Indirect regulation of gene expression: Implications for bacterial evolution

In bacteria, the exponential growth rate and the level of gene expression are intimately connected, and can be quantified by simple, empirical ‘growth laws.’ I will discuss how these empirical constraints are characterized, and their possible mechanistic origins. The main focus of the talk will be ongoing work to track how evolutionary adaptation shapes the growth laws, using Lenski’s laboratory-evolved strains as a case study.