Within the plenary session dedicated to microbial pathogenesis Josep Casadesús, a professor at the University of Seville, spoke to us about the phenomenon of phenotypic heterogeneity in bacterial populations. This phenomenon refers to the observation that in populations made up of genetically identical individuals, subpopulations with different behaviors or phenotypes can be observed and therefore will respond differently to environmental changes.
For example, in a population of the pathogen Salmonella individuals can be observed that present very complex polysaccharides on their cell surface and others in which said polysaccharides are very simple. The former are very efficient when it comes to interacting with host cells, but are nevertheless very sensitive to the action of bacteriophage viruses. In this way, if that population suffers a selection pressure due to the presence of phages, the subpopulation that will predominate will be the one that presents simple polysaccharides. But if this selection pressure disappears then the subpopulation with complex polysaccharides will grow again.
In the study of the dynamics of these populations, game theory is used since it allows making predictions that can be verified experimentally, such as multistability phenomena that allow survival in changing environments, the division of labor within microbial populations or non-mutational resistance to antibiotics such as kanamycin.
Summary prepared by Manuel Sánchez from the Miguel Hernández University.
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