Core genes can have higher recombination rates than accessory genes within global microbial populations.

ABSTRACT: Recombination is essential to microbial evolution, and is involved in the spread of antibiotic resistance, antigenic variation, and adaptation to the host niche. However, assessing the impact of homologous recombination on accessory genes which are only present in a subset of strains of a given species remains challenging due to their complex phylogenetic relationships. Quantifying homologous recombination for accessory genes (which are important for niche-specific adaptations) in comparison to core genes (which are present in all strains and have essential functions) is critical to understanding how selection acts on variation to shape species diversity and genome structures of bacteria. Here, we apply a computationally efficient, non-phylogenetic approach to measure homologous recombinat

SUBMITTER: Preska Steinberg A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9444244 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature