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Full-Text Articles in Microbiology
Inferring Adaptation In Social Microbes From Experimental Evolution Under Relaxed Selection, Tyler John Larsen
Inferring Adaptation In Social Microbes From Experimental Evolution Under Relaxed Selection, Tyler John Larsen
Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Microbes exist against a backdrop of other organisms, and the interactions between microbes have major consequences on their traits, their evolution, and their impact on the world. Microbial interactions and the adaptations that enable them are extremely diverse – they can unlock abilities beyond the reach of individual cells or lead to a population’s destruction, they can be temporary or permanent, they can be between genetically identical cells or different species entirely. The first chapter of this dissertation reviews microbial interactions and the related concept of the evolution of conflict and cooperation.To be certain a trait is an adaptation at …
Dissemination Of The Apicomplexan Parasite, Toxoplasma Gondii, Lisa L. Drewry
Dissemination Of The Apicomplexan Parasite, Toxoplasma Gondii, Lisa L. Drewry
Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The parasitic protist Toxoplasma gondii is a common pathogen of rodents and felines that also infects humans. The most severe clinical manifestations of toxoplasmosis in humans derive from the systemic dissemination of T. gondii, during which the parasite penetrates biological barriers and accesses protected host compartments such as the central nervous system. T. gondii dissemination is enabled by the intrinsic gliding motility of extracellular parasites, which allows for travel to new host cells and tissues, and also powers the invasion of diverse host cells including migratory leukocytes. Dissemination is further advanced when migrating infected leukocytes shuttle intracellular parasites to new …