Adaptation to the changing environmental conditions experienced within a host requires
genetic diversity within a microbial population. Genetic diversity arises from mutations which …

Evolutionary success of bacteria relies on the constant fine‐tuning of their mutation rates,
which optimizes their adaptability to constantly changing environmental conditions. When …

The rate at which mutations are generated is central to the pace of evolution. Although this
rate is remarkably similar amongst all cellular organisms, bacterial strains with mutation …

Recent studies have found high frequencies of bacteria with increased genomic rates of
mutation in both clinical and laboratory populations. These observations may seem …

Bacteria contain a number of error prevention and error correction systems that maintain
genome stability. However, strains exhibiting elevated mutation frequencies have recently …

Bacteria with elevated mutation rates are frequently found among natural isolates. This is
probably because of their ability to generate genetic variability, the substrate for natural …

Comparative biochemistry demonstrates that the metabolites, complex biochemical
networks, enzymes and regulatory mechanisms essential to all living cells are conserved in …

T he fragile equilibrium between humans and pathogenic microorganisms, established as a
result of the efforts to control and eradicate infectious diseases, is constantly being …

The separation of sex and reproduction in bacteria and most other microbes makes their
evolutionary adaptation primarily dependent on mutation as the 'raw material'. At first sight …

Mutations drive evolution and were assumed to occur by chance: constantly, gradually,
roughly uniformly in genomes, and without regard to environmental inputs, but this view is …