Variation in Micro-organisms
In common with other living creatures micro-organisms adapt to their environment by changes in their genetic structure which result in variation of characters in a proportion of their progeny. These changes become apparent in a relatively short time because of the high rate of reproduction of micro-organisms so that differences affecting a large proportion of a population producing an infection may be noticeable during the period of the disease. When the characters affected by these genetic changes are related to pathogenicity, virulence and resistance to antimicrobial agents, they are of particular importance in medicine and in the management of individual patients.
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