Evolution of the core and pan-genome of Streptococcus: positive selection, recombination, and genome composition.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The genus Streptococcus is one of the most diverse and important human and agricultural pathogens. This study employs comparative evolutionary analyses of 26 Streptococcus genomes to yield an improved understanding of the relative roles of recombination and positive selection in pathogen adaptation to their hosts.

Results

Streptococcus genomes exhibit extreme levels of evolutionary plasticity, with high levels of gene gain and loss during species and strain evolution. S. agalactiae has a large pan-genome, with little recombination in its core-genome, while S. pyogenes has a smaller pan-genome and much more recombination of its core-genome, perhaps reflecting the greater habitat, and gene pool, diversity for S. agalactiae compared to S. pyogenes. Core-genome recomb

SUBMITTER: Lefebure T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1929146 | biostudies-literature | 2007

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature