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Synergistic coevolution accelerates genome evolution

Daniel Preussger, View ORCID ProfileAlexander Herbig, View ORCID ProfileChristian Kost
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.19.444833
Daniel Preussger
1Experimental Ecology and Evolution Research Group, Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, 07745 Jena, Germany
2Department of Ecology, School of Biology/Chemistry, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, 49076, Germany
3Institute of Molecular Pathogenesis, ‘Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut’ (Federal Institute for Animal Health), Naumburger Str. 96a, 07743 Jena, Germany
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Alexander Herbig
4Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745 Jena, Germany
5Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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Christian Kost
1Experimental Ecology and Evolution Research Group, Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, 07745 Jena, Germany
2Department of Ecology, School of Biology/Chemistry, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, 49076, Germany
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  • For correspondence: christiankost@gmail.com
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Abstract

Ecological interactions are key drivers of evolutionary change. Although it is well-documented that antagonistic coevolution can accelerate molecular evolution, the evolutionary consequences of synergistic coevolution remain poorly understood. Here we show experimentally that also synergistic coevolution can speed up the rate of molecular evolution. Pairs of auxotrophic genotypes of the bacterium Escherichia coli, whose growth depended on a reciprocal exchange of amino acids, were experimentally coevolved, and compared to two control groups of independently growing cells. Coevolution drove the rapid emergence of a strong metabolic cooperation that correlated with a significantly increased number of mutations in coevolved auxotrophs as compared to monoculture controls. These results demonstrate that synergistic coevolution can cause rapid evolution that in the long run may drive diversification of mutualistically interacting species.

One-Sentence Summary Synergistic coevolution among obligate mutualists increases the rate of molecular evolution relative to independent types.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted May 21, 2021.
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Synergistic coevolution accelerates genome evolution
Daniel Preussger, Alexander Herbig, Christian Kost
bioRxiv 2021.05.19.444833; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.19.444833
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Synergistic coevolution accelerates genome evolution
Daniel Preussger, Alexander Herbig, Christian Kost
bioRxiv 2021.05.19.444833; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.19.444833

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