Decoding the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of bacterial virulence gene expression using single-cell approaches
Ângela Alves, Rita Pombinho, Didier Cabanes · 2026
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Description
Ângela Alves, Rita Pombinho, and Didier Cabanes review how single-cell methods expose variety in bacterial virulence, in a 2026 paper. Cloned bacteria do not act as one uniform mass; during infection they split into unlike states across place and time.
That spread springs from random gene firing, shifting surroundings, gene change, and cell aging, the authors write. Tricks such as two-state switches, phase variation, dormant persistence, quorum sensing, and memory of past states let cells hedge bets and share labor. Groups gain fitness and staying power in hostile hosts by mixing bold and quiet members. Single-cell tools can now decode this patchwork gene by gene. Grasping it may explain why infections flare or linger and where new drugs could strike.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Ângela Alves, Rita Pombinho, Didier Cabanes |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 64597 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |