Facultative or “secondary” symbionts are common in eukaryotes, particularly insects. While not essential for host survival, they often provide significant fitness benefits 1–5. It has been ...hypothesized that secondary symbionts form a “horizontal gene pool” shuttling adaptive genes among host lineages in an analogous manner to plasmids and other mobile genetic elements in bacteria 6, 7. However, we do not know whether the distributions of symbionts across host populations reflect random acquisitions followed by vertical inheritance or whether the associations have occurred repeatedly in a manner consistent with a dynamic horizontal gene pool. Here we explore these questions using the phylogenetic and ecological distributions of secondary symbionts carried by 1,104 pea aphids, Acyrthosiphon pisum. We find that not only is horizontal transfer common, but it is also associated with aphid lineages colonizing new ecological niches, including novel plant species and climatic regions. Moreover, aphids that share the same ecologies worldwide have independently acquired related symbiont genotypes, suggesting significant involvement of symbionts in their host’s adaptation to different niches. We conclude that the secondary symbiont community forms a horizontal gene pool that influences the adaptation and distribution of their insect hosts. These findings highlight the importance of symbiotic microorganisms in the radiation of eukaryotes.
•Horizontal acquisition of secondary symbiont is relatively common•Symbiont acquisition is correlated with host colonization of new ecological niches•Hosts that share the same ecology independently acquire related symbiont isolates•Symbionts can be viewed as a horizontal gene pool that is important for host adaptation
Background. Campylobacter species cause a high proportion of bacterial gastroenteritis cases and are a significant burden on health care systems and economies worldwide; however, the relative ...contributions of the various possible sources of infection in humans are unclear. Methods. National-scale genotyping of Campylobacter species was used to quantify the relative importance of various possible sources of human infection. Multilocus sequence types were determined for 5674 isolates obtained from cases of human campylobacteriosis in Scotland from July 2005 through September 2006 and from 999 Campylobacter species isolates from 3417 contemporaneous samples from potential human infection sources. These data were supplemented with 2420 sequence types from other studies, representing isolates from a variety of sources. The clinical isolates were attributed to possible sources on the basis of their sequence types with use of 2 population genetic models, STRUCTURE and an asymmetric island model. Results. The STRUCTURE and the asymmetric island models attributed most clinical isolates to chicken meat (58% and 78% of Campylobacter jejuni and 40% and 56% of Campylobacter coli isolates, respectively), identifying it as the principal source of Campylobacter infection in humans. Both models attributed the majority of the remaining isolates to ruminant sources, with relatively few isolates attributed to wild bird, environment, swine, and turkey sources. Conclusions. National-scale genotyping was a practical and efficient methodology for the quantification of the contributions of different sources to human Campylobacter infection. Combined with the knowledge that retail chicken is routinely contaminated with Campylobacter, these results are consistent with the view that the largest reductions in human campylobacteriosis in industrialized countries will come from interventions that focus on the poultry industry.
Homologous recombination between bacterial strains is theoretically capable of preventing the separation of daughter clusters, and producing cohesive clouds of genotypes in sequence space. However, ...numerous barriers to recombination are known. Barriers may be essential such as adaptive incompatibility, or ecological, which is associated with the opportunities for recombination in the natural habitat. Campylobacter jejuni is a gut colonizer of numerous animal species and a major human enteric pathogen. We demonstrate that the two major generalist lineages of C. jejuni do not show evidence of recombination with each other in nature, despite having a high degree of host niche overlap and recombining extensively with specialist lineages. However, transformation experiments show that the generalist lineages readily recombine with one another in vitro. This suggests ecological rather than essential barriers to recombination, caused by a cryptic niche structure within the hosts.
Hybridization between distantly related organisms can facilitate rapid adaptation to novel environments, but is potentially constrained by epistatic fitness interactions among cell components. The ...zoonotic pathogens Campylobacter coli and C. jejuni differ from each other by around 15% at the nucleotide level, corresponding to an average of nearly 40 amino acids per protein‐coding gene. Using whole genome sequencing, we show that a single C. coli lineage, which has successfully colonized an agricultural niche, has been progressively accumulating C. jejuni DNA. Members of this lineage belong to two groups, the ST‐828 and ST‐1150 clonal complexes. The ST‐1150 complex is less frequently isolated and has undergone a substantially greater amount of introgression leading to replacement of up to 23% of the C. coli core genome as well as import of novel DNA. By contrast, the more commonly isolated ST‐828 complex bacteria have 10–11% introgressed DNA, and C. jejuni and nonagricultural C. coli lineages each have <2%. Thus, the C. coli that colonize agriculture, and consequently cause most human disease, have hybrid origin, but this cross‐species exchange has so far not had a substantial impact on the gene pools of either C. jejuni or nonagricultural C. coli. These findings also indicate remarkable interchangeability of basic cellular machinery after a prolonged period of independent evolution.
Recently, a meningococcal vaccine for group B was approved and deployed into clinical practice. In this trial, the effect of widespread use of this vaccine on the nasopharyngeal carriage of ...meningococcus group B was assessed in more than 24,000 adolescents in Australia.
Bacterial populations can display high levels of genetic structuring but the forces that influence this are incompletely understood. Here, by combining modelling approaches with multilocus sequence ...data for the zoonotic pathogen Campylobacter, we investigated how ecological factors such as niche (host) separation relate to population structure. We analysed seven housekeeping genes from published C. jejuni and C. coli isolate collections from a range of food and wild animal sources as well as abiotic environments. By reconstructing genetic structure and the patterns of ancestry, we quantified C. jejuni host association, inferred ancestral populations, investigated genetic admixture in different hosts and determined the host origin of recombinant C. jejuni alleles found in hybrid C. coli lineages. Phylogenetically distinct C. jejuni lineages were associated with phylogenetically distinct wild birds. However, in the farm environment, phylogenetically distant host animals shared several C. jejuni lineages that could not be segregated according to host origin using these analyses. Furthermore, of the introgressed C. jejuni alleles found in C. coli lineages, 73% were attributed to genotypes associated with food animals. Our results are consistent with an evolutionary scenario where distinct Campylobacter lineages are associated with different host species but the ecological factors that maintain this are different in domestic animals such that phylogenetically distant animals can harbour closely related strains.
We show that a higher incidence of campylobacteriosis is found in young children (age, <5 years) living in rural, compared with urban, areas. Association of this difference with particular animal ...sources was evaluated using multilocus sequence typing. This evaluation was achieved by comparing Campylobacter isolates originating from these children, retail poultry, and a range of animal sources by use of source attribution and phylogenetic analysis methods. The results indicate that chicken is a major source of infection in young urban children, although not in their rural counterparts, for which ruminant and other avian sources are more important
The common zoonotic pathogen Campylobacter coli is an important cause of bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide but its evolution is incompletely understood. Using multilocus sequence type (MLST) data ...of 7 housekeeping genes from a national survey of Campylobacter in Scotland (2005/6), and a combined population genetic-phylogenetics approach, we investigated the evolutionary history of C. coli. Genealogical reconstruction of isolates from clinical infection, farm animals and the environment, revealed a three-clade genetic structure. The majority of farm animal, and all disease causing genotypes belonged to a single clade (clade 1) which had comparatively low synonymous sequence diversity, little deep branching genetic structure, and a higher number of shared alleles providing evidence of recent clonal decent. Calibration of the rate of molecular evolution, based on within-species genetic variation, estimated a more rapid rate of evolution than in traditional estimates. This placed the divergence of the clades at less than 2500 years ago, consistent with the introduction of an agricultural niche having had an effect upon the evolution of the C. coli clades. Attribution of clinical isolate genotypes to source, using an asymmetric island model, confirmed that strains from chicken and ruminants, and not pigs or turkeys, are the principal source of human C. coli infection. Taken together these analyses are consistent with an evolutionary scenario describing the emergence of agriculture-associated C. coli lineage that is an important human pathogen.
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Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Summary Background Meningococcal conjugate vaccines protect individuals directly, but can also confer herd protection by interrupting carriage transmission. We assessed the effects of meningococcal ...quadrivalent glycoconjugate (MenACWY-CRM) or serogroup B (4CMenB) vaccination on meningococcal carriage rates in 18–24-year-olds. Methods In this phase 3, observer-blind, randomised controlled trial, university students aged 18–24 years from ten sites in England were randomly assigned (1:1:1, block size of three) to receive two doses 1 month apart of Japanese Encephalitis vaccine (controls), 4CMenB, or one dose of MenACWY-CRM then placebo. Participants were randomised with a validated computer-generated random allocation list. Participants and outcome-assessors were masked to the treatment group. Meningococci were isolated from oropharyngeal swabs collected before vaccination and at five scheduled intervals over 1 year. Primary outcomes were cross-sectional carriage 1 month after each vaccine course. Secondary outcomes included comparisons of carriage at any timepoint after primary analysis until study termination. Reactogenicity and adverse events were monitored throughout the study. Analysis was done on the modified intention-to-treat population, which included all enrolled participants who received a study vaccination and provided at least one assessable swab after baseline. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov , registration number NCT01214850. Findings Between Sept 21 and Dec 21, 2010, 2954 participants were randomly assigned (987 assigned to control 984 analysed, 979 assigned to 4CMenB 974 analysed, 988 assigned to MenACWY-CRM 983 analysed); 33% of the 4CMenB group, 34% of the MenACWY-CRM group, and 31% of the control group were positive for meningococcal carriage at study entry. By 1 month, there was no significant difference in carriage between controls and 4CMenB (odds ratio 1·2, 95% CI 0·8–1·7) or MenACWY-CRM (0·9, 0·6–1·3) groups. From 3 months after dose two, 4CMenB vaccination resulted in significantly lower carriage of any meningococcal strain (18·2% 95% CI 3·4–30·8 carriage reduction), capsular groups BCWY (26·6% 10·5–39·9 carriage reduction), capsular groups CWY (29·6% 8·1–46·0 carriage reduction), and serogroups CWY (28·5% 2·8–47·5 carriage reduction) compared with control vaccination. Significantly lower carriage rates were also noted in the MenACWY-CRM group compared with controls: 39·0% (95% CI 17·3–55·0) carriage reduction for serogroup Y and 36·2% (15·6–51·7) carriage reduction for serogroup CWY. Study vaccines were generally well tolerated, with increased rates of transient local injection pain and myalgia in the 4CMenB group. No safety concerns were identified. Interpretation Although we detected no significant difference between groups at 1 month after vaccine course, MenACWY-CRM and 4CMenB vaccines reduced meningococcal carriage rates during 12 months after vaccination and therefore might affect transmission when widely implemented. Funding Novartis Vaccines.
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