Richard E. Lenski

The historical domestication of a Clostridium botulinum strain used for the industrial production of botulinum neurotoxin

This paper reconstructs the genomic evolution of a Clostridium botulinum strain used for industrial botulinum neurotoxin production, identifying key mutations that drove its domestication and adaptation.

The evolution of robustness and fragility during long-term bacterial adaptation

This study shows that during long-term bacterial adaptation, fitness effects of mutations become less severe, but pleiotropic effects in new environments become more severe, indicating trade-offs between robustness and fragility.

Reduced selection during sweeps lead to adaptive momentum on rugged landscapes

The paper identifies 'adaptive momentum' as a dynamic where selective sweeps reduce purifying selection, allowing populations to explore fitness valleys and access new fitness peaks.

Tempo and mode of genome evolution in a 50,000-generation experiment

The paper analyzes 264 genomes from 12 Escherichia coli populations over 50,000 generations to study genome evolution dynamics and finds that most fixed mutations are beneficial, with neutral mutations accumulating at a constant rate.

Adaptation, Clonal Interference, and Frequency-Dependent Interactions in a Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli

This study tracks genetic evolution in Escherichia coli populations over 20,000 generations, revealing clonal interference, selective sweeps, and frequency-dependent interactions among mutations.

Modeling and quantifying frequency-dependent fitness in microbial populations with cross-feeding interactions

The paper develops a framework to measure frequency-dependent fitness in microbial populations with cross-feeding interactions using a Monod-type model and long-term evolution experiment data.