Milner Centre for Evolution, Department of Biology & Biotechnology, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath, UK.
Department of Cell & Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Nat Rev Genet. 2018 Sep;19(9):549-565. doi: 10.1038/s41576-018-0032-z.
Some bacteria can transfer to new host species, and this poses a risk to human health. Indeed, an estimated 60% of all human pathogens have originated from other animal species. Similarly, human-to-animal transitions are recognized as a major threat to sustainable livestock production, and emerging pathogens impose an increasing burden on crop yield and global food security. Recent advances in high-throughput sequencing technologies have enabled comparative genomic analyses of bacterial populations from multiple hosts. Such studies are providing new insights into the evolutionary processes that underpin the establishment of bacteria in new host niches. A better understanding of the genetic and mechanistic basis for bacterial host adaptation may reveal novel targets for controlling infection or inform the design of approaches to limit the emergence of new pathogens.
一些细菌可以转移到新的宿主物种，这对人类健康构成了威胁。事实上，据估计，所有人类病原体的 60%都源自其他动物物种。同样，人畜之间的传播被认为是可持续畜牧业生产的主要威胁，新出现的病原体对作物产量和全球粮食安全造成了越来越大的负担。高通量测序技术的最新进展使得能够对来自多种宿主的细菌种群进行比较基因组分析。这些研究为理解细菌在新宿主小生境中建立的进化过程提供了新的见解。更好地了解细菌宿主适应性的遗传和机制基础可能揭示控制感染的新靶点，或为限制新病原体出现的方法设计提供信息。
