Mikucki August, Kahler Charlene M
Marshall Centre for Infectious Diseases Research and Training, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia.
Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia.
Microorganisms. 2023 Dec 18;11(12):3005. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms11123005.
is commensal of the human pharynx and occasionally invades the host, causing the life-threatening illness invasive meningococcal disease. The meningococcus is a highly diverse and adaptable organism thanks to natural competence, a propensity for recombination, and a highly repetitive genome. These mechanisms together result in a high level of antigenic variation to invade diverse human hosts and evade their innate and adaptive immune responses. This review explores the ways in which this diversity contributes to the evolutionary history and population structure of the meningococcus, with a particular focus on microevolution. It examines studies on meningococcal microevolution in the context of within-host evolution and persistent carriage; microevolution in the context of meningococcal outbreaks and epidemics; and the potential of microevolution to contribute to antimicrobial resistance and vaccine escape. A persistent theme is the idea that the process of microevolution contributes to the development of new hyperinvasive meningococcal variants. As such, microevolution in this species has significant potential to drive future public health threats in the form of hypervirulent, antibiotic-resistant, vaccine-escape variants. The implications of this on current vaccination strategies are explored.
是人类咽部的共生菌，偶尔会侵入宿主，引发危及生命的侵袭性脑膜炎球菌病。由于具有自然转化能力、重组倾向和高度重复的基因组，脑膜炎球菌是一种高度多样化且适应性强的生物体。这些机制共同导致高水平的抗原变异，使其能够侵入不同的人类宿主并逃避其固有免疫和适应性免疫反应。本综述探讨了这种多样性对脑膜炎球菌进化历史和种群结构的影响方式，尤其关注微观进化。它研究了在宿主内进化和持续携带背景下的脑膜炎球菌微观进化研究；在脑膜炎球菌暴发和流行背景下的微观进化；以及微观进化对抗菌药物耐药性和疫苗逃逸的影响。一个持续的主题是，微观进化过程有助于新的高侵袭性脑膜炎球菌变体的出现。因此，该物种的微观进化很有可能以高毒力、抗生素耐药性、疫苗逃逸变体的形式引发未来的公共卫生威胁。本文探讨了这对当前疫苗接种策略的影响。
