Mandy Sanders

TL;DR: Comparisons of the cytoskeleton and endocytic trafficking systems of Trypanosoma brucei with those of humans and other eukaryotic organisms reveal major differences.

TL;DR: A proteome-based phylogeny shows that the amoebozoa diverged from the animal–fungal lineage after the plant–animal split, but Dictyostelium seems to have retained more of the diversity of the ancestral genome than have plants, animals or fungi.

TL;DR: The crucial role that accessory elements play in the rapid evolution of S. aureus is clearly illustrated by comparing the MSSA476 genome with that of an extremely closely related MRSA community-acquired strain; the differential distribution of large mobile elements carrying virulence and drug-resistance determinants may be responsible for the clinically important phenotypic differences in these strains.

TL;DR: The authors' analysis indicates that B. parapertussis and B. pertussis are independent derivatives of B. bronchiseptica-like ancestors; host adaptation seems to be a consequence of loss, not gain, of function, and differences in virulence may be related to loss of regulatory or control functions.

TL;DR: It is proposed that variable horizontal gene acquisition by B. pseudomallei is an important feature of recent genetic evolution and that this has resulted in a genetically diverse pathogenic species.