Publications – Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics

Negative frequency-dependent selection and asymmetrical transformation stabilise multi-strain bacterial population structures.

Author(s): Harrow GL, Lees JA, Hanage WP, Lipsitch M, Corander J, Colijn C, Croucher NJJournal: ISME JPMID: 33408365 January 2021

Streptococcus pneumoniae can be divided into many strains, each a distinct set of isolates sharing similar core and accessory genomes,…

Evolution via recombination: Cell-to-cell contact facilitates larger recombination events in Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Author(s): Cowley LA, Petersen FC, Junges R, Jimson D Jimenez M, Morrison DA, Hanage WPJournal: PLoS GenetPMID: 29897968 June 2018

Homologous recombination in the genetic transformation model organism Streptococcus pneumoniae is thought to be important in the adaptation and evolution…

Weak Epistasis May Drive Adaptation in Recombining Bacteria.

Author(s): Arnold BJ, Gutmann MU, Grad YH, Sheppard SK, Corander J, Lipsitch M, Hanage WPJournal: GeneticsPMID: 29330348 March 2018

The impact of epistasis on the evolution of multi-locus traits depends on recombination. While sexually reproducing eukaryotes recombine so frequently…

Frequency-dependent selection in vaccine-associated pneumococcal population dynamics.

Author(s): Corander J, Fraser C, Gutmann MU, Arnold B, Hanage WP, Bentley SD, Lipsitch M, Croucher NJJournal: Nat Ecol EvolPMID: 29038424 December 2017

Many bacterial species are composed of multiple lineages distinguished by extensive variation in gene content. These often cocirculate in the…

Penicillin Resistance of Nonvaccine Type Pneumococcus before and after PCV13 Introduction, United States.

Author(s): Andam CP, Worby CJ, Gierke R, McGee L, Pilishvili T, Hanage WPJournal: Emerg Infect DisPMID: 28518018 June 2017

Introduction of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in the United States was not associated with a significant change in prevalence of…

Efficient Inference of Recent and Ancestral Recombination within Bacterial Populations.

Author(s): Mostowy R, Croucher NJ, Andam CP, Corander J, Hanage WP, Marttinen PJournal: Mol Biol EvolPMID: 28199698 May 2017

Prokaryotic evolution is affected by horizontal transfer of genetic material through recombination. Inference of an evolutionary tree of bacteria thus…

Genomic Epidemiology of Penicillin-Nonsusceptible Pneumococci with Nonvaccine Serotypes Causing Invasive Disease in the United States.

Author(s): Andam CP, Mitchell PK, Callendrello A, Chang Q, Corander J, Chaguza C, McGee L, Beall BW, Hanage WPJournal: J Clin MicrobiolPMID: 28100596 April 2017

Conjugate vaccination against seven pneumococcal serotypes (PCV7) reduced disease prevalence due to antibiotic-resistant strains throughout the 2000s. However, diseases caused…

Association of Pneumococcal Protein Antigen Serology With Age and Antigenic Profile of Colonizing Isolates.

Author(s): Azarian T, Grant LR, Georgieva M, Hammitt LL, Reid R, Bentley SD, Goldblatt D, Santosham M, Weatherholtz R, Burbidge P, Goklish N, Thompson CM, Hanage WP, O'Brien KL, Lipsitch MJournal: J Infect DisPMID: 28035010 March 2017

Several Streptococcus pneumoniae proteins play a role in pathogenesis and are being investigated as vaccine targets. It is largely unknown…

Substitutions of short heterologous DNA segments of intragenomic or extragenomic origins produce clustered genomic polymorphisms.

Author(s): Harms K, Lunnan A, Hülter N, Mourier T, Vinner L, Andam CP, Marttinen P, Fridholm H, Hansen AJ, Hanage WP, Nielsen KM, Willerslev E, Johnsen PJJournal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S APMID: 27956618 December 2016

In a screen for unexplained mutation events we identified a previously unrecognized mechanism generating clustered DNA polymorphisms such as microindels…

Recombination in Streptococcus pneumoniae Lineages Increase with Carriage Duration and Size of the Polysaccharide Capsule.

Author(s): Chaguza C, Andam CP, Harris SR, Cornick JE, Yang M, Bricio-Moreno L, Kamng'ona AW, Parkhill J, French N, Heyderman RS, Kadioglu A, Everett DB, Bentley SD, Hanage WPJournal: MBioPMID: 27677790 September 2016

Streptococcus pneumoniae causes a high burden of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) globally, especially in children from resource-poor settings. Like many…