Natural transformation is the only mechanism of genetic exchange controlled by the recipient bacteria. We quantified its rates in 786 clinical strains of the human pathogens Legionella pneumophila (Lp) and 496 clinical and environmental strains of Acinetobacter baumannii (Ab). The analysis of transformation rates in the light of phylogeny revealed they evolve by a mixture of frequent small changes and a few large quick jumps across 6 orders of magnitude.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProc Natl Acad Sci U S A
September 2019
Natural transformation (i.e., the uptake of DNA and its stable integration in the chromosome) is a major mechanism of horizontal gene transfer in bacteria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF-Translation is a ribosome-rescue system that is ubiquitous in bacteria. Small molecules defining a new family of oxadiazole compounds that inhibit -translation have been found to have broad-spectrum antibiotic activity. We sought to determine the activity of KKL-35, a potent member of the oxadiazole family, against the human pathogen and other related species that can also cause Legionnaires' disease (LD).
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