Rapid evolutionary adaptation to growth on an 'unfamiliar' carbon source

Cells constantly adapt to changes in their environment. In the majority of cases, the environment shifts between conditions that were previously encountered during the course of evolution, thus enabling evolutionary-programmed responses. In rare cases, however, cells may encounter a new environment to which a novel response is required. To characterize the first steps in adaptation to a novel condition, we studied budding yeast growth on xylulose, a sugar that is very rarely found in the wild. We previously reported that growth on xylulose induces the expression of amino-acid biosynthesis genes, in multiple natural yeast isolates. This induction occurs despite the presence of amino acids in the growth medium and is a unique response to xylulose, not triggered by any of the naturally available carbon sources tested. Propagating these strains for ~300 generations on xylulose significantly improved their growth rate. Notably, the most significant change in gene expression was the loss of amino acid biosynthesis gene induction. Furthermore, the reduction in amino-acid biosynthesis gene expression on xylulose was strongly correlated with the improvement in growth rate, suggesting that internal depletion of amino-acids presented the major bottleneck limiting growth in xylulose. We discuss the possible implications of our results for explaining how cells maintain the balance between supply and demand of amino acids during growth in evolutionary 'familiar' vs. 'novel' conditions. Overall design: mRNA profiles of 12 wt S. cerevisiae strains grown on either YPD or YP-xylulose, before and after 300 generations evolution on YP-xylulose