2012年9月17日 讯 /生物谷BIOON/ --近日，一项刊登在著名杂志PLoS Pathogens上的研究报告“Insights from Genomics into Bacterial Pathogen Populations”中，来自牛津大学人类遗传学中心的研究者从基因组学角度来深入剖析了致病菌的致病机制。
每年由于致病菌的感染、致病甚至死亡给全人类带来了巨大的精神和经济负担。目前对人类健康最大威胁的致病菌包括高致病性呼吸道病原体、肠道病菌、HIV相关的感染病菌等。仅仅肺结核，每年都会引发150人死亡。
细菌的进化以及药物耐受性的扩散给传统的病原菌疗法带来了巨大冲击，然而通过对病原菌进行全基因组的测序或许可以寻找到细菌致病的关键基因，科学家就可以以其作为靶点来进行致病菌的特殊靶向治疗，进而杀灭病原菌，抑制其感染。
通过提供病原菌的进化以及其流行病学调查数据，全基因组分析方法就可以为新型的细菌感染疗法和靶向疗法提供帮助。通过全基因组方法对病原菌进行测序可以为我们提供一些信息包括：病原菌在宿主中的进化、转移历史、病原菌的具体结构等。而且快速的测序技术也可以开辟一个实时定量基因组学的新纪元，这样，研究者就可以在数小时之内解决公众的病原菌健康隐患或紧急事件。
这篇综述文章的目的在于指出群体基因组学对于致病菌所带来的变化效应，以及帮助我们更好地理解细菌的致病因子以及其致病的分子机理。（生物谷Bioon.com）
doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1002874
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Insights from Genomics into Bacterial Pathogen Populations
Daniel J. Wilson1,2*
Bacterial pathogens impose a heavy burden of disease on human populations worldwide. The gravest threats are posed by highly virulent respiratory pathogens, enteric pathogens, and HIV-associated infections. Tuberculosis alone is responsible for the deaths of 1.5 million people annually. Treatment options for bacterial pathogens are being steadily eroded by the evolution and spread of drug resistance. However, population-level whole genome sequencing offers new hope in the fight against pathogenic bacteria. By providing insights into bacterial evolution and disease etiology, these approaches pave the way for novel interventions and therapeutic targets. Sequencing populations of bacteria across the whole genome provides unprecedented resolution to investigate (i) within-host evolution, (ii) transmission history, and (iii) population structure. Moreover, advances in rapid benchtop sequencing herald a new era of real-time genomics in which sequencing and analysis can be deployed within hours in response to rapidly changing public health emergencies. The purpose of this review is to highlight the transformative effect of population genomics on bacteriology, and to consider the prospects for answering abiding questions such as why bacteria cause disease.
