The prevalence and consequences of epistasis

进化生物学家对适应的遗传学有着长期的兴趣。我们的目标是调查一个基本的问题，一直在这一领域的实质性辩论的主题：在适应过程中基因之间的相互作用的重要性。如果这种相互作用很常见，那么适应相同环境压力的不同种群可能会获得不同的遗传解决方案。相反，如果相互作用很少或不重要，那么进化可能是高度可重复的。我们将询问遗传相互作用是否普遍，以及这些相互作用是否对基因组的进化产生重要影响。我们将使用实验室细菌种群进行研究，这些细菌在几天或几周内适应，并且其基因组可以使用现代技术轻松测序。我们的许多实验将使用对抗生素的适应作为更普遍的适应过程的模型;通过使用抗生素选择，我们不仅可以深入了解基本的进化原理，而且可以深入了解抗生素耐药性进化的实际问题。我们提出的工作将揭示进化中重复性（或缺乏重复性）的原因。

Evolutionary biologists have a long-standing interest in the genetics of adaptation. We aim to investigate a fundamental issue that has been the subject of substantial debate in this field: The importance of interactions between genes during adaptation. If such interactions are common, then different populations adapting to the same environmental stresses may achieve different genetic solutions. By contrast, if interactions are rare or unimportant, then evolution might be highly repeatable. We will ask whether genetic interactions are common, and whether these interactions have important consequences for the evolution of genomes. We will carry out our studies using laboratory populations of bacteria, which adapt in a matter of days or weeks, and whose genomes can be easily sequenced using modern technologies. Many of our experiments will use adaptation to antibiotics as a model for adaptive processes more generally; by using antibiotic selection, we can gain insight not only into basic evolutionary principles, but into the practical problem of the evolution of antibiotic resistance. Our proposed work will shed light onto the causes of repeatability (or lack thereof) in evolution.