Riley M A
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, USA.
Annu Rev Genet. 1998;32:255-78. doi: 10.1146/annurev.genet.32.1.255.
Microorganisms are engaged in a never-ending arms race. One consequence of this intense competition is the diversity of antimicrobial compounds that most species of bacteria produce. Surprisingly, little attention has been paid to the evolution of such extraordinary diversity. One class of antimicrobials, the bacteriocins, has received increasing attention because of the high levels of bacteriocin diversity observed and the use of bacteriocins as preservatives in the food industry and as antibiotics in the human health industry. However, little effort has been focused on evolutionary questions, such as what are the phylogenetic relationships among these toxins, what mechanisms are involved in their evolution, and how do microorganisms respond to such an arsenal of weapons? The focus of this review is to provide a detailed picture of our current understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the process of bacteriocin diversification.
微生物界正在进行一场永无休止的军备竞赛。这种激烈竞争的一个结果是大多数细菌物种都会产生多种抗菌化合物。令人惊讶的是，人们很少关注这种非凡多样性的进化过程。一类抗菌物质——细菌素，由于观察到的细菌素多样性水平很高，以及其在食品工业中用作防腐剂和在人类健康产业中用作抗生素，因此受到越来越多的关注。然而，很少有人致力于研究进化问题，比如这些毒素之间的系统发育关系是什么、它们的进化涉及哪些机制，以及微生物如何应对如此多样的武器库？本综述的重点是详细阐述我们目前对细菌素多样化过程中所涉及分子机制的理解。
