Figure 5.

Design for an evolution experiment where bacteriophage φ6 lineages were selected to withstand damaging effects of heat shock. A virus lysate was exposed to 45°C incubation for 5 minutes, and a dilution of the surviving progeny was plated on a lawn of P. phaseolicola bacteria. Overnight plaque formation at the standard temperature of 25°C corresponded to 5 generations of virus evolution. The plaques were then harvested to remove bacteria, and the process was repeated. Duration of the experiment was 10 days, equivalent to 50 virus generations.