Abstract

Despite progress in our understanding of infectious disease biology and prevention, the conditions that select for the establishment and maintenance of microbial virulence remain enigmatic. To address this aspect of pathogen biology, we focus on two members of the Staphylococcus genus — Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis — and consider why S. aureus has evolved to become more virulent than S. epidermidis. Several hypotheses to explain this phenomenon are discussed and a mathematical model is used to argue that a complex transmission pathway is the key factor in explaining the evolution and maintenance of virulence in S. aureus. In the case of S. epidermidis, where skin contact affords easier transmission between hosts, high levels of virulence do not offer an advantage to this pathogen.

Author affiliations

1. Ruth C. Massey and Mario Recker are at the Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK.
2. Malcolm J. Horsburgh is at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZB, UK.
3. Gerad Lina is at the INSERM, E0230, Lyon, F-69008 France; Universite Lyon 1, Centre National de reference des Staphylocoques, Faculte Laennec, Lyon, F-69008 France.
4. Magnus Höök is at the Institute of Biosciences and Technologies, Texas A&M Health Science Center, Houston, Texas 77030-3303, USA.

Correspondence to: Ruth C. Massey¹ Email: ruth.massey@zoo.ox.ac.uk

MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS

These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.