How populations change genetically and adapt to environmental conditions is a fundamental issue in evolutionary biology, plant and animal breeding, and disease. Such genetic changes occur on two time scales. In the short term, selection acts on existing genetic variation. On longer time scales, adaptation requires the input and selection of new mutations. New genome-sequencing technologies make it possible to observe directly the genome-wide genetic changes that occur during response to novel environmental conditions. The project will study the genetic basis of adaptation during selection for invasive growth, a trait that is an important aspect of fungal virulence, in populations of the model microbe Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker's yeast). New technologies for sequencing and analyzing genomes will be used to identify loci that contribute to variation for invasive growth, to study changes in allele frequencies, and to identify novel mutations that occur during selection.
This study will provide new information about how genome-wide genetic composition both influences and is influenced by evolution in controlled, reproducible experiments that focus on a fungal trait that is ecologically important and related to emergence of pathogenicity. This project will furnish an excellent case study for public education on evolution, the interactions between random and predictable processes in evolution, and the direct relevance of evolution to human health. Research and outreach activities will provide interdisciplinary and quantitative training opportunities in laboratory experimentation, population genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics for graduate students, undergraduates, and high school students.
