Standing genetic variation in contingency loci drives the rapid adaptation of Campylobacter jejuni to a novel host.

ABSTRACT: The genome of the food-borne pathogen Campylobacter jejuni contains multiple highly mutable sites, or contingency loci. It has been suggested that standing variation at these loci is a mechanism for rapid adaptation to a novel environment, but this phenomenon has not been shown experimentally. In previous work we showed that the virulence of C. jejuni NCTC11168 increased after serial passage through a C57BL/6 IL-10(-/-) mouse model of campylobacteriosis. Here we sought to determine the genetic basis of this adaptation during passage. Re-sequencing of the 1.64 Mb genome to 200-500 X coverage allowed us to define variation in 23 contingency loci to an unprecedented depth both before and after in vivo adaptation. Mutations in the mouse-adapted C. jejuni were largely restricted to the homopoly

SUBMITTER: Jerome JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3025981 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature