Targeted protein evolution in the gut microbiome by diversity-generating retroelements

Diversity-generating retroelements (DGRs) accelerate evolution by rapidly diversifying variable proteins. The human gastrointestinal microbiota harbors the greatest density of DGRs known in nature, suggesting they play adaptive roles in this environment. In this project, we have sequenced variable repeat (VR) regions of various Bacteroides DGRs grown in vitro and in vivo to better understand the natural activity and diversification characteristics of host-associated DGRs.