is ensured by its potential to reload genes",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0609052"
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