Benjamin Kerr
University of Washington, Biology, Faculty Member
Genes that undergo horizontal gene transfer (HGT) evolve in different genomic backgrounds. Despite the ubiquity of cross-species HGT, the effects of switching hosts on gene evolution remains understudied. Here, we present a framework to... more
Genes that undergo horizontal gene transfer (HGT) evolve in different genomic backgrounds. Despite the ubiquity of cross-species HGT, the effects of switching hosts on gene evolution remains understudied. Here, we present a framework to examine the evolutionary consequences of host switching and apply this framework to an antibiotic resistance gene commonly found on conjugative plasmids. Specifically, we determined the adaptive landscape of this gene for a small set of mutationally connected genotypes in three enteric species. We uncovered that the landscape topographies were largely aligned with minimal host-dependent mutational effects. By simulating gene evolution over the experimentally gauged landscapes, we found that the adaptive evolution of the mobile gene in one species translated to adaptation in another. By simulating gene evolution over artificial landscapes, we found that sufficient alignment between landscapes ensures such “adaptive equivalency” across species. Thus, g...
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Model, Data, and Analysis Scripts for The Evolution of Cooperation by the Hankshaw Effect as submitted
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This repository contains the model, data, and analysis corresponding to <em>Negative Niche Construction Favors the Evolution of Cooperation</em> by Brian D. Connelly, Katherine J. Dickinson, Sarah P. Hammarlund, and Benjamin... more
This repository contains the model, data, and analysis corresponding to <em>Negative Niche Construction Favors the Evolution of Cooperation</em> by Brian D. Connelly, Katherine J. Dickinson, Sarah P. Hammarlund, and Benjamin Kerr after addressing feedback from two anonymous reviewers.
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Research Interests: Climate Change, Biology, Medicine, Environmental Change, Multidisciplinary, and 15 moreNature, Natural Selection, Population, Experimental evolution, Mutagenesis, Mutation, Escherichia coli, Human Activities, Population Density, Biological evolution, Genotype, Microbial Sensitivity Tests, Genetic Fitness, Mutation Rate, and DNA mutational analysis
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The evolution of behavior in which an individual sacrifices its own well-being to help others appears plainly untenable, yet our observations of the natural world reveal that altruistic behavior is a ubiquitous strategy. How can such a... more
The evolution of behavior in which an individual sacrifices its own well-being to help others appears plainly untenable, yet our observations of the natural world reveal that altruistic behavior is a ubiquitous strategy. How can such a behavior, which is seemingly antithetical to natural selection, evolve? We show that selection in social systems can be represented in two different ways, either with a focus on individuals (individualist perspective) or with a focus on groups of individuals (collective perspective). Here, we argue that the perspective taken can influence the way that altruism is defined and the precise conditions necessary for its evolution. We show that, under both perspectives, the evolution of altruism is facilitated when altruists preferentially associate with one another through positive assortment. We conclude by presenting empirical research showing that positive assortment can be built into (or closely linked to) the genetic basis for altruism.
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Research Interests: Evolutionary genetics, Molecular Evolution, Life history, Biology, Population Dynamics, and 14 moreMedicine, Adsorption, Biological Sciences, Virulence, Population, Articles, Escherichia coli, Movement, Metapopulation, Pathogen, Spectrophotometry, Genetic Fitness, Host Pathogen Interactions, and Medical and Health Sciences
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Research Interests: Computer Science, Animal Behavior, Medicine, Theoretical biology, Learning, and 15 moreMemory, Biological Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Animals, Behavior change, Sample Size, Organism, Learning Strategies, Engram, Long Term Memory, Learning System, Psychological Models, Environment, Choice Behavior, and Heterogeneous environment
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Research Interests: Evolutionary Biology, Genetics, Microbiology, Bacteriology, Population Genetics, and 15 moreAdaptation, Population Biology, Biology, Bacteriophages, Medicine, Multidisciplinary, Population, Mutation, Evolutionary Processes, Physiological, Bacterial Evolution, Microbial Evolution, PLoS one, Organisms, and Evolutionary Adaptation
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Research Interests: Microbiology, Community Ecology, Agent Based Simulation, Biology, Medicine, and 15 moreEnvironmental Biotechnology, Biological Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Computer Simulation, Bacteriocins, Escherichia coli, Mice, Animals, Bacteriocin, Ecosystem, Mutual Exclusion, Feces, In Silico, Colicin, and isme
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Computational model, configuration files, result data, and analysis scripts for The Evolution of Cooperation by the Hankshaw Effect as published in Evolution (doi: 10.1111/evo.12928)
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... of Restraint in Structured Populations 131 figure 7.2 A biofilm rock-paper-scissors community on the surface of a Petri dish. ... We thank Puneet Aulakh, Brittany Harding, Silja Heilmann, Brooks Miner, and Sterling Sawaya for helpful... more
... of Restraint in Structured Populations 131 figure 7.2 A biofilm rock-paper-scissors community on the surface of a Petri dish. ... We thank Puneet Aulakh, Brittany Harding, Silja Heilmann, Brooks Miner, and Sterling Sawaya for helpful comments on previous drafts of this manuscript. ...