The Brucellasuis genome reveals fundamental similarities between animal and plant pathogens and symbionts
- Ian T. Paulsen*,†,‡,
- Rekha Seshadri*,
- Karen E. Nelson*,
- Jonathan A. Eisen*,†,
- John F. Heidelberg*,
- Timothy D. Read*,
- Robert J. Dodson*,
- Lowell Umayam*,
- Lauren M. Brinkac*,
- Maureen J. Beanan*,
- Sean C. Daugherty*,
- Robert T. Deboy*,
- A. Scott Durkin*,
- James F. Kolonay*,
- Ramana Madupu*,
- William C. Nelson*,
- Bola Ayodeji*,
- Margaret Kraul*,
- Jyoti Shetty*,
- Joel Malek*,
- Susan E. Van Aken*,
- Steven Riedmuller*,
- Herve Tettelin*,
- Steven R. Gill*,
- Owen White*,
- Steven L. Salzberg*,†,
- David L. Hoover§,
- Luther E. Lindler§,
- Shirley M. Halling¶,
- Stephen M. Boyle‖, and
- Claire M. Fraser*,**
- *The Institute for Genomic Research, 9712 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, MD 20850; †Johns Hopkins University, Charles and 34th Streets, Baltimore, MD 21218; §Division of Communicable Diseases and Immunology, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD 20910; ¶National Animal Disease Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Ames, IA 50010-0070; ‖Center for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Virginia–Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061; and **George Washington University School of Medicine, Departments of Pharmacology and Microbiology and Tropical Medicine, 2300 Eye Street NW, Washington, DC 20037
-
Edited by Harley W. Moon, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, and approved July 30, 2002 (received for review May 28, 2002)
Abstract
The 3.31-Mb genome sequence of the intracellular pathogen and potential bioterrorism agent, Brucella suis, was determined. Comparison of B. suis with Brucella melitensis has defined a finite set of differences that could be responsible for the differences in virulence and host preference between these organisms, and indicates that phage have played a significant role in their divergence. Analysis of the B. suis genome reveals transport and metabolic capabilities akin to soil/plant-associated bacteria. Extensive gene synteny between B. suis chromosome 1 and the genome of the plant symbiont Mesorhizobium loti emphasizes the similarity between this animal pathogen and plant pathogens and symbionts. A limited repertoire of genes homologous to known bacterial virulence factors were identified.
Footnotes
-
↵ ‡ To whom reprint requests should be addressed. E-mail: ipaulsen{at}tigr.org.
-
This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the PNAS office.
-
Data deposition: The sequences reported in this paper have been deposited in the GenBank database [accession nos. AE014291 (Chr I) and AE014292 (Chr II)].
-
See commentary on page 12503.
- Abbreviations:
- Chr,
- chromosome;
- IS,
- insertion sequence
- Copyright © 2002, The National Academy of Sciences
