This book is an extended argument for abandoning the species rank. Instead, the author
proposes that the rank of" species" be replaced by a pluralistic and multi-level view. In such …

The species Escherichia coli comprises not only non-pathogenic or commensal variants that
belong to the normal intestinal flora of most mammals, but also various pathogenic strains …

Background Comparisons of complete bacterial genomes reveal evidence of lateral transfer
of DNA across otherwise clonally diverging lineages. Some lateral transfer events result in …

Genomes hold within them the record of the evolution of life on Earth. But genome fusions
and horizontal gene transfer (HGT) seem to have obscured sufficiently the gene sequence …

The intracellular flea symbiont, Rickettsia felis, may meet other organisms intracellularly
such as R. typhi. We used a single-gene phylogenetic approach of the 1375 R. felis genes to …

Understanding microbial evolution is essential for gathering information on the most ancient
events in the history of Life on our planet. Nevertheless, the idea that it is impossible to …

Background Genome degradation is an ongoing process in all members of the Rickettsiales
order, which makes these bacterial species an excellent model for studying reductive …

Thanks to the progress and decreasing costs in genome sequencing technologies, more
than 250,000 bacterial genomes are currently available in public databases, covering most …

Plants recognize biotic challengers and respond with the appropriate defense by utilizing
phytohormone signaling and crosstalk. Despite this, microbes and insects have evolved …

Computational pan-genome analysis has emerged from the rapid increase of available
genome sequencing data. Starting from a microbial pan-genome, the concept has spread to …