Clones sequencing for CRP project

The Escherichia coli bacterium, one of the most thoroughly studied of all life forms, is a common inhabitant of the human gut but can also live freely as long as nutrients are available. This bacterium is therefore an ideal system for experimental evolution and has been used in many evolution experiments, including the longest-running one, called the “long-term evolutionary experiment” (LTEE). Therefore, long-term adaptation of this bacterium was achieved by substantial rewiring of global regulatory networks. The cAMP receptor protein (CRP)-controlled regulon has been shown to be increasingly important during evolution in the LTEE. In order to examine the adaptation of deleted crp bacteria to a defined environment, we started a short-term evolution experiment of E. coli deleted crp strains derived from the LTEE. Thus, we identify mutations that interfere with the crp deletion and with the robustness of the regulatory network.