Project properties
Title The predictability of antibiotic resistance evolution
Group Genetics, Laboratory of
Project type thesis
Credits 24-36
Supervisor(s) Mark Zwart, Arjan de Visser
Examiner(s) Arjan de Visser
Contact info arjan.devisser@wur.nl
Begin date 2020/01/22
End date 2024/01/22
Description Evolution is driven by both chance and necessity, which make its outcome hard to predict. Laboratory evolution experiments with micro-organisms provide a powerful means to study evolution under controlled conditions in replicate populations, and quantify the influence of chance (e.g. mutation, genetic drift) and necessity (e.g. selection, adaptive constraints). We use the antibiotic-resistance enzyme TEM-1 beta-lactamase challenged by novel antibiotics as experimental model to study mutational pathways leading to resistance and quantify the repeatability of evolution. We are particularly interested in the interplay between the structure of the fitness landscape and the supply of genetic variation (mutation rate, population size, and recombination rate).
Used skills In vitro and in vivo evolution experiments with the enzyme TEM-1 beta-lactamase; sequencing, MIC assays, competition experiments, statistical analyses; from 2016 also the application of millifluidic technology.
Requirements Basic molecular techniques, such as PCR, cloning of single genes, restriction and sequence analysis, and backrgound in evolutionary theory.