Sexual selection matters in genetic rescue, but productivity benefits fade over time: a multi-generation experiment to inform conservation.

Globally, many species are threatened by population decline because of anthropogenic changes leading to population fragmentation, genetic isolation and inbreeding depression. Genetic rescue, the controlled introduction of genetic variation, is a method used to relieve such effects in small populations. However, without understanding how the characteristics of rescuers impact rescue attempts interventions run the risk of being sub-optimal, or even counterproductive.

Insights into antibiotic resistance promoted by quinolone exposure.

Quinolone-induced antibiotic resistance (QIAR) refers to the phenomenon by which bacteria exposed to sublethal levels of quinolones acquire resistance to non-quinolone antibiotics. We have explored this in MG1655 using a variety of compounds and bacteria carrying a quinolone-resistance mutation in gyrase, mutations affecting the SOS response, and mutations in error-prone polymerases. The nature of the antibiotic-resistance mutations was determined by whole-genome sequencing.