Frequency-dependent selection in vaccine-associated pneumococcal population dynamics.

ABSTRACT: Many bacterial species are composed of multiple lineages distinguished by extensive variation in gene content. These often cocirculate in the same habitat, but the evolutionary and ecological processes that shape these complex populations are poorly understood. Addressing these questions is particularly important for Streptococcus pneumoniae, a nasopharyngeal commensal and respiratory pathogen, because the changes in population structure associated with the recent introduction of partial-coverage vaccines have substantially reduced pneumococcal disease. Here we show that pneumococcal lineages from multiple populations each have a distinct combination of intermediate-frequency genes. Functional analysis suggested that these loci may be subject to negative frequency-dependent selection (NFDS

SUBMITTER: Corander J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5708525 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature