Evolutionary Trade-Offs Underlie the Multi-faceted Virulence of Staphylococcus aureus.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial virulence is a multifaceted trait where the interactions between pathogen and host factors affect the severity and outcome of the infection. Toxin secretion is central to the biology of many bacterial pathogens and is widely accepted as playing a crucial role in disease pathology. To understand the relationship between toxicity and bacterial virulence in greater depth, we studied two sequenced collections of the major human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus and found an unexpected inverse correlation between bacterial toxicity and disease severity. By applying a functional genomics approach, we identified several novel toxicity-affecting loci responsible for the wide range in toxic phenotypes observed within these collections. To understand the apparent higher propensity of low toxi

SUBMITTER: Laabei M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4558032 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature