The advent of high-throughput sequencing techniques has made it possible to follow the genomic evolution of pathogenic bacteria by comparing longitudinally collected bacteria sampled from @entity1 hosts. Such studies in the context of chronic airway infections by @entity796 in @entity1577 ( @entity1577 ) @entity1 have indicated high bacterial population diversity. Such diversity may be driven by hypermutability resulting from DNA @entity5527 ( @entity5527 ) deficiency, a common trait evolved by @entity796 strains in @entity1577 . No studies to date have utilized whole-genome sequencing to investigate within-host population diversity or long-term evolution of mutators in @entity1577 airways. We sequenced the genomes of 13 and 14 isolates of @entity796 mutator populations from an Argentinian and a Danish @entity1577 @entity1 , respectively. Our collection of isolates spanned 6 and 20 years of @entity1 infection history, respectively. We sequenced 11 isolates from a single sample from each @entity1 to allow in-depth analysis of population diversity. Each @entity1 was infected by clonal populations of bacteria that were dominated by mutators. The in vivo mutation rate of the populations was    100 SNPs/year-   40-fold higher than rates in normo-mutable populations. Comparison of the genomes of 11 isolates from the same sample showed extensive within- @entity1 genomic diversification; the populations were composed of different sub-lineages that had coexisted for many years since the initial colonization of the @entity1 . Analysis of the mutations identified genes that underwent convergent evolution across lineages and sub-lineages, suggesting that the genes were targeted by mutation to optimize pathogenic fitness. Parallel evolution was observed in reduction of overall catabolic capacity of the populations. These findings are useful for understanding the evolution of pathogen populations and identifying new targets for control of @entity281 .

Coexistence and Within-Host Evolution of Diversified Lineages of Hypermutable XXXX in Long-term @entity1577 .

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['human', 'patients', 'patient'] @entity796 :: ('287', 'Species') :: ['Pseudomonas aeruginosa', 'P. aeruginosa'] @entity281 :: ('MESH:D007239', 'Disease') :: ['chronic infections'] @entity5527 :: ('MESH:C536928', 'Disease') :: ['mismatch repair system', 'MRS'] @entity1577 :: ('MESH:D003550', 'Disease') :: ['CF infections', 'CF', 'cystic fibrosis']
@entity796 :: (287,Species) :: ['Pseudomonas aeruginosa']
