Modulating Mutation Rates in the Wild

What happens to wild isolates of Escherichia coli bacteria from all walks of life when you put them in a laboratory and starve them? In their Perspective, [Rosenberg and Hastings][1] discuss just such a scenario and explain the increased rate of stress-induced mutagenesis--a strategy that may hasten evolution--in starved, aging bacterial colonies derived from wild isolates ([ Bjedov et al .][2]). [1]: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/300/5624/1382 [2]: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/short/300/5624/1404