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The distributed genome hypothesis as a rubric for understanding evolution in situ during chronic bacterial biofilm infectious processes

The distributed genome hypothesis as a rubric for understanding evolution in situ during chronic bacterial biofilm infectious processes
The distributed genome hypothesis as a rubric for understanding evolution in situ during chronic bacterial biofilm infectious processes
Most chronic infectious disease processes associated with bacteria are characterized by the formation of a biofilm which provides for bacterial attachment to the host tissue or implanted medical device. The biofilm protects the bacteria from the host's adaptive immune response, as well as predation by phagocytic cells. However, the most insidious aspect of biofilm biology from the host's point of view is that the biofilm provides an ideal setting for bacterial horizontal gene transfer (HGT). HGT provides for large-scale genome content changes in situ during the chronic infectious process. Obviously, for HGT processes to result in the reassortment of alleles and genes among bacterial strains the infection must be polyclonal (polymicrobial) in nature. In this review we marshal the evidence that all of the factors are present in biofilm infections to support HGT which results in the ongoing production of novel strains with unique combinations of genic characters and that the continual production of large numbers of novel, but related bacterial strains leads to persistence. This concept of an infecting population of bacteria undergoing mutagenesis to produce a 'cloud' of similar strains to confuse and overwhelm the host's immune system parallels genetic diversity stratagies employed by viral and parasitic pathogens
0928-8244
269-279
Ehrlich, G.D.
b833a842-afd2-4d97-9191-ce09ed9f5be1
Ahmed, A.
29a81242-835e-4661-bffd-3831f02ee2b6
Earl, J.
bc34aee6-ef74-4c50-b38c-052e2b415c82
Hiller, N.L.
a3635f23-c2d4-4b6c-8366-7f0a9ae7e026
Costerton, J.W.
1be42ff0-b76b-47e5-83a7-67bd2905dfc4
Stoodley, P.
08614665-92a9-4466-806e-20c6daeb483f
Post, J.C.
5bd224d7-ac40-4723-a3cc-f1fa4be59772
DeMeo, P.J.
1b14f56a-ecbb-4ddd-925f-cafea45f6744
Fu, F.
101cd041-3c1d-42c8-8b57-3b905a911909
Ehrlich, G.D.
b833a842-afd2-4d97-9191-ce09ed9f5be1
Ahmed, A.
29a81242-835e-4661-bffd-3831f02ee2b6
Earl, J.
bc34aee6-ef74-4c50-b38c-052e2b415c82
Hiller, N.L.
a3635f23-c2d4-4b6c-8366-7f0a9ae7e026
Costerton, J.W.
1be42ff0-b76b-47e5-83a7-67bd2905dfc4
Stoodley, P.
08614665-92a9-4466-806e-20c6daeb483f
Post, J.C.
5bd224d7-ac40-4723-a3cc-f1fa4be59772
DeMeo, P.J.
1b14f56a-ecbb-4ddd-925f-cafea45f6744
Fu, F.
101cd041-3c1d-42c8-8b57-3b905a911909

Ehrlich, G.D., Ahmed, A., Earl, J., Hiller, N.L., Costerton, J.W., Stoodley, P., Post, J.C., DeMeo, P.J. and Fu, F. (2010) The distributed genome hypothesis as a rubric for understanding evolution in situ during chronic bacterial biofilm infectious processes. FEMS Immunology & Medical Microbiology, 59 (3), 269-279. (doi:10.1111/j.1574-695X.2010.00704.x). (PMID:20618850)

Record type: Article

Abstract

Most chronic infectious disease processes associated with bacteria are characterized by the formation of a biofilm which provides for bacterial attachment to the host tissue or implanted medical device. The biofilm protects the bacteria from the host's adaptive immune response, as well as predation by phagocytic cells. However, the most insidious aspect of biofilm biology from the host's point of view is that the biofilm provides an ideal setting for bacterial horizontal gene transfer (HGT). HGT provides for large-scale genome content changes in situ during the chronic infectious process. Obviously, for HGT processes to result in the reassortment of alleles and genes among bacterial strains the infection must be polyclonal (polymicrobial) in nature. In this review we marshal the evidence that all of the factors are present in biofilm infections to support HGT which results in the ongoing production of novel strains with unique combinations of genic characters and that the continual production of large numbers of novel, but related bacterial strains leads to persistence. This concept of an infecting population of bacteria undergoing mutagenesis to produce a 'cloud' of similar strains to confuse and overwhelm the host's immune system parallels genetic diversity stratagies employed by viral and parasitic pathogens

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Published date: 28 May 2010

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 147167
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/147167
ISSN: 0928-8244
PURE UUID: e2457ce4-5178-42af-a01a-8050058fc219
ORCID for P. Stoodley: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-6069-273X

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Date deposited: 23 Apr 2010 13:51
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:55

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Contributors

Author: G.D. Ehrlich
Author: A. Ahmed
Author: J. Earl
Author: N.L. Hiller
Author: J.W. Costerton
Author: P. Stoodley ORCID iD
Author: J.C. Post
Author: P.J. DeMeo
Author: F. Fu

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