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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0PLOS Pathogens

The underappreciated role for phase variation and quasi-clonality in microbial populations

  • Sophie Dyzenhaus1
  • Scott D. Gray-Owen2
  • Freeman Lan
  1. 1Department of Molecular Genetics, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  2. 2Institute of Biomedical Engineering at Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Abstract

Phase variation is a well-established phenomenon in some bacteria, where it generates heritable phenotypic variants within a population. These states, while reversible, are stable across generations, giving rise to quasi-clonal populations even when starting from a single bacterium. Underlying mechanisms include variation in short homopolymeric or heteropolymeric sequence repeats, DNA inversions mediated by site-specific recombination, reversible insertions and deletions, and switching between alternative methylation states. Although phase variation occurs in diverse bacteria, its contribution to phenotypic heterogeneity remains overlooked and use of the term is often absent in describing this phenomenon.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{dyzenhaus2026underappreciated,
  title = {{The underappreciated role for phase variation and quasi-clonality in microbial populations}},
  author = {Sophie Dyzenhaus and Scott D. Gray-Owen and Freeman Lan},
  journal = {PLOS Pathogens},
  year = {2026},
  month = nov,
  doi = {10.1371/journal.ppat.1014761},
  url = {https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1014761},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - The underappreciated role for phase variation and quasi-clonality in microbial populations
AU  - Sophie Dyzenhaus
AU  - Scott D. Gray-Owen
AU  - Freeman Lan
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/06
JO  - PLOS Pathogens
DO  - 10.1371/journal.ppat.1014761
UR  - https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1014761
AB  - Phase variation is a well-established phenomenon in some bacteria, where it generates heritable phenotypic variants within a population. These states, while reversible, are stable across generations, giving rise to quasi-clonal populations even when starting from a single bacterium. Underlying mechanisms include variation in short homopolymeric or heteropolymeric sequence repeats, DNA inversions mediated by site-specific recombination, reversible insertions and deletions, and switching between alternative methylation states. Although phase variation occurs in diverse bacteria, its contribution to phenotypic heterogeneity remains overlooked and use of the term is often absent in describing this phenomenon.
SN  - 1553-7374
ER  -