title: Adaptive evolution of highly mutable loci in pathogenic bacteria.
abstract: Bacteria have specific loci that are highly mutable. We argue that the coexistence within bacterial genomes of such 'contingency' genes with high mutation rates, and 'housekeeping' genes with low mutation rates, is the result of adaptive evolution, and facilitates the efficient exploration of phenotypic solutions to unpredictable aspects of the host environment while minimizing deleterious effects on fitness.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, UK.
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Moxon
authors.forename: P B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Rainey
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Nowak
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Lenski
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005785:Gene Conversion; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006193:Haemophilus influenzae / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial