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SUMMARY:The role of space in evolution: insights from microbial and viral 
 expansions - Diana Fusco\, University of Cambridge
DTSTART:20210311T140000Z
DTEND:20210311T150000Z
UID:TALK158038@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Thiago Burghi
DESCRIPTION:Spatially growing populations are ubiquitous across scales\, r
 anging from microbial biofilms in the soil to expanding tissues in develop
 ing organs and the spreading of diseases. In spatial settings\, individual
 s experience inhomogeneities in the surrounding environment that result in
  different growth rates across the population. Since replication is necess
 ary to transmit the genetic information from mother to daughter\, the grow
 th dynamics determined by the spatial constraints can deeply affect the sp
 reading of mutations in a population and thus its evolution.\n\nI will pre
 sent two examples in which the simple spatial constraints associated with 
 two-dimensional growth affect both the genetic diversity and the adaptatio
 n of microbial and viral populations\, respectively. Population sequencing
  and fluorescence imaging show that microbial colonies exhibit an excess o
 f mutational jackpot events compared to a well-mixed population of the sam
 e size. Moreover\, most mutant clones are trapped in the bulk of the colon
 y\, ready to be released upon an environmental change\, and rescue the pop
 ulation. A very different growth dynamics is instead observed in bacteriop
 hage T7 two-dimensional plaques. Here\, we find that the underlying infect
 ion dynamic and the hindered diffusion caused by the presence of bacteria 
 generate a density-dependent dispersal for the virus\, which leads to an u
 nexpected cooperative behavior during the expansion. As a result\, viral p
 opulations maintain genetic diversity for much longer than previously expe
 cted\, with important consequences on their ability to adapt.
LOCATION:Online (Zoom)
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