
By forcing bacteria to evolve in ever-changing conditions, scientists have induced a behavior in which colonies formed by microbes with identical genes take radically different forms, as if one sibling in a set of identical quadruplets could sprout gills.
When the researchers looked at the genomic histories, they found that bet hedging required nine genetic mutations. The first eight were linked to traits that helped microbes survive in shaken and static tubes. The ninth, involving a gene important in metabolism, triggered the ability to produce multiple colony forms. The researchers ran the experiment multiple times, with similar results. An average of one line in twelve would evolve bet hedging, always as a result of the same accumulation of mutations.
Nice experimental demonstration of evolution in action.
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