Bacterial populations originating from a single bacterium can exhibit diverse phenotypes due to phase variation, which is a reversible mechanism altering gene expression levels.
The new computational tool PhaVa identifies DNA inversions in long-read datasets, revealing a novel class of intragenic invertons that increase genetic diversity without expanding genome size.
Intragenic invertons allow bacteria to express multiple protein versions from a single gene by flipping sequences within coding regions, impacting fitness and survival.
We validate and experimentally characterize intragenic invertons in Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, demonstrating their role in enhancing the organism's coding capacity and functional versatility.
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