Winning the arms race: Analysis reveals key gene for bacterial infection
Monday, March 11, 2019 - 09:50
in Biology & Nature
Researchers have applied molecular evolutionary analysis to quantify the severity of negative selection pressures on genes encoding the pneumococcal choline-binding proteins (CBPs). They found particularly strong selective constraints on the gene cbpJ, suggesting its importance for bacterial infection. Further analyses revealed its role in bacterial evasion of host neutrophils, suggesting CbpJ's value as a target for drugs against streptococci.