title: Contrasting within- and between-host immune selection shapes Neisseria Opa repertoires.
abstract: Pathogen evolution is influenced strongly by the host immune response. Previous studies of the effects of herd immunity on the population structure of directly transmitted, short-lived pathogens have primarily focused on the impact of competition for hosts. In contrast, for long-lived infections like HIV, theoretical work has focused on the mechanisms promoting antigenic variation within the host. In reality, successful transmission requires that pathogens balance both within- and between-host immune selection. The Opa adhesins in the bacterial Neisseria genus provide a unique system to study the evolution of the same antigens across two major pathogens: while N. meningitidis is an airborne, respiratory pathogen colonising the nasopharynx relatively transiently, N. gonorrhoeae can cause sexually transmitted, long-lived infections. We use a simple mathematical model and genomic data to show that trade-offs between immune selection pressures within- and between-hosts can explain the contrasting Opa repertoires observed in meningococci and gonococci.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PS.
authors.forename: Eleanor R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Watkins
authors.affiliation: Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115.
authors.forename: Yonatan H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Grad
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PS.
authors.forename: Sunetra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: 1] Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115 [2] Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115.
authors.forename: Caroline O
authors.initials: CO
authors.lastname: Buckee
mesh_terms: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D000941:Antigens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006678:HIV / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000235:genetics*; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity
chemical_list: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D000941:Antigens; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; C090348:Opa protein, Neisseria