@article{TEXTUAL,
      recid = {6578},
      author = {Wytock, Thomas P. and Fiebig, Aretha and Willett, Jonathan  W. and Herrou, Julien and Fergin, Aleksandra and Motter,  Adilson E. and Crosson, Sean},
      title = {Experimental evolution of diverse <i>Escherichia  coli</i> metabolic mutants identifies genetic loci  for convergent adaptation of growth rate},
      journal = {PLOS Genetics},
      address = {2018-3-27},
      number = {TEXTUAL},
      abstract = {Cell growth is determined by substrate availability and  the cell’s metabolic capacity to assimilate substrates into  building blocks. Metabolic genes that determine growth rate  may interact synergistically or antagonistically, and can  accelerate or slow growth, depending on genetic background  and environmental conditions. We evolved a diverse set of  Escherichia coli single-gene deletion mutants with a  spectrum of growth rates and identified mutations that  generally increase growth rate. Despite the metabolic  differences between parent strains, mutations that enhanced  growth largely mapped to core transcription machinery,  including the β and β’ subunits of RNA polymerase (RNAP)  and the transcription elongation factor, NusA. The  structural segments of RNAP that determine enhanced growth  have been previously implicated in antibiotic resistance  and in the control of transcription elongation and pausing.  We further developed a computational framework to  characterize how the transcriptional changes that occur  upon acquisition of these mutations affect growth rate  across strains. Our experimental and computational results  provide evidence for cases in which RNAP mutations shift  the competitive balance between active transcription and  gene silencing. This study demonstrates that mutations in  specific regions of RNAP are a convergent adaptive solution  that can enhance the growth rate of cells from distinct  metabolic states.},
      url = {http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/6578},
}