Genetic mechanisms for modulating virulence determinants on the bacterial surface.
Many pathogenic bacteria gain considerable advantage in being able to vary the nature of their surfaces. This means that the stimulus presented to the immune systems of their animal or human hosts is varied. Consequently such pathogens can evade certain host defences and either prolong the course of disease or ensure that repeated infections are possible because the host does not develop lasting immunity. In recent years evidence has been accumulating for a complex variety of genetic mechanisms that allow bacteria to switch the expression of their surface components on and off and also to vary the structural and antigenic nature of those components. Most of the mechanisms that will be discussed here involve rearrangements of structural or controlling genes within the bacterial chromosome or in some cases between plasmids. The role of such changes in the evolution of pathogens and bacteria in general will be discussed.
Saunders
J R
JR
Department of Genetics and Microbiology, University of Liverpool, U.K.
D000940:Antigenic Variation / Q000235:genetics*; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001886:Bordetella pertussis / Q000235:genetics; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D006193:Haemophilus influenzae / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D009344:Neisseria gonorrhoeae / Q000235:genetics; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000235:genetics; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics*
D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins