Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25717335›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in genetics2015

There and back again: consequences of biofilm specialization under selection for dispersal.

Devon O'Rourke, Cody E FitzGerald, Charles C Traverse, Vaughn S Cooper

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in genetics, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed
2.5field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

21 citing papers in PubMed, 28 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Genetic diversification ofApplied and environmental microbiology · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Pellicle Biofilm Formation inJournal of bacteriology · 2022
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Article
  20. Experimental evolution in biofilm populations.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2016
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Devon O'RourkeMolecular, Cellular, and Biomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire Durham, NH, USA.
Cody E FitzGeraldMolecular, Cellular, and Biomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire Durham, NH, USA.
Charles C TraverseDepartment of Microbiology, University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX, USA.
Vaughn S CooperMolecular, Cellular, and Biomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire Durham, NH, USA.
The University of Texas at Austin · US

Funding

Molecular mechanisms of adaptive diversity in Burkholderia biofilmsR01GM110444 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI COOPER, VAUGHN · 2015 to 2019
$1.5M
NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM110444
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Experimental evolution paired with modern sequencing can be a powerful approach to identify the mechanisms by which bacteria adapt to discrete environmental conditions found in nature or during infections. We used this approach to identify mechanisms enabling biofilm specialists of the opportunistic respiratory pathogen Burkholderia cenocepacia to regain planktonic fitness. Seven mutants producing wrinkly (W) small-colony variants by mutations in the wrinkly-spreader operon (wsp) cluster, but with varying duration of biofilm adaptation, served as ancestors of this experiment. Following planktonic growth, each W ancestor produced smooth (S) mutants with distinct fitness effects across planktonic, biofilm, and dispersal-phase environments. The causes of the S phenotype traced to mutations in three gene clusters: wsp, Bcen2424_1436, an uncharacterized two-component transcriptional regulator which appears to be critical for wsp signaling, and a cohort of genes involved in polysaccharide synthesis. The genetic pathway from W to S also associated with evolutionary history in the biofilm environment. W mutants isolated from long-term biofilm selection usually produced S types via secondary wsp mutations, whereas S types evolved from less adapted W ancestors by a wider scope of mutations. These different genetic pathways to suppress the W phenotype suggest that prolonged biofilm adaptation limits routes to subsequent planktonic adaptation, despite common initial mechanisms of biofilm adaptation. More generally, experimental evolution can be used as a nuanced screen for gain-of-function mutations in multiple conditions that illustrate tensions that bacteria may face in changing environments or hosts.

Indexed as

adaptationbiofilmBurkholderia cepaciacontingencydispersalevolutionexopolymeric substances

Identifiers

PMID25717335
PMCPMC4324302
OpenAlexW1978679203

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.