Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27197754›Full record

ArticleNature communications2016

Adaptive evolution of complex innovations through stepwise metabolic niche expansion.

Balázs Szappanos, Jonathan Fritzemeier, Bálint Csörgő, Viktória Lázár, Xiaowen Lu, Gergely Fekete, Balázs Bálint, Róbert Herczeg, István Nagy, Richard A Notebaart and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
31citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

31 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Evolution of pollutant biodegradation.Applied microbiology and biotechnology · 2025
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Experimental Evolution of Innovation and Novelty.Trends in ecology & evolution · 2019
    Review
  19. Article
  20. Article
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

13 authors.

Balázs SzappanosSynthetic and Systems Biology Unit, Institute of Biochemistry, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Temesvári krt. 62, Szeged H-6726, Hungary.
Jonathan FritzemeierDepartment for Computer Science, Heinrich Heine University, Universitätsstraße 1, Düsseldorf D-40221, Germany.
Bálint CsörgőSynthetic and Systems Biology Unit, Institute of Biochemistry, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Temesvári krt. 62, Szeged H-6726, Hungary.
Viktória LázárSynthetic and Systems Biology Unit, Institute of Biochemistry, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Temesvári krt. 62, Szeged H-6726, Hungary.
Xiaowen LuDepartment of Bioinformatics (CMBI), Radboud University Medical Centre, Geert Grooteplein Zuid 26-28, Nijmegen 6525 GA, The Netherlands.
Gergely FeketeSynthetic and Systems Biology Unit, Institute of Biochemistry, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Temesvári krt. 62, Szeged H-6726, Hungary.
Balázs BálintSeqOmics Biotechnology Ltd, Vállalkozók útja 7, Mórahalom H-6782, Hungary.
Róbert HerczegSeqOmics Biotechnology Ltd, Vállalkozók útja 7, Mórahalom H-6782, Hungary.
István NagySeqOmics Biotechnology Ltd, Vállalkozók útja 7, Mórahalom H-6782, Hungary.
Richard A NotebaartDepartment of Bioinformatics (CMBI), Radboud University Medical Centre, Geert Grooteplein Zuid 26-28, Nijmegen 6525 GA, The Netherlands.
Martin J LercherDepartment for Computer Science, Heinrich Heine University, Universitätsstraße 1, Düsseldorf D-40221, Germany.
Csaba PálSynthetic and Systems Biology Unit, Institute of Biochemistry, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Temesvári krt. 62, Szeged H-6726, Hungary.
Balázs PappSynthetic and Systems Biology Unit, Institute of Biochemistry, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Temesvári krt. 62, Szeged H-6726, Hungary.

Funding

Wellcome Trust 098016
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

A central challenge in evolutionary biology concerns the mechanisms by which complex metabolic innovations requiring multiple mutations arise. Here, we propose that metabolic innovations accessible through the addition of a single reaction serve as stepping stones towards the later establishment of complex metabolic features in another environment. We demonstrate the feasibility of this hypothesis through three complementary analyses. First, using genome-scale metabolic modelling, we show that complex metabolic innovations in Escherichia coli can arise via changing nutrient conditions. Second, using phylogenetic approaches, we demonstrate that the acquisition patterns of complex metabolic pathways during the evolutionary history of bacterial genomes support the hypothesis. Third, we show how adaptation of laboratory populations of E. coli to one carbon source facilitates the later adaptation to another carbon source. Our work demonstrates how complex innovations can evolve through series of adaptive steps without the need to invoke non-adaptive processes.

Indexed as

Biological EvolutionModels, GeneticAdaptation, BiologicalEscherichia coliMetabolic Networks and Pathways

Identifiers

PMID27197754
PMCPMC5411730

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.