Bacterial populations as perfect gases: genomic integrity and diversification tensions in Helicobacter pylori.
Microorganisms that persist in single hosts face particular challenges. Helicobacter pylori, an obligate bacterial parasite of the human stomach, has evolved a lifestyle that features interstrain competition and intraspecies cooperation, both of which involve horizontal gene transfer. Microbial species must maintain genomic integrity, yet H. pylori has evolved a complex nonlinear system for diversification that exists in dynamic tension with the mechanisms for ensuring fidelity. Here, we review these tensions and propose that they create a dynamic pool of genetic variants that is sufficiently genetically diverse to allow H. pylori to occupy all of the potential niches in the stomach.
Kang
Josephine
J
Departments of Medicine and Microbiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, 10016 USA.
Blaser
Martin J
MJ
D005075:Biological Evolution; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000235:genetics*