Bacterial adaptative strategies inside host cells

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Background

Emerging infectious diseases are often the result of a host shift, where a pathogen jumps from one host species to another. Deciphering the mechanisms used by bacterial pathogens to evolve and adapt to new hosts is a major issue for veterinary, plant and medical sciences.

Intracellular bacteria that infect both humans and animals use a broad range of molecular pathogenicity determinants to manipulate host cell processes. They develop immunoregulatory strategies that account for their niche adaptation to diverse host cells and immune systems. Thanks to huge technical advances in genetic manipulation of these bacteria, coupled with the tremendous evolution of sequencing technologies, omics approaches, and in vivo imaging, the last five years have witnessed considerable progress in unravelling the molecular dissection of the lifestyles of pathogenic bacteria and the virulence factors involved in their pathogenesis.

In this Research Topic, we would like to describe and emphasize the recent breakthroughs and progress made in understanding the pathogenesis of intracellular bacterial infections and the proposed mechanisms of action of their molecular pathogenicity determinants. Contributions dealing with symbiotic interactions or interaction with plants will also be considered to highlight the continuum between pathogenesis and symbiosis, as well as conserved pathogenicity determinants and types of host response. This Topic should cover core features of the pathogenesis, and summarize the key players of bacterial virulence as well as direct or indirect host targets. The virulence or symbiotic strategies used by intracellular bacteria to exploit their host by controlling host innate immunity and hijacking cellular processes should also be described. Finally, this Research Topic will highlight the complex subtleties of the intimate host-bacterial interactions.

Globally, this Research Topic should draw the big picture of our current understanding of subversion of host cells by intracellular bacteria and this will show that these bacteria are nice examples of ultimate bacterial adaptation to their host.

The subject of this Research Topic is part of a very dynamic research field and it should have a broad impact because of the extensive implications of zoonotic pathogens from the perspective of emerging infectious diseases. Broadly, a better comprehension of the intimate interactions between intracellular bacteria and their host could provide new targets for antimicrobial therapeutics and valuable applications for efficient and sustainable control strategies against infectious diseases. We therefore believe that this is a very timely Topic.

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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