Antigenic variation and transmission fitness as drivers of bacterial strain structure

Guy H Palmer; Kelly A Brayton

doi:10.1111/cmi.12182

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Antigenic variation and transmission fitness as drivers of bacterial strain structure

Journal article

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Peer reviewed

Antigenic variation and transmission fitness as drivers of bacterial strain structure

Guy H Palmer and Kelly A Brayton

Cellular microbiology, Vol.15(12), pp.1969-1975

12/2013

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/cmi.12182

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https://hdl.handle.net/2376/108243

PMCID: PMC3836861

PMID: 23941262

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Abstract

Bacteremia - immunology

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins - immunology

Anaplasma marginale - genetics

Anaplasmosis - immunology

Antigens, Bacterial - immunology

Selection, Genetic

Anaplasma marginale - classification

Antigens, Bacterial - genetics

Genetic Variation

Animals

Immune Evasion - genetics

Anaplasmosis - transmission

Anaplasma marginale - immunology

Antigenic Variation - immunology

Immune Evasion - immunology

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins - genetics

Shifts in microbial strain structure underlie both emergence of new pathogens and shifts in patterns of infection and disease of known agents. Understanding the selective pressures at a population level as well as the mechanisms at the molecular level represent significant gaps in our knowledge regarding microbial epidemiology. Highly antigenically variant pathogens, which are broadly represented among microbial taxa, are most commonly viewed through the mechanistic lens of how they evade immune clearance within the host. However, equally important are mechanisms that allow pathogens to evade immunity at the population level. The selective pressure of immunity at both the level of the individual host and the population is a driver of diversification within a pathogen strain. Using Anaplasma marginale as a model highly antigenically variable bacterial pathogen, we review how immunity selects for genetic diversification in alleles encoding outer membrane proteins both within and among strains. Importantly, genomic comparisons among strains isolated from diverse epidemiological settings elucidates the counterbalancing pressures for diversification and conservation, driven by immune escape and transmission fitness, respectively, and how these shape pathogen strain structure.

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Title: Antigenic variation and transmission fitness as drivers of bacterial strain structure
Creators: Guy H Palmer - Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164-7090, USA
Kelly A Brayton
Publication Details: Cellular microbiology, Vol.15(12), pp.1969-1975
Academic Unit: Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Department of; Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health
Publisher: England
Grant note: R37 AI044005 / NIAID NIH HHS GM075800M / Wellcome Trust
Identifiers: 99900546904401842
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article