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Chance and necessity in the evolution of a bacterial pathogen

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The combination of genomic, epidemiological and evolutionary analyses provides a powerful toolbox for understanding how pathogens adapt to their human hosts. By sequencing 112 Burkholderia dolosa genomes from an outbreak among patients with cystic fibrosis, a new study documents evolution in action and identifies a set of genes that contributed to the pathogen's adaptation.

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Figure 1: Two approaches to identify targets of selection in the B. dolosa genome during an outbreak among cystic fibrosis patients.

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  1. Richard E. Lenski is at the BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA.,

    Richard E. Lenski

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  1. Richard E. Lenski
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Correspondence to Richard E. Lenski.

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Lenski, R. Chance and necessity in the evolution of a bacterial pathogen. Nat Genet 43, 1174–1176 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.1011

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