Abstract
It has been known for decades that individual cells within pathogenic bacterial populations have reduced antibiotic susceptibility, which is linked to decreased metabolic rates. A similar phenomenon occurs with virulence-associated proteins, as reduced expression is associated with increased fitness of individual cells. Non-producers within the population can benefit from the virulence proteins produced by others in the population without suffering a fitness cost, thus maintaining a genetically uniform population. Cooperative behavior has been reported for Salmonella and Yersinia, consistent with selection of social behavior to retain genes associated with pathogenesis; however, cooperation was unclear within Mycobacterium populations. This review focuses on these recent descriptions of cooperation, discusses the mechanisms driving heterogeneity, and evaluates the evidence that expression of virulence-associated proteins comes at a fitness cost.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 64-74 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Trends in Microbiology |
Volume | 27 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2019 |
Keywords
- extracellular pathogens
- social behavior
- spatial regulation
- stress reponse
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Microbiology
- Microbiology (medical)
- Infectious Diseases
- Virology