On the observation of Evolution

What does Evolution mean to you?

When we talk about evolution, we think of the adaptation of a species to an external environment stresses. But what happens in the host/pathogen scenario, where two species are interacting with each other, and fighting for survival? How does this evolution actually work on the micro level, both on the sides of the host, as well as the pathogen as they wage war? Dr. Britt Koskella talks about the Red Queen hypothesis, specifically in the work that she is doing in phages and their interaction with their specific hosts to bring about co-evolutionary change – changes that can be observed in incredibly short time frames.

References

1. Hernandez, C. A., & Koskella, B. (2019). Phage resistance evolution in vitro is not reflective of in vivo outcome in a plant‐bacteria‐phage system. Evolution, 73(12), 2461-2475.
2. Lab versus nature: Disease resistance evolution differs between environments (https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.13873)
3. Koskella, B., & Lively, C. M. (2009). Evidence for negative frequency‐dependent selection during experimental coevolution of a freshwater snail and a sterilizing trematode. Evolution: International Journal of Organic Evolution, 63(9), 2213-2221.
4. Koskella, B., & Taylor, T. B. (2018). Multifaceted Impacts of Bacteriophages in the Plant Microbiome. Annual Review of Phytopathology, 56, 361-80.
5. The Evolution of Bacteria on a “Mega-Plate” Petri Dish (Kishony Lab)
6. Bugs on Screen

© ShebaAJ, Britt Koskella

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