Department of Quantitative Biomedicine, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
J Med Microbiol. 2020 Feb;69(2):147-161. doi: 10.1099/jmm.0.001134. Epub 2020 Jan 21.
During infections, bacterial pathogens can engage in a variety of interactions with each other, ranging from the cooperative sharing of resources to deadly warfare. This is especially relevant in opportunistic infections, where different strains and species often co-infect the same patient and interact in the host. Here, we review the relevance of these social interactions during opportunistic infections using the human pathogen as a case example. In particular, we discuss different types of pathogen-pathogen interactions, involving both cooperation and competition, and elaborate on how they impact virulence in multi-strain and multi-species infections. We then review evolutionary dynamics within pathogen populations during chronic infections. We particuarly discuss how local adaptation through niche separation, evolutionary successions and antagonistic co-evolution between pathogens can alter virulence and the damage inflicted on the host. Finally, we outline how studying bacterial social dynamics could be used to manage infections. We show that a deeper appreciation of bacterial evolution and ecology in the clinical context is important for understanding microbial infections and can inspire novel treatment strategies.
在感染过程中，细菌病原体之间可以进行各种相互作用，从资源的合作共享到致命的战争。在机会性感染中，情况尤其如此，不同的菌株和物种经常同时感染同一患者，并在宿主中相互作用。在这里，我们以人类病原体为例，综述了这些在机会性感染中发生的社交相互作用的相关性。具体而言，我们讨论了涉及合作和竞争的不同类型的病原体-病原体相互作用，并详细阐述了它们如何影响多菌株和多物种感染中的毒力。然后，我们综述了慢性感染期间病原体种群内的进化动态。我们特别讨论了通过生态位分离、进化更替和病原体之间的拮抗共进化进行局部适应如何改变毒力以及对宿主造成的损害。最后，我们概述了研究细菌社交动态如何用于管理感染。我们表明，在临床环境中更深入地了解细菌的进化和生态学对于理解微生物感染很重要，并可以激发新的治疗策略。
