The evolution of human pathogens: examples and clinical implications

Recent advances in sequencing of complete bacterial genomes, molecular typi ng of micro-organisms, and research on microbial pathogenicity factors chan ged our view on the evolution of human bacterial pathogens. we review curre nt evolutionary concepts on plague and meningococcal disease to illustrate the interplay of molecular phylogeny, epidemiology, and pathogenicity resea rch. Furthermore, examples of the tremendous velocity of bacterial evolutio n under changing environmental conditions will be discussed.