The evolutionary genomics of pathogen recombination
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Updated: Aug 6, 2026

Molecular Evolution of the Tre Recombinase
Published on: May 29, 2008
1Section of Evolution and Ecology, University of California at Davis, California 95616, USA. pawadalla@ucdavis.edu
Abstract:
A pressing problem in studying the evolution of microbial pathogens is to determine the extent to which these genomes recombine. This information is essential for locating pathogenicity loci by using association studies or population genetic approaches. Recombination also complicates the use of phylogenetic approaches to estimate evolutionary parameters such as selection pressures. Reliable methods that detect and estimate the rate of recombination are, therefore, vital. This article reviews the approaches that are available for detecting and estimating recombination in microbial pathogens and how they can be used to understand pathogen evolution and to identify medically relevant loci.
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