Abstract
Experimental evolution has grown to be a powerful and versatile tool to study the evolutionary dynamics of genetics. The principle is simple: cells are grown under a specific selective pressure, mutations arise over time, and lineages carrying mutations that increase fitness can outcompete others. Here we discuss how experimental evolution has allowed us to study various evolutionary processes, from clonal interference to diminishing-returns epistasis and genetic hitchhiking. Next, we discuss how experimental evolution can reveal how an organism’s genotype affects evolutionary processes, how adaptation can sometimes fix even the most severe fitness defects, and how the approach can be used to learn more about the genetic architecture of complex traits. Finally, we look ahead at how experimental evolution can be used to study genetic networks and, conversely, how the structure of such networks influences evolution.
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Helsen, J., Jelier, R. (2021). Experimental Evolution to Understand the Interplay Between Genetics and Adaptation. In: Crombach, A. (eds) Evolutionary Systems Biology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71737-7_6
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