Pilus operon evolution in Streptococcus pneumoniae is driven by positive selection and recombination.

BACKGROUND: The evolution of bacterial organelles involved in host-pathogen interactions is subject to intense and competing selective pressures due to the need to maintain function while escaping the host immune response. To characterize the interplay of these forces in an important pathogen, we se...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alessandro Muzzi, Monica Moschioni, Antonello Covacci, Rino Rappuoli, Claudio Donati
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2008-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2576445?pdf=render