Abstract
Phenotypic plasticity is the exhibition of various phenotypic traits produced by a single genotype in response to environmental changes, enabling organisms to adapt to environmental changes by maintaining growth and reproduction. Despite its significance in evolutionary studies, we still know little about the genetic control of phenotypic plasticity. In this study, we designed and conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to reveal genetic architecture of how Staphylococcus aureus strains respond to increasing concentrations of vancomycin (0, 2, 4, and 6 μg/mL) in a time course. We implemented functional mapping, a dynamic model for genetic mapping using longitudinal data, to map specific loci that mediate the growth trajectories of abundance of vancomycin-exposed S. aureus strains. 78 significant single nucleotide polymorphisms were identified following analysis of the whole growth and development process, and seven genes might play a pivotal role in governing phenotypic plasticity to the pressure of vancomycin. These seven genes, SAOUHSC_00020 (walR), SAOUHSC_00176, SAOUHSC_00544 (sdrC), SAOUHSC_02998, SAOUHSC_00025, SAOUHSC_00169, and SAOUHSC_02023, were found to help S. aureus regulate antibiotic pressure. Our dynamic gene mapping technique provides a tool for dissecting the phenotypic plasticity mechanisms of S. aureus under vancomycin pressure, emphasizing the feasibility and potential of functional mapping in the study of bacterial phenotypic plasticity.
Highlights
IntroductionPhenotypic plasticity is the capacity of an individual genotype to produce different phenotypes (e.g., morphology or behavior) in specific environments (Anderson et al, 2012; Ashander et al, 2016; Kelly, 2019); phenotypic plasticity is a manifestation of biological adaptability and is the main mechanism by which animals and plants respond to some environmental change (Botero et al, 2015; Pozo et al, 2015; Bonamour et al, 2019)
Phenotypic plasticity is the capacity of an individual genotype to produce different phenotypes in specific environments (Anderson et al, 2012; Ashander et al, 2016; Kelly, 2019); phenotypic plasticity is a manifestation of biological adaptability and is the main mechanism by which animals and plants respond to some environmental change (Botero et al, 2015; Pozo et al, 2015; Bonamour et al, 2019)
The growth curves differed between the strains, which is likely due to their varying minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and degrees of adaptability to vancomycin treatment
Summary
Phenotypic plasticity is the capacity of an individual genotype to produce different phenotypes (e.g., morphology or behavior) in specific environments (Anderson et al, 2012; Ashander et al, 2016; Kelly, 2019); phenotypic plasticity is a manifestation of biological adaptability and is the main mechanism by which animals and plants respond to some environmental change (Botero et al, 2015; Pozo et al, 2015; Bonamour et al, 2019). The response mechanisms of microorganisms to environmental change are highly complex. Phenotypic plasticity can mitigate the effects of environmental changes on microbial growth, heredity and development (Moeller and Sanders, 2020). Studying the phenotypic plasticity of microorganisms is key to understanding the response mechanisms of microorganisms to environmental changes
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