Godelle Bernard | Université de Montpellier (original) (raw)
Papers by Godelle Bernard
J Mol Evol, 2004
The evolutionary history of the hemoglobin gene family in angiosperms is unusual in that it invol... more The evolutionary history of the hemoglobin gene family in angiosperms is unusual in that it involves two mechanisms known for potentially generating molecular adaptation: gene duplication and among-species interaction. In plants able to achieve symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, class 2 hemoglobin is expressed at high concentrations in nodules and appears to be a key factor for the achievement and regulation of the symbiotic exchange. In this study, we make use of codon models of DNA sequence evolution with the goal of determining the nature of the selective forces which have driven the evolution of this gene. Our results suggest that adaptive evolution occurred during the period of time following the duplication event (functional divergence) and that a change in the selective pressures arose in class 2 hemoglobin in relation to the acquisition of a symbiotic function.
Variation in the number of pollen apertures has been widely described among and within angiosperm... more Variation in the number of pollen apertures has been widely described among and within angiosperm species. Apertures are weak points of the pollen wall where the pollen tube germi- nates. Pollen aperture heteromorphism (pollen grains with different numbers of apertures in a single individual) is common in flowering plants, whereas polymorphism (among-individual variation) is rare. Previous work on Viola has
Cytometry, 1993
A novel procedure for calculating basepair frequencies in whole genomes is reported. This has bee... more A novel procedure for calculating basepair frequencies in whole genomes is reported. This has been developed during a study of the role of heterochromatin in microevolution. Closely related species of the Crepis praemorsa complex have similar karyotypes but for their heterochromatin. The changes in relative AT frequency between species have been attributed to heterochromatin sequences by in situ banding of chromosomes with two base-specific fluorochromes. The absolute genome size of species, measured by cytofluorometry, correlated positively with increased karyotypic heterochromatin, as did the proportion of AT bases in the DNA. However, the determination of base content has called for a curvilinear interpretation of data obtained with two base-specific fluorochromes (bisben-zimide Hoechst 33342 and mithramycin), in contrast to the commonly assumed but erroneous direct relationship between fluorescence intensity and base content. Essentially, the fluorochromes' requirements for a sequence of certain basepairs lead to the notion of Coefficients of Overspecificity: the result is a simple formula for calculating the AT proportion in a genome relative to a reference species from cytometric data, taking account of ligand binding statistics. These statistics and probabilities of oligonucleotide binding are essentially the same. 0 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2014
Most theoretical research in sexual selection has focused on indirect selection. However, empiric... more Most theoretical research in sexual selection has focused on indirect selection. However, empirical studies have not strongly supported indirect selection. A well-established finding is that direct benefits and costs exert a strong influence on the evolution of mate choice. We present an analytical model in which unilateral mate choice evolves solely by direct sexual selection on choosiness. We show this is sufficient to generate the evolution of all possible levels of choosiness, because of the fundamental trade-off between mating rate and mating benefits. We further identify the relative searching time (RST, i.e. the proportion of lifetime devoted to searching for mates) as a predictor of the effect of any variable affecting the mating rate on the evolution of choosiness. We show that the RST: (i) allows one to make predictions about the evolution of choosiness across a wide variety of mating systems; (ii) encompasses all alternative variables proposed thus far to explain the evolution of choosiness by direct sexual selection; and (iii) can be empirically used to infer qualitative differences in choosiness.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 1995
Uniparental inheritance of organelles is a very common trait but one that has received few attemp... more Uniparental inheritance of organelles is a very common trait but one that has received few attempts at evolutionary explanation. The most commonly adopted theory emphasizes the potentially deleterious behaviour of selfish cytoplasmic replicators and considers uniparental inheritance as a character whereby nuclear genes may avoid the spread of these cytoplasmic replicators. Here, the autonomous evolution of cytoplasmic genes is considered
Journal of Theoretical Biology, 1997
The aim of the present paper is to study the evolutionary dynamics of selfish replicators in a co... more The aim of the present paper is to study the evolutionary dynamics of selfish replicators in a constant genetic background. Selfish replicators are viewed as alleles at a single locus, having a pleiotropic effect. Infinitely many alleles are possible; they act on individual fitness and have various levels of ability to distort segregation. This results in a two-level process of selection, including inter-individual selection (effect on individual fitness) and intra-individual selection (ability to distort segregation). The model takes other parameters into account, such as dominance, inbreeding and inbreeding depression. The system can have two different behaviours. (1) In some cases, evolutionary cycles are possible. The cycles correspond to an alternation of phases with predominant inter-individual selection, corresponding to major-effect mutations, and phases with predominant intra-individual selection, corresponding to small-effect mutations. (2) For other values of the parameters, a synthetic fitness can be defined: this absolute allelic fitness is estimated as a function of one's fitness due to both inter-individual and intra-individual selection. During the course of evolution, the synthetic fitness increases. The optimisation of a synthetic fitness is the most general process. The optimised value is essentially homologous to the value optimised for resource allocation to male and female function in hermaphrodites (female function being homologous to the effect on individual fitness, and male function being homologous to distortion ability). The relative importance of both behaviours is discussed. It is argued that repeated sequences causing some human degenerative hereditary diseases may follow a two-step evolutionary process: a progressive increase in number of sequences accompanied by a decrease of the individual fitness would be followed by massive elimination of such sequences. But in general the optimisation of the synthetic fitness seems to be more likely.
Journal of Molecular Evolution, 2004
The evolutionary history of the hemoglobin gene family in angiosperms is unusual in that it invol... more The evolutionary history of the hemoglobin gene family in angiosperms is unusual in that it involves two mechanisms known for potentially generating molecular adaptation: gene duplication and among-species interaction. In plants able to achieve symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, class 2 hemoglobin is expressed at high concentrations in nodules and appears to be a key factor for the achievement and regulation of the symbiotic exchange. In this study, we make use of codon models of DNA sequence evolution with the goal of determining the nature of the selective forces which have driven the evolution of this gene. Our results suggest that adaptive evolution occurred during the period of time following the duplication event (functional divergence) and that a change in the selective pressures arose in class 2 hemoglobin in relation to the acquisition of a symbiotic function.
Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 2004
In this paper, we investigate the level of specialization of the symbiotic association between an... more In this paper, we investigate the level of specialization of the symbiotic association between an entomopathogenic nematode (Steinernema carpocapsae) and its mutualistic native bacterium (Xenorhabdus nematophila). We made experimental combinations on an insect host where nematodes were associated with non-native symbionts belonging to the same species as the native symbiont, to the same genus or even to a different genus of bacteria. All nonnative strains are mutualistically associated with congeneric entomopathogenic nematode species in nature. We show that some of the non-native bacterial strains are pathogenic for S. carpocapsae. When the phylogenetic relationships between the bacterial strains was evaluated, we found a clear negative correlation between the effect a bacterium has on nematode fitness and its phylogenetic distance to the native bacteria of this nematode. Moreover, only symbionts that were phylogenetically closely related to the native bacterial strain were transmitted. These results suggest that co-evolution between the partners has led to a high level of specialization in this mutualism, which effectively prevents horizontal transmission. The pathogenicity of some non-native bacterial strains against S. carpocapsae could result from the incapacity of the nematode to resist specific virulence factors produced by these bacteria.
Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 2004
Heredity, 2000
and Charlesworth & Charlesworth's (1978) phenotypic selection models for the maintenance of andro... more and Charlesworth & Charlesworth's (1978) phenotypic selection models for the maintenance of androdioecy predict that males (female-sterile individuals) must have an advantage in fertility (K) of at least two in order to invade a hermaphroditic population, and that their equilibrium frequency (x eq (K ) 2)/2(K ) 1)) is always less than 0.5. In this paper, we develop a model in which male fertility is frequency-dependent, a situation not investigated in the previous models, to explore the conditions under which a high frequency of males (i.e. more than 50%) could be maintained at equilibrium. We demonstrate that a gametophytic self-incompatibility (GSI) locus linked to a nuclear sex determination locus can favour rare alleles through male function, by causing frequencydependent selection. Thus, the spread of a female-sterility allele in a hermaphroditic population may be induced. In contrast with the previous models, our model can explain male frequencies greater than 50% in a functionally androdioecious species, as long as there is (i) dominance of female-sterility at the sex locus, and (ii) a few alleles at the self-incompatibility locus, even if the advantage in fertility of male phenotype is lower than two.
Gse, 1998
The genetic system, selected genes and neutral polymorphism: métapopulation . Nous détaillerons l... more The genetic system, selected genes and neutral polymorphism: métapopulation . Nous détaillerons les moyens actuellement développés pour connecter davantage les aspects génétiques et démographiques, et pour conclure nous discuterons des éléments nouveaux apportés par ces travaux, en insistant sur leur utilité en biologie de la conservation.
Genetics, Jun 1, 1999
Selection of mutator alleles, increasing the mutation rate up to 10,000-fold, has been observed d... more Selection of mutator alleles, increasing the mutation rate up to 10,000-fold, has been observed during in vitro experimental evolution. This spread is ascribed to the hitchhiking of mutator alleles with favorable mutations, as demonstrated by a theoretical model using selective parameters corresponding to such experiments. Observations of unexpectedly high frequencies of mutators in natural isolates suggest that the same phemonemon could occur in the wild. But it remains questionable whether realistic in natura parameter values could also result in selection of mutators. In particular, the main parameters of adaptation, the size of the adapting population and the height and steepness of the adaptive peak characterizing adaptation, are very variable in nature. By simulation approach, we studied the effect of these parameters on the selection of mutators in asexual populations, assuming additive fitness. We show that the larger the population size, the more likely the fixation of mutator alleles. At a large population size, at least four adaptive mutations are needed for mutator fixation; moreover, under stronger selection stronger mutators are selected. We propose a model based on multiple mutations to illustrate how second-order selection can optimize population fitness when few favorable mutations are required for adaptation. Corresponding author: Olivier Tenaillon, Laboratoire de Mutagenèse, ison with the limited set of conditions explored in labo-Institut Jacques Monod, CNRS Université Paris 7, 2 Place Jussieu, ratory experiments, natural microbiological environ-F75251 Paris,
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2015
Human cultural traits typically result from a gradual process that has been described as analogou... more Human cultural traits typically result from a gradual process that has been described as analogous to biological evolution. This observation has led pioneering scholars to draw inspiration from population genetics to develop a rigorous and successful theoretical framework of cultural evolution. Social learning, the mechanism allowing information to be transmitted between individuals, has thus been described as a simple replication mechanism. Although useful, the extent to which this idealization appropriately describes the actual social learning events has not been carefully assessed. Here, we used a specifically developed computer task to evaluate (i) the extent to which social learning leads to the replication of an observed behaviour and (ii) the consequences it has for fitness landscape exploration. Our results show that social learning does not lead to a dichotomous choice between disregarding and replicating social information. Rather, it appeared that individuals combine and transform information coming from multiple sources to produce new solutions. As a consequence, landscape exploration was promoted by the use of social information. These results invite us to rethink the way social learning is commonly modelled and could question the validity of predictions coming from models considering this process as replicative.
Genetica, 2003
We have previously shown the presence in a Nicotiana sylvestris protoplast-derived plant of both ... more We have previously shown the presence in a Nicotiana sylvestris protoplast-derived plant of both a nuclear mutation conferring male sterility (ms4) and a mtDNA reorganisation, named U, characterised by the amplification of substoichiometric mtDNA fragments generated by recombination in the parent T mtDNA. Here we show by physical mapping that the recombining repeats are in direct orientation, thus generating two subgenomes both of which are amplified in the U organisation to the detriment of the parent molecule, and are maintained through sexual reproduction. The nuclear ms4 mutation is likely to have play a role in the shift in mitochondrial molecule equilibrium, as higher levels of recombinant fragments were present in protoplast-derived T calli carrying the ms4 allele than in wild type calli or leaves. The MS4 gene could then lead to conflictual situation. However, subgenomic molecules were counter-selected during the regeneration process, suggesting the existence of different se...
The Journal of experimental zoology, Jan 15, 2002
Pollen grains display a wide range of variation in aperture number and arrangement (pattern) in a... more Pollen grains display a wide range of variation in aperture number and arrangement (pattern) in angiosperms. Apertures are well-defined areas of the pollen wall surface that permit pollen tube germination. For low aperture numbers, aperture patterns are characteristic of the major taxonomic divisions of angiosperms. This paper presents a developmental model that explains most of the aperture patterns that are recorded in angiosperms. It is based on the analysis of the different events that occur during meiosis and lead to microspore differentiation. It demonstrates that variation occurring during meiosis in angiosperms is sufficient to produce the core morphological set of the most commonly observed pollen morphologies.
Genetics, 2000
Tree species are striking for their high within-population diversity and low among-population dif... more Tree species are striking for their high within-population diversity and low among-population differentiation for nuclear genes. In contrast, annual plants show much more differentiation for nuclear genes but much less diversity than trees. The usual explanation for this difference is that pollen flow, and therefore gene flow, is much higher for trees. This explanation is problematic because it relies on equilibrium hypotheses. Because trees have very recently recolonized temperate areas, they have experienced many foundation events, which usually reduce within-population diversity and increase differentiation. Only extremely high levels of gene flow could counterbalance these successive founder effects. We develop a model to study the impact of life cycle of forest trees, in particular of the length of their juvenile phase, on genetic diversity and differentiation during the glacial period and the following colonization period. We show that both a reasonably high level of pollen fl...
Genetics, 1999
Selection of mutator alleles, increasing the mutation rate up to 10, 000-fold, has been observed ... more Selection of mutator alleles, increasing the mutation rate up to 10, 000-fold, has been observed during in vitro experimental evolution. This spread is ascribed to the hitchhiking of mutator alleles with favorable mutations, as demonstrated by a theoretical model using selective parameters corresponding to such experiments. Observations of unexpectedly high frequencies of mutators in natural isolates suggest that the same phenomenon could occur in the wild. But it remains questionable whether realistic in natura parameter values could also result in selection of mutators. In particular, the main parameters of adaptation, the size of the adapting population and the height and steepness of the adaptive peak characterizing adaptation, are very variable in nature. By simulation approach, we studied the effect of these parameters on the selection of mutators in asexual populations, assuming additive fitness. We show that the larger the population size, the more likely the fixation of mut...
Nature, Jan 12, 1997
Because most newly arising mutations are neutral or deleterious, it has been argued that the muta... more Because most newly arising mutations are neutral or deleterious, it has been argued that the mutation rate has evolved to be as low as possible, limited only by the cost of error-avoidance and error-correction mechanisms. But up to one per cent of natural bacterial isolates are 'mutator' clones that have high mutation rates. We consider here whether high mutation rates might play an important role in adaptive evolution. Models of large, asexual, clonal populations adapting to a new environment show that strong mutator genes (such as those that increase mutation rates by 1,000-fold) can accelerate adaptation, even if the mutator gene remains at a very low frequency (for example, 10[-5]). Less potent mutators (10 to 100-fold increase) can become fixed in a fraction of finite populations. The parameters of the model have been set to values typical for Escherichia coli cultures, which behave in a manner similar to the model in long-term adaptation experiments.
Annals of Botany, 1998
Individuals of Arabidopsis thaliana, collected in different natural populations, were grown in co... more Individuals of Arabidopsis thaliana, collected in different natural populations, were grown in controlled and elevated CO # in a glasshouse. Following germination, root growth of progeny of different lines of these populations was studied in control and elevated atmospheric CO # . No significant direct effect of atmospheric CO # concentration could be demonstrated on root growth. An important parental effect was apparent, namely that root length and branching were decreased in seeds collected from a mother plant which had been grown in elevated CO # . This was correlated with smaller seeds, containing less nitrogen. These parental effects were genetically variable. We conclude that CO # may affect plant fitness via parental effects on seed size and early root growth and that the genetic variability shown in our study demonstrates that Arabidopsis populations will evolve in the face of this new selective pressure.
J Mol Evol, 2004
The evolutionary history of the hemoglobin gene family in angiosperms is unusual in that it invol... more The evolutionary history of the hemoglobin gene family in angiosperms is unusual in that it involves two mechanisms known for potentially generating molecular adaptation: gene duplication and among-species interaction. In plants able to achieve symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, class 2 hemoglobin is expressed at high concentrations in nodules and appears to be a key factor for the achievement and regulation of the symbiotic exchange. In this study, we make use of codon models of DNA sequence evolution with the goal of determining the nature of the selective forces which have driven the evolution of this gene. Our results suggest that adaptive evolution occurred during the period of time following the duplication event (functional divergence) and that a change in the selective pressures arose in class 2 hemoglobin in relation to the acquisition of a symbiotic function.
Variation in the number of pollen apertures has been widely described among and within angiosperm... more Variation in the number of pollen apertures has been widely described among and within angiosperm species. Apertures are weak points of the pollen wall where the pollen tube germi- nates. Pollen aperture heteromorphism (pollen grains with different numbers of apertures in a single individual) is common in flowering plants, whereas polymorphism (among-individual variation) is rare. Previous work on Viola has
Cytometry, 1993
A novel procedure for calculating basepair frequencies in whole genomes is reported. This has bee... more A novel procedure for calculating basepair frequencies in whole genomes is reported. This has been developed during a study of the role of heterochromatin in microevolution. Closely related species of the Crepis praemorsa complex have similar karyotypes but for their heterochromatin. The changes in relative AT frequency between species have been attributed to heterochromatin sequences by in situ banding of chromosomes with two base-specific fluorochromes. The absolute genome size of species, measured by cytofluorometry, correlated positively with increased karyotypic heterochromatin, as did the proportion of AT bases in the DNA. However, the determination of base content has called for a curvilinear interpretation of data obtained with two base-specific fluorochromes (bisben-zimide Hoechst 33342 and mithramycin), in contrast to the commonly assumed but erroneous direct relationship between fluorescence intensity and base content. Essentially, the fluorochromes' requirements for a sequence of certain basepairs lead to the notion of Coefficients of Overspecificity: the result is a simple formula for calculating the AT proportion in a genome relative to a reference species from cytometric data, taking account of ligand binding statistics. These statistics and probabilities of oligonucleotide binding are essentially the same. 0 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2014
Most theoretical research in sexual selection has focused on indirect selection. However, empiric... more Most theoretical research in sexual selection has focused on indirect selection. However, empirical studies have not strongly supported indirect selection. A well-established finding is that direct benefits and costs exert a strong influence on the evolution of mate choice. We present an analytical model in which unilateral mate choice evolves solely by direct sexual selection on choosiness. We show this is sufficient to generate the evolution of all possible levels of choosiness, because of the fundamental trade-off between mating rate and mating benefits. We further identify the relative searching time (RST, i.e. the proportion of lifetime devoted to searching for mates) as a predictor of the effect of any variable affecting the mating rate on the evolution of choosiness. We show that the RST: (i) allows one to make predictions about the evolution of choosiness across a wide variety of mating systems; (ii) encompasses all alternative variables proposed thus far to explain the evolution of choosiness by direct sexual selection; and (iii) can be empirically used to infer qualitative differences in choosiness.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 1995
Uniparental inheritance of organelles is a very common trait but one that has received few attemp... more Uniparental inheritance of organelles is a very common trait but one that has received few attempts at evolutionary explanation. The most commonly adopted theory emphasizes the potentially deleterious behaviour of selfish cytoplasmic replicators and considers uniparental inheritance as a character whereby nuclear genes may avoid the spread of these cytoplasmic replicators. Here, the autonomous evolution of cytoplasmic genes is considered
Journal of Theoretical Biology, 1997
The aim of the present paper is to study the evolutionary dynamics of selfish replicators in a co... more The aim of the present paper is to study the evolutionary dynamics of selfish replicators in a constant genetic background. Selfish replicators are viewed as alleles at a single locus, having a pleiotropic effect. Infinitely many alleles are possible; they act on individual fitness and have various levels of ability to distort segregation. This results in a two-level process of selection, including inter-individual selection (effect on individual fitness) and intra-individual selection (ability to distort segregation). The model takes other parameters into account, such as dominance, inbreeding and inbreeding depression. The system can have two different behaviours. (1) In some cases, evolutionary cycles are possible. The cycles correspond to an alternation of phases with predominant inter-individual selection, corresponding to major-effect mutations, and phases with predominant intra-individual selection, corresponding to small-effect mutations. (2) For other values of the parameters, a synthetic fitness can be defined: this absolute allelic fitness is estimated as a function of one's fitness due to both inter-individual and intra-individual selection. During the course of evolution, the synthetic fitness increases. The optimisation of a synthetic fitness is the most general process. The optimised value is essentially homologous to the value optimised for resource allocation to male and female function in hermaphrodites (female function being homologous to the effect on individual fitness, and male function being homologous to distortion ability). The relative importance of both behaviours is discussed. It is argued that repeated sequences causing some human degenerative hereditary diseases may follow a two-step evolutionary process: a progressive increase in number of sequences accompanied by a decrease of the individual fitness would be followed by massive elimination of such sequences. But in general the optimisation of the synthetic fitness seems to be more likely.
Journal of Molecular Evolution, 2004
The evolutionary history of the hemoglobin gene family in angiosperms is unusual in that it invol... more The evolutionary history of the hemoglobin gene family in angiosperms is unusual in that it involves two mechanisms known for potentially generating molecular adaptation: gene duplication and among-species interaction. In plants able to achieve symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, class 2 hemoglobin is expressed at high concentrations in nodules and appears to be a key factor for the achievement and regulation of the symbiotic exchange. In this study, we make use of codon models of DNA sequence evolution with the goal of determining the nature of the selective forces which have driven the evolution of this gene. Our results suggest that adaptive evolution occurred during the period of time following the duplication event (functional divergence) and that a change in the selective pressures arose in class 2 hemoglobin in relation to the acquisition of a symbiotic function.
Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 2004
In this paper, we investigate the level of specialization of the symbiotic association between an... more In this paper, we investigate the level of specialization of the symbiotic association between an entomopathogenic nematode (Steinernema carpocapsae) and its mutualistic native bacterium (Xenorhabdus nematophila). We made experimental combinations on an insect host where nematodes were associated with non-native symbionts belonging to the same species as the native symbiont, to the same genus or even to a different genus of bacteria. All nonnative strains are mutualistically associated with congeneric entomopathogenic nematode species in nature. We show that some of the non-native bacterial strains are pathogenic for S. carpocapsae. When the phylogenetic relationships between the bacterial strains was evaluated, we found a clear negative correlation between the effect a bacterium has on nematode fitness and its phylogenetic distance to the native bacteria of this nematode. Moreover, only symbionts that were phylogenetically closely related to the native bacterial strain were transmitted. These results suggest that co-evolution between the partners has led to a high level of specialization in this mutualism, which effectively prevents horizontal transmission. The pathogenicity of some non-native bacterial strains against S. carpocapsae could result from the incapacity of the nematode to resist specific virulence factors produced by these bacteria.
Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 2004
Heredity, 2000
and Charlesworth & Charlesworth's (1978) phenotypic selection models for the maintenance of andro... more and Charlesworth & Charlesworth's (1978) phenotypic selection models for the maintenance of androdioecy predict that males (female-sterile individuals) must have an advantage in fertility (K) of at least two in order to invade a hermaphroditic population, and that their equilibrium frequency (x eq (K ) 2)/2(K ) 1)) is always less than 0.5. In this paper, we develop a model in which male fertility is frequency-dependent, a situation not investigated in the previous models, to explore the conditions under which a high frequency of males (i.e. more than 50%) could be maintained at equilibrium. We demonstrate that a gametophytic self-incompatibility (GSI) locus linked to a nuclear sex determination locus can favour rare alleles through male function, by causing frequencydependent selection. Thus, the spread of a female-sterility allele in a hermaphroditic population may be induced. In contrast with the previous models, our model can explain male frequencies greater than 50% in a functionally androdioecious species, as long as there is (i) dominance of female-sterility at the sex locus, and (ii) a few alleles at the self-incompatibility locus, even if the advantage in fertility of male phenotype is lower than two.
Gse, 1998
The genetic system, selected genes and neutral polymorphism: métapopulation . Nous détaillerons l... more The genetic system, selected genes and neutral polymorphism: métapopulation . Nous détaillerons les moyens actuellement développés pour connecter davantage les aspects génétiques et démographiques, et pour conclure nous discuterons des éléments nouveaux apportés par ces travaux, en insistant sur leur utilité en biologie de la conservation.
Genetics, Jun 1, 1999
Selection of mutator alleles, increasing the mutation rate up to 10,000-fold, has been observed d... more Selection of mutator alleles, increasing the mutation rate up to 10,000-fold, has been observed during in vitro experimental evolution. This spread is ascribed to the hitchhiking of mutator alleles with favorable mutations, as demonstrated by a theoretical model using selective parameters corresponding to such experiments. Observations of unexpectedly high frequencies of mutators in natural isolates suggest that the same phemonemon could occur in the wild. But it remains questionable whether realistic in natura parameter values could also result in selection of mutators. In particular, the main parameters of adaptation, the size of the adapting population and the height and steepness of the adaptive peak characterizing adaptation, are very variable in nature. By simulation approach, we studied the effect of these parameters on the selection of mutators in asexual populations, assuming additive fitness. We show that the larger the population size, the more likely the fixation of mutator alleles. At a large population size, at least four adaptive mutations are needed for mutator fixation; moreover, under stronger selection stronger mutators are selected. We propose a model based on multiple mutations to illustrate how second-order selection can optimize population fitness when few favorable mutations are required for adaptation. Corresponding author: Olivier Tenaillon, Laboratoire de Mutagenèse, ison with the limited set of conditions explored in labo-Institut Jacques Monod, CNRS Université Paris 7, 2 Place Jussieu, ratory experiments, natural microbiological environ-F75251 Paris,
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2015
Human cultural traits typically result from a gradual process that has been described as analogou... more Human cultural traits typically result from a gradual process that has been described as analogous to biological evolution. This observation has led pioneering scholars to draw inspiration from population genetics to develop a rigorous and successful theoretical framework of cultural evolution. Social learning, the mechanism allowing information to be transmitted between individuals, has thus been described as a simple replication mechanism. Although useful, the extent to which this idealization appropriately describes the actual social learning events has not been carefully assessed. Here, we used a specifically developed computer task to evaluate (i) the extent to which social learning leads to the replication of an observed behaviour and (ii) the consequences it has for fitness landscape exploration. Our results show that social learning does not lead to a dichotomous choice between disregarding and replicating social information. Rather, it appeared that individuals combine and transform information coming from multiple sources to produce new solutions. As a consequence, landscape exploration was promoted by the use of social information. These results invite us to rethink the way social learning is commonly modelled and could question the validity of predictions coming from models considering this process as replicative.
Genetica, 2003
We have previously shown the presence in a Nicotiana sylvestris protoplast-derived plant of both ... more We have previously shown the presence in a Nicotiana sylvestris protoplast-derived plant of both a nuclear mutation conferring male sterility (ms4) and a mtDNA reorganisation, named U, characterised by the amplification of substoichiometric mtDNA fragments generated by recombination in the parent T mtDNA. Here we show by physical mapping that the recombining repeats are in direct orientation, thus generating two subgenomes both of which are amplified in the U organisation to the detriment of the parent molecule, and are maintained through sexual reproduction. The nuclear ms4 mutation is likely to have play a role in the shift in mitochondrial molecule equilibrium, as higher levels of recombinant fragments were present in protoplast-derived T calli carrying the ms4 allele than in wild type calli or leaves. The MS4 gene could then lead to conflictual situation. However, subgenomic molecules were counter-selected during the regeneration process, suggesting the existence of different se...
The Journal of experimental zoology, Jan 15, 2002
Pollen grains display a wide range of variation in aperture number and arrangement (pattern) in a... more Pollen grains display a wide range of variation in aperture number and arrangement (pattern) in angiosperms. Apertures are well-defined areas of the pollen wall surface that permit pollen tube germination. For low aperture numbers, aperture patterns are characteristic of the major taxonomic divisions of angiosperms. This paper presents a developmental model that explains most of the aperture patterns that are recorded in angiosperms. It is based on the analysis of the different events that occur during meiosis and lead to microspore differentiation. It demonstrates that variation occurring during meiosis in angiosperms is sufficient to produce the core morphological set of the most commonly observed pollen morphologies.
Genetics, 2000
Tree species are striking for their high within-population diversity and low among-population dif... more Tree species are striking for their high within-population diversity and low among-population differentiation for nuclear genes. In contrast, annual plants show much more differentiation for nuclear genes but much less diversity than trees. The usual explanation for this difference is that pollen flow, and therefore gene flow, is much higher for trees. This explanation is problematic because it relies on equilibrium hypotheses. Because trees have very recently recolonized temperate areas, they have experienced many foundation events, which usually reduce within-population diversity and increase differentiation. Only extremely high levels of gene flow could counterbalance these successive founder effects. We develop a model to study the impact of life cycle of forest trees, in particular of the length of their juvenile phase, on genetic diversity and differentiation during the glacial period and the following colonization period. We show that both a reasonably high level of pollen fl...
Genetics, 1999
Selection of mutator alleles, increasing the mutation rate up to 10, 000-fold, has been observed ... more Selection of mutator alleles, increasing the mutation rate up to 10, 000-fold, has been observed during in vitro experimental evolution. This spread is ascribed to the hitchhiking of mutator alleles with favorable mutations, as demonstrated by a theoretical model using selective parameters corresponding to such experiments. Observations of unexpectedly high frequencies of mutators in natural isolates suggest that the same phenomenon could occur in the wild. But it remains questionable whether realistic in natura parameter values could also result in selection of mutators. In particular, the main parameters of adaptation, the size of the adapting population and the height and steepness of the adaptive peak characterizing adaptation, are very variable in nature. By simulation approach, we studied the effect of these parameters on the selection of mutators in asexual populations, assuming additive fitness. We show that the larger the population size, the more likely the fixation of mut...
Nature, Jan 12, 1997
Because most newly arising mutations are neutral or deleterious, it has been argued that the muta... more Because most newly arising mutations are neutral or deleterious, it has been argued that the mutation rate has evolved to be as low as possible, limited only by the cost of error-avoidance and error-correction mechanisms. But up to one per cent of natural bacterial isolates are 'mutator' clones that have high mutation rates. We consider here whether high mutation rates might play an important role in adaptive evolution. Models of large, asexual, clonal populations adapting to a new environment show that strong mutator genes (such as those that increase mutation rates by 1,000-fold) can accelerate adaptation, even if the mutator gene remains at a very low frequency (for example, 10[-5]). Less potent mutators (10 to 100-fold increase) can become fixed in a fraction of finite populations. The parameters of the model have been set to values typical for Escherichia coli cultures, which behave in a manner similar to the model in long-term adaptation experiments.
Annals of Botany, 1998
Individuals of Arabidopsis thaliana, collected in different natural populations, were grown in co... more Individuals of Arabidopsis thaliana, collected in different natural populations, were grown in controlled and elevated CO # in a glasshouse. Following germination, root growth of progeny of different lines of these populations was studied in control and elevated atmospheric CO # . No significant direct effect of atmospheric CO # concentration could be demonstrated on root growth. An important parental effect was apparent, namely that root length and branching were decreased in seeds collected from a mother plant which had been grown in elevated CO # . This was correlated with smaller seeds, containing less nitrogen. These parental effects were genetically variable. We conclude that CO # may affect plant fitness via parental effects on seed size and early root growth and that the genetic variability shown in our study demonstrates that Arabidopsis populations will evolve in the face of this new selective pressure.