Role of selection in the emergence of lineages and the evolution of virulence in Neisseria meningitidis

摘要: Neisseria meningitis is a human commensal bacterium that occasionally causes life-threatening disease. As with number of other bacterial pathogens, meningococcal populations comprise distinct lineages, which persist over many decades and during global spread in the face high rates recombination. In addition, propensity to cause invasive disease associated particular “hyperinvasive” lineages coexist less despite fact does not contribute host-to-host transmission. Here, by combining modeling approach molecular epidemiological data from 1,108 meningococci isolated Czech Republic 27 years, we show interstrain competition, mediated immune selection, can explain both persistence multiple discrete association subset these The model indicates combinations allelic variants housekeeping genes define are very small differences transmission efficiency among hosts. These findings have general implications for emergence lineage structure virulence recombining populations.