Population size changes and selection drive patterns of parallel evolution in a host–virus system

Predicting the repeatability of evolution remains elusive. Theory and empirical studies suggest that strong selection and large population sizes increase the probability for parallel evolution at the phenotypic and genotypic levels. However, selection and population sizes are not constant, but rathe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2018-04, Vol.9 (1), p.1706-10, Article 1706
Main Authors: Frickel, Jens, Feulner, Philine G. D., Karakoc, Emre, Becks, Lutz
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
45
45/23
631/158/857
631/181/2475
631/181/457
Adaptation, Physiological
Algae
Biological Coevolution - physiology
Chlorella - physiology
Chlorella - virology
Divergence
Evolution
Genetic Variation
Genomes
Host-Pathogen Interactions - physiology
Humanities and Social Sciences
multidisciplinary
Nucleotide sequence
Phenotype
Phycodnaviridae - physiology
Population
Population number
Populations
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Selection, Genetic - physiology
Viruses
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Summary:Predicting the repeatability of evolution remains elusive. Theory and empirical studies suggest that strong selection and large population sizes increase the probability for parallel evolution at the phenotypic and genotypic levels. However, selection and population sizes are not constant, but rather change continuously and directly affect each other even on short time scales. Here, we examine the degree of parallel evolution shaped through eco-evolutionary dynamics in an algal host population coevolving with a virus. We find high degrees of parallelism at the level of population size changes (ecology) and at the phenotypic level between replicated populations. At the genomic level, we find evidence for parallelism, as the same large genomic region was duplicated in all replicated populations, but also substantial novel sequence divergence between replicates. These patterns of genome evolution can be explained by considering population size changes as an important driver of rapid evolution. Pathogens exert strong selection on hosts and thus may promote parallel evolution. Here, the authors find that hosts experimentally coevolving with a virus have parallel changes in population size, phenotype, and genomic regions, but accelerated divergence in genome sequence likely due to population size fluctuation.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-018-03990-7