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Pseudomonas aeruginosa adaptation to human hosts

Nature Genetics volume 47, pages 2–3 (2015)Cite this article

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Bacterial whole-genome sequencing of longitudinally collected isolates enables the investigation of evolutionary trajectories, which may inform both the prevention and treatment of human-associated pathogen infections. A new study explores the adaptation of multiple lineages of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to the lungs of young patients with cystic fibrosis and finds evidence of convergent molecular evolution and historical contingencies.

In his seminal book Wonderful Life, Stephen Jay Gould posed the question of whether “replaying life's tape” would lead to the same evolutionary end point or if chance and historical contingencies would make evolution unpredictable. There is a growing interest in the predictability of evolution in the context of infectious disease research. In particular, if exposure to common selective pressures drives pathogens down predictable evolutionary paths, then this can in principle be exploited in the design1 and dissemination2 of treatments. However, enactment of this concept requires predictability in the face of diverse global pathogen populations. On page 57 of this issue, Rasmus Marvig and colleagues3 use genome sequencing to explore the molecular evolution of genetically heterogeneous lineages of P. aeruginosa adapting to the lungs of young patients with cystic fibrosis.

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Figure 1: Convergent evolution and historical contingency of P. aeruginosa adaptation to a human host.

Marina Corral Spence/Nature Publishing Group

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Julia A. Segre is at the National Human Genome Research Institute, US National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.,

    Julia A Segre

  2. Evan S. Snitkin is at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.,

    Evan S Snitkin

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  1. Evan S Snitkin
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  2. Julia A Segre
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Correspondence to Evan S Snitkin or Julia A Segre.

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Snitkin, E., Segre, J. Pseudomonas aeruginosa adaptation to human hosts. Nat Genet 47, 2–3 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.3172

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