Survival of the simplest in microbial evolution

The evolution of microbial and viral organisms often generates clonal interference, a mode of competition between genetic clades within a population. Here we show how interference impacts systems biology by constraining genetic and phenotypic complexity. Our analysis uses biophysically grounded evolutionary models for molecular phenotypes, such as fold stability and enzymatic activity of genes. We find a generic mode of phenotypic interference that couples the function of individual genes and the population’s global evolutionary dynamics. Biological implications of phenotypic interference include rapid collateral system degradation in adaptation experiments and long-term selection against genome complexity: each additional gene carries a cost proportional to the total number of genes. Recombination above a threshold rate can eliminate this cost, which establishes a universal, biophysically grounded scenario for the evolution of sex. In a broader context, our analysis suggests that the systems biology of microbes is strongly intertwined with their mode of evolution.