Data/hora: 11/06/2024 11:24:09

Provedor de dados: | Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases
País: | Brazil
Título: | Pathogenicity mechanisms of prokaryotic cells: an evolutionary view
Autores: | Sousa,Cristina Paiva de.
Data: | 2003-02-01
Ano: | 2003
Palavras-chave: | Pathogenicity; Prokaryotic evolution; Genetic variation; Bacterial virulence.
Resumo: | The success of pathogenic microbes depends on their ability to colonize host tissues and to counter host defense mechanisms. Microorganisms can produce overwhelming infection because of their relatively short generation times, and because they have evolved powerful mechanisms for generating phenotypic diversity as an efficient strategy for adapting to rapidly responding immune system defenses and the broad range of polymorphisms characteristic of different host tissues. Bacterial evolution may not be a continuous process, but more of a succession of temporally spaced major events. These events cause a non-gradual sequence of adaptations to a given environment. The pathogenicity islands may be genetically unstable elements, and many of the genes coding for the adhesins, toxins and other virulence factors are present in pathogenicity islands, which almost certainly had former lives as accessory elements or as parts thereof, or were borne on functional accessory elements. Novel genes are also acquired by transduction (mediated by bacteriophages, plasmids or transposons), by conjugation (DNA transfer between cells) or by transformation (natural DNA uptake). Horizontal gene transfer from other species is a major source of variation and is fundamental to the genetic theory of adaptive evolution in prokaryotes.
Tipo: | Info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Idioma: | Inglês
Identificador: | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1413-86702003000100004
Editor: | Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases
Relação: | 10.1590/S1413-86702003000100004
Formato: | text/html
Fonte: | Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases  v.7 n.1 2003
Fonte: | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess