Genomic and phenotypic diversification of Pseudomonas aeruginosa during sustained exposure to a ciliate predator.

Abstract excerpt

Predator-mediated selection is an important ecological force shaping bacterial evolution, but its effects on genomic adaptation and virulence in opportunistic pathogens are not fully understood. Here, we used experimental evolution to study how exposure to the ciliate predator Tetrahymena thermophila affects Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Replicate populations were evolved for 60 days with or without the predator,...

Topics

• Pseudomonas aeruginosa
• Phenotype
• Virulence
• Tetrahymena thermophila
• Animals
• Genome, Bacterial
• Adaptation, Physiological
• Mutation
• Selection, Genetic