List of Accepted Abstracts

The rate and direction of phenotypic evolution depends on availability of phenotypic variants induced either genetically or environmentally for selection act upon. It is widely accepted that organisms don’t display uniform phenotypic variation, where certain variants arise more frequently than others in response to genetic or environmental perturbations. Previous studies using numerical simulations suggest that genetic interactions governing phenotypes could explain how the bias in phenotypic variation arises. However, it remains unknown whether the phenotypic variation is explained by a real known genetic interaction as expected. To address this question, we characterized variability in transcriptional phenotype in Escherichia coli in response to environmental and genetic perturbations. Using the rich knowledge of the genetic interactions of E. coli, we identified the common genetic properties that affect transcriptional variability in both environmental and genetic causes. Our findings support the relevance of the genetic interactions to shape phenotypic variability that is shared by different perturbations. This study provides an insight into a molecular mechanism underlying generalized response to new environments.