Nature Communications (Jul 2020)

“Gene accordions” cause genotypic and phenotypic heterogeneity in clonal populations of Staphylococcus aureus

  • Darya Belikova,
  • Angelika Jochim,
  • Jeffrey Power,
  • Matthew T. G. Holden,
  • Simon Heilbronner

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17277-3
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 15

Abstract

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Gene tandem amplifications can drive bacterial evolution. Here, Belikova et al. identify copy number variations of lipoprotein-encoding genes in Staphylococcus aureus clinical isolates, and show that the loci expand and contract during bacterial growth in vitro and in mice, leading to changes in immunostimulatory capacity.