Abstract
Vibrio cholerae is one of the deadliest pathogens in the history of humankind. It is the causative agent of cholera, a disease characterized by a profuse and watery diarrhoea that still today causes 95.000 deaths worldwide every year. V. cholerae is a free living marine organism that interacts with and infects a variety of organisms, from amoeba to humans, including insects and crustaceans. The complexity of the lifestyle and ecology of V. cholerae suggests a high genetic and phenotypic plasticity. In this review, we will focus on two peculiar genomic features that enhance genetic plasticity in this bacterium: the division of its genome in two different chromosomes and the presence of the superintegron, a gene capture device that acts as a large, low-cost memory of adaptive functions, allowing V. cholerae to adapt rapidly.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International microbiology : the official journal of the Spanish Society for Microbiology
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
