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INVITED REVIEW
Next-generation sequencing as a tool to study microbial evolution
Article first published online: 27 SEP 2010
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2010.04835.x
© 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Issue
Molecular Ecology
Special Issue: FRONTIERS IN HOST-PARASITE ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
Volume 20, Issue 5, pages 972–980, March 2011
Additional Information
How to Cite
BROCKHURST, M. A., COLEGRAVE, N. and ROZEN, D. E. (2011), Next-generation sequencing as a tool to study microbial evolution. Molecular Ecology, 20: 972–980. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2010.04835.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 16 FEB 2011
- Article first published online: 27 SEP 2010
- Received 21 May 2010; revision received 12 August 2010; accepted 16 August 2010
- Abstract
- Article
- References
- Cited By
Keywords:
- evolutionary genomics;
- experimental evolution;
- microbes;
- whole genome sequencing
Abstract
Thanks to their short generation times and large population sizes, microbes evolve rapidly. Evolutionary biologists have exploited this to observe evolution in real time. The falling costs of whole-genome sequencing using next-generation technologies now mean that it is realistic to use this as a tool to study this rapid microbial evolution both in the laboratory and in the wild. Such experiments are being used to accurately estimate the rates of mutation, reveal the genetic targets and dynamics of natural selection, uncover the correlation (or lack thereof) between genetic and phenotypic change, and provide data to test long-standing evolutionary hypotheses. These advances have important implications for our understanding of the within- and between-host evolution of microbial pathogens.