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A Fluorescence-based Method to Study Bacterial Gene Regulation in Infected Tissues
Published on: February 19, 2019
The Evolutionary Genomics of Host Specificity in Staphylococcus aureus
Marta Matuszewska1, Gemma G R Murray1, Ewan M Harrison2
1Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB3 0ES, UK.
Abstract:
Staphylococcus aureus is an important human bacterial pathogen that has a cosmopolitan host range, including livestock, companion and wild animal species. Genomic and epidemiological studies show that S. aureus has jumped between host species many times over its evolutionary history. These jumps have involved the dynamic gain and loss of host-specific adaptive genes, usually located on mobile genetic elements. The same functional elements are often consistently gained in jumps into a particular species. Further sampling of diverse animal species is likely to uncover an even broader host range and greater genetic diversity of S. aureus than is already known, and understanding S. aureus host specificity in these hosts will mitigate the risks of emergent human and livestock strains.
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