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Cryptic ecology among host generalist Campylobacter jejuni in domestic animals
Author(s) -
Sheppard Samuel K.,
Cheng Lu,
Méric Guillaume,
Haan Caroline P. A.,
Llarena AnnKatrin,
Marttinen Pekka,
Vidal Ana,
Ridley Anne,
CliftonHadley Felicity,
Connor Thomas R.,
Strachan Norval J. C.,
Forbes Ken,
Colles Frances M.,
Jolley Keith A.,
Bentley Stephen D.,
Maiden Martin C. J.,
Hänninen MarjaLiisa,
Parkhill Julian,
Hanage William P.,
Corander Jukka
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
molecular ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.619
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1365-294X
pISSN - 0962-1083
DOI - 10.1111/mec.12742
Subject(s) - biology , generalist and specialist species , campylobacter jejuni , niche , ecological niche , recombination , host (biology) , ecology , homologous recombination , evolutionary biology , genetics , habitat , gene , bacteria
Homologous recombination between bacterial strains is theoretically capable of preventing the separation of daughter clusters, and producing cohesive clouds of genotypes in sequence space. However, numerous barriers to recombination are known. Barriers may be essential such as adaptive incompatibility, or ecological, which is associated with the opportunities for recombination in the natural habitat. Campylobacter jejuni is a gut colonizer of numerous animal species and a major human enteric pathogen. We demonstrate that the two major generalist lineages of C. jejuni do not show evidence of recombination with each other in nature, despite having a high degree of host niche overlap and recombining extensively with specialist lineages. However, transformation experiments show that the generalist lineages readily recombine with one another in vitro. This suggests ecological rather than essential barriers to recombination, caused by a cryptic niche structure within the hosts.