Parallel evolution of a type IV secretion system in radiating lineages of the host-restricted bacterial pathogen Bartonella.

ABSTRACT: Adaptive radiation is the rapid origination of multiple species from a single ancestor as the result of concurrent adaptation to disparate environments. This fundamental evolutionary process is considered to be responsible for the genesis of a great portion of the diversity of life. Bacteria have evolved enormous biological diversity by exploiting an exceptional range of environments, yet diversification of bacteria via adaptive radiation has been documented in a few cases only and the underlying molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. Here we show a compelling example of adaptive radiation in pathogenic bacteria and reveal their genetic basis. Our evolutionary genomic analyses of the α-proteobacterial genus Bartonella uncover two parallel adaptive radiations within these host-restricted

SUBMITTER: Engel P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3037411 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature