Evolution of increased virulence is associated with decreased spite in the insect-pathogenic bacterium Xenorhabdus nematophila.

ABSTRACT: Disease virulence may be strongly influenced by social interactions among pathogens, both during the time course of an infection and evolutionarily. Here, we examine how spiteful bacteriocin production in the insect-pathogenic bacterium Xenorhabdus nematophila is evolutionarily linked to its virulence. We expected a negative correlation between virulence and spite owing to their inverse correlations with growth. We examined bacteriocin production and growth across 14 experimentally evolved lineages that show faster host-killing relative to their ancestral population. Consistent with expectations, these more virulent lineages showed reduced bacteriocin production and faster growth relative to the ancestor. Further, bacteriocin production was negatively correlated with growth across the exam

SUBMITTER: Bhattacharya A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6731475 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature