Delineation and Analysis of Chromosomal Regions Specifying
Yersinia pestis
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Published:2010-09
Issue:9
Volume:78
Page:3930-3941
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ISSN:0019-9567
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Container-title:Infection and Immunity
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language:en
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Short-container-title:Infect Immun
Author:
Derbise Anne1, Chenal-Francisque Viviane1, Huon Christèle1, Fayolle Corinne1, Demeure Christian E.1, Chane-Woon-Ming Béatrice2, Médigue Claudine2, Hinnebusch B. Joseph3, Carniel Elisabeth1
Affiliation:
1. Yersinia Research Unit, Institut Pasteur, 28 Rue du Dr. Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France 2. Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA), Direction des Sciences du Vivant, Institut de Génomique, Genoscope & CNRS-UMR 8030, Laboratoire d'Analyse Bioinformatique en Génomique et Métabolisme, 2 Rue Gaston Crémieux, 91057 Evry Cedex, Evry Cedex F-91006, France 3. Laboratory of Zoonotic Pathogens, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana 59840
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Yersinia pestis
, the causative agent of plague, has recently diverged from the less virulent enteropathogen
Yersinia pseudotuberculosis
. Its emergence has been characterized by massive genetic loss and inactivation and limited gene acquisition. The acquired genes include two plasmids, a filamentous phage, and a few chromosomal loci. The aim of this study was to characterize the chromosomal regions acquired by
Y. pestis
. Following
in silico
comparative analysis and PCR screening of 98 strains of
Y. pseudotuberculosis
and
Y. pestis
, we found that eight chromosomal loci (six regions [R1
pe
to R6
pe
] and two coding sequences [CDS1
pe
and CDS2
pe
]) specified
Y. pestis
. Signatures of integration by site specific or homologous recombination were identified for most of them. These acquisitions and the loss of ancestral DNA sequences were concentrated in a chromosomal region opposite to the origin of replication. The specific regions were acquired very early during
Y. pestis
evolution and were retained during its microevolution, suggesting that they might bring some selective advantages. Only one region (R3
pe
), predicted to carry a lambdoid prophage, is most likely no longer functional because of mutations. With the exception of R1
pe
and R2
pe
, which have the potential to encode a restriction/modification and a sugar transport system, respectively, no functions could be predicted for the other
Y. pestis
-specific loci. To determine the role of the eight chromosomal loci in the physiology and pathogenicity of the plague bacillus, each of them was individually deleted from the bacterial chromosome. None of the deletants exhibited defects during growth
in vitro
. Using the
Xenopsylla cheopis
flea model, all deletants retained the capacity to produce a stable and persistent infection and to block fleas. Similarly, none of the deletants caused any acute flea toxicity. In the mouse model of infection, all deletants were fully virulent upon subcutaneous or aerosol infections. Therefore, our results suggest that acquisition of new chromosomal materials has not been of major importance in the dramatic change of life cycle that has accompanied the emergence of
Y. pestis
.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Infectious Diseases,Immunology,Microbiology,Parasitology
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