Trade-Offs of Escherichia coli Adaptation to an Intracellular Lifestyle in Macrophages.

ABSTRACT: The bacterium Escherichia coli exhibits remarkable genomic and phenotypic variation, with some pathogenic strains having evolved to survive and even replicate in the harsh intra-macrophage environment. The rate and effects of mutations that can cause pathoadaptation are key determinants of the pace at which E. coli can colonize such niches and become pathogenic. We used experimental evolution to determine the speed and evolutionary paths undertaken by a commensal strain of E. coli when adapting to intracellular life. We estimated the acquisition of pathoadaptive mutations at a rate of 10-6 per genome per generation, resulting in the fixation of more virulent strains in less than a hundred generations. Whole genome sequencing of independently evolved clones showed that the main targets of i

SUBMITTER: Azevedo M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4709186 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature