The evolution of chronic infection strategies in the α-proteobacteria

• Many of the -proteobacteria establish long-term, often chronic, interactions with higher eukaryotes. These interactions range from pericellular colonization through facultative intracellular multiplication to obligate intracellular lifestyles. A common feature in this wide range of interactions is modulation of host-cell proliferation, which sometimes leads to the formation of tumour-like structures in which the bacteria can grow. Comparative genome analyses reveal genome reduction by gene loss in the intracellular -proteobacterial lineages, and genome expansion by gene duplication and horizontal gene transfer in the free-living species. In this review, we discuss -proteobacterial genome evolution and highlight strategies and mechanisms used by these bacteria to infect and multiply in eukaryotic cells.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Biokemi och molekylärbiologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Molecular biology

Molekylärbiologi

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

for (subject category)