4.7 Review

Microbial antigenic variation mediated by homologous DNA recombination

Journal

FEMS MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS
Volume 36, Issue 5, Pages 917-948

Publisher

OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6976.2011.00321.x

Keywords

gene conversion; Mycoplasma; Neisseria; Pneumocystis; Treponema; Trypanosoma

Categories

Funding

  1. Wellcome Trust
  2. National Institutes of Health
  3. Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital

Ask authors/readers for more resources

Pathogenic microorganisms employ numerous molecular strategies in order to delay or circumvent recognition by the immune system of their host. One of the most widely used strategies of immune evasion is antigenic variation, in which immunogenic molecules expressed on the surface of a microorganism are continuously modified. As a consequence, the host is forced to constantly adapt its humoral immune response against this pathogen. An antigenic change thus provides the microorganism with an opportunity to persist and/or replicate within the host (population) for an extended period of time or to effectively infect a previously infected host. In most cases, antigenic variation is caused by genetic processes that lead to the modification of the amino acid sequence of a particular antigen or to alterations in the expression of biosynthesis genes that induce changes in the expression of a variant antigen. Here, we will review antigenic variation systems that rely on homologous DNA recombination and that are found in a wide range of cellular, human pathogens, including bacteria (such as Neisseria spp., Borrelia spp., Treponema pallidum, and Mycoplasma spp.), fungi (such as Pneumocystis carinii) and parasites (such as the African trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei). Specifically, the various DNA recombinationbased antigenic variation systems will be discussed with a focus on the employed mechanisms of recombination, the DNA substrates, and the enzymatic machinery involved.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.7
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available