title: Regulatory evolution at the host-pathogen interface.
abstract: Horizontal gene transfer plays a major role in microbial evolution by innovating the bacterial genome with new genetic blueprints to adapt to previously unexploited niches. However, to benefit from these genetic acquisitions, the bacterium must integrate the expression of these new genes into existing regulatory nodes and deploy them at the right time. There is much to gain from uncovering the genetic diversity in noncoding DNA that is selective during host infection because of the beneficial effect it has on bacterial gene expression. By identifying genes that have undergone regulatory evolution, a deeper understanding of the arms race between host and pathogen is gained.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences and the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada. coombes@mcmaster.ca
authors.forename: Brian K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Coombes
mesh_terms: D001363:Awards and Prizes; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D009154:Mutation; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial