Increased accessibility to the technologies for high-throughput sequencing has revealed the diversity and dynamism of bacterial genomes. It is now known that variation in gene content between bacterial strains may encompass 30–35% of the genes in the genome. Because this genetic diversity and genome variability triggers the emergence of pathogens as well as novel metabolic capabilities in the newly originated strains, there are implicit consequences to human health and the economy. Equally, genomic flexibility is understandably an impacting factor for bacterial populations because of the important role in their evolution and speciation. Conversely, in natural environments, bacteria species are constantly exposed to chemical, physical, and trophic gradients, as well as intraand interspecific interactions that may play an additional role in shaping bacterial biodiversity. More specifically in interactions between bacteria and hosts, it is well accepted that the bacterial counterpart are highly susceptible to genetic changes. They usually have increased generation times when compared to eukaryotic organisms, and are genetically more diverse (Steinert et al., 2000). These aspects, in addition to the production of extremely large populations, allow bacterial species to be efficient at acquiring novel metabolic traits that facilitate their success in colonizing new environments. Highly controlled processes of genetic regulation and genetic diversity are responsible for the ability of bacteria to live and survive under environmental conditions that are continuously changing. Processes that give rise to the genetic variability in bacteria are ultimately responsible for bacterial adaptation. Such processes are represented by point mutations, homologous recombination, and horizontal gene transfer events. Genetic and phenotypic variation is more frequently observed among bacteria since they are haploid organisms and are more susceptible to such changes that are not masked by recombination.
CITATION STYLE
C., R., & K., M. (2011). Bacterial Biodiversity in Natural Environments. In The Importance of Biological Interactions in the Study of Biodiversity. InTech. https://doi.org/10.5772/24547
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