Bacterial pathogenesis as an imperfect symbiosis Authors Josep Casadesús Department of Genetics, University of Sevilla. Abstract Human-adapted bacterial pathogens such as Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, Helicobacter pylori, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis cause acute infections and also latent, asymptomatic infections. During latent infection the pathogen undergoes self-attenuation of virulence, a lifestyle that reduces the impact of infection on host fitness. Evolutionary strategies of this kind may drive certain bacterial pathogens towards commensalism.Keywords: evolution · human pathogens · host susceptibility · symbiosis Downloads PDF Issue Vol. 9 No. 1 (2013) Section Celebration of the Centennial of the Catalan Society for Biology, 1912–2012 License This work is subject, unless the contrary is indicated in the text, the photographs or in other illustrations, to an Attribution —Non-Commercial— No Derivative Works 3.0 Creative Commons License, the full text of which can be consulted at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. You are free to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work provided that the author is credited and reuse of the material is restricted to non-commercial purposes only and that no derivative works are created from the original material.