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Access through your institution Buy or subscribe Bacteria, such as _Escherichia coli_, which share their niche with other bacterial species might diversify and evolve through interspecies
horizontal DNA transfer. This option is not open to _H. pylori_, which is essentially alone in colonizing the stomach. Aras _et al_. proposed that the numerous direct DNA repeats that are
present in the _H. pylori_ genome might contribute to its diversity by promoting the duplication or deletion of intervening sequences. They first characterized direct repeats in 51
prokaryotic genomes and found species-specific variation in repeat size, density and distribution. Repeat distribution was not random — paired repeats <5 kb apart were clustered, perhaps
serving as potential hotspots of recombination. The authors found that these potential hotspots lie in hypervariable chromosome sequences and that variation in these regions affects the
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PAPER * Aras, R. A. et al. Extensive repetitive DNA facilitates prokaryotic genome plasticity. _Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA_ 30 October 2003(doi:10.1073/pnas.1735481100) Download references
Authors * Magdalena Skipper View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS
ARTICLE Skipper, M. Embracing change the microbial way. _Nat Rev Genet_ 4, 933 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg1239 Download citation * Issue Date: 01 December 2003 * DOI:
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