Conditions that sustain constant bacterial growth are seldom found in nature. Oligotrophic
environments and competition among microorganisms force bacteria to be able to adapt …

Our concept of a stable genome is evolving to one in which genomes are plastic and
responsive to environmental changes. Growing evidence shows that a variety of …

Bacteria spend their lives buffeted by changing environmental conditions. To adapt to and
survive these stresses, bacteria have global response systems that result in sweeping …

A basic principle of genetics is that the likelihood that a particular mutation occurs is
independent of its phenotypic consequences. The concept of adaptive mutation seemed to …

The genomes of bacterial species show enormous plasticity in the function of individual
genes, in genome organization and in regulatory organization. Over millions of years, both …

▪ Abstract A decade of research on adaptive mutation has revealed a plethora of mutagenic
mechanisms that may be important in evolution. The DNA synthesis associated with …

The emergence and evolution of metabolic pathways represented a crucial step in
molecular and cellular evolution. In fact, the exhaustion of the prebiotic supply of amino …

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most important opportunistic pathogens involved in
nosocomial infections, cystic fibrosis patients included. Hospital isolates frequently present …

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

Adaptive (stationary-phase) mutagenesis occurs in the gram-positive bacterium Bacillus
subtilis. Furthermore, taking advantage of B. subtilis as a paradigm for the study of …