Seminar "Genomic evolution driven by environmental stress." by Prof. Eugene Kroll

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Date: Friday, November 25, 2016
Time:15:00-16:00
Venue: Seminar Room C015, Lab1
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Speaker: Prof. Eugene Kroll, Research Associate Professor, University of Montana, Missoula

Title: " Genomic evolution driven by environmental stress. ". 

Abstract:

Understanding genetic mechanisms that enable populations to adapt to novel environments is required to predict and possibly manipulate population evolutionary fate. To study these mechanisms we developed an experimental system using Saccharomyces cerevisiae, where starvation served as a proxy to a variety of environmental conditions that may lower mean population fitness. We found that cell populations starved for one month accumulate genomic rearrangements but display only a modest increase in the incidence of point mutations. The survivors with restructured genomes were more resilient to starvation than their common ancestor, and some isolates exhibited reproductive isolation. Because both resilience to starvation and reproductive isolation were strongly associated with genomic restructuring, severe environmental stress may actually increase the rate of incipient speciation and evolution. Here, we will explore the dynamics of starvation-associated genomic restructuring, analyze the underlying population structure to discover the distribution of genomic restructuring across subpopulations, and report on the unanticipated effects of starvation-induced rearrangements such the appearance of nascent multicellular phenotype.