Hypermutator emergence in experimental Escherichia coli populations is stress type dependent Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Martijn Callens, Stéphanie Bedhomme, Caroline Rose, Michael Finnegan, François Gatchitch, Léna Simon, Jeanne Hamet, Léa Pradier, Marie-Pierre Dubois
Genotypes exhibiting an increased mutation rate, called hypermutators, can propagate in microbial populations because they can have an advantage due to the higher supply of beneficial mutations needed for adaptation. Although this is a frequently observed phenomenon in natural and laboratory populations, little is known about the influence of parameters such as the degree of maladaptation, stress intensity and the genetic architecture for adaptation on the emergence of hypermutators. To address this knowledge gap, we measured the emergence of hypermutators over ~1000 generations in ...