Agricultural intensification and the evolution of host specialism in the enteric pathogen Campylobacter jejuni.

ABSTRACT: Modern agriculture has dramatically changed the distribution of animal species on Earth. Changes to host ecology have a major impact on the microbiota, potentially increasing the risk of zoonotic pathogens being transmitted to humans, but the impact of intensive livestock production on host-associated bacteria has rarely been studied. Here, we use large isolate collections and comparative genomics techniques, linked to phenotype studies, to understand the timescale and genomic adaptations associated with the proliferation of the most common food-born bacterial pathogen (Campylobacter jejuni) in the most prolific agricultural mammal (cattle). Our findings reveal the emergence of cattle specialist C. jejuni lineages from a background of host generalist strains that coincided wi

SUBMITTER: Mourkas E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7245135 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature