1. The genome sequence of Bacillus anthracis Ames and comparison to closely related bacteria
- Author
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Sean C. Daugherty, Lauren M. Brinkac, Ian T. Paulsen, Maureen J. Beanan, Theresa M. Koehler, Jonathan L. Benton, Steven L. Salzberg, Kristi Berry, Caroline Redmond, Anne-Brit Kolstø, William C. Nierman, Derrick E. Fouts, Yasmin Mahamoud, Mihai Pop, Alex M. Wolf, Steven R. Gill, Alyson Hazen, Janice Weidman, Ole Andreas Økstad, Owen White, Jennifer Rilstone, A. Scott Durkin, Arthur M. Friedlander, Scott N. Peterson, Daniel H. Haft, Nicolas J. Tourasse, Erlendur Helgason, Roger D. Plaut, Karen E. Nelson, William C. Nelson, Ramana Madpu, Hoda Khouri, Joanne Elizabeth Thwaite, Hervé Tettelin, Lingxia Jiang, Timothy D. Read, Les Baillie, Philip C. Hanna, Claire M. Fraser, Robert T. DeBoy, Ioana R. Hance, Erik Holtzapple, Brendan Thomason, Jonathan A. Eisen, Robert J. Dodson, Martin Wu, Jeremy Peterson, Robin T. Cline, Michelle L. Gwinn, James F. Kolonay, Diana Radune, and Kisha Watkins
- Subjects
Genetics ,Multidisciplinary ,Virulence ,biology ,Sequence analysis ,Molecular Sequence Data ,fungi ,Bacillus cereus ,Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial ,Sequence Analysis, DNA ,Chromosomes, Bacterial ,biology.organism_classification ,Genome ,Microbiology ,Bacillus anthracis ,RNA, Bacterial ,Complete sequence ,Plasmid ,Bacterial Proteins ,Genes, Bacterial ,Gene ,Genome, Bacterial ,Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis - Abstract
Bacillus anthracis is an endospore-forming bacterium that causes inhalational anthrax. Key virulence genes are found on plasmids (extra-chromosomal, circular, double-stranded DNA molecules) pXO1 (ref. 2) and pXO2 (ref. 3). To identify additional genes that might contribute to virulence, we analysed the complete sequence of the chromosome of B. anthracis Ames (about 5.23 megabases). We found several chromosomally encoded proteins that may contribute to pathogenicity--including haemolysins, phospholipases and iron acquisition functions--and identified numerous surface proteins that might be important targets for vaccines and drugs. Almost all these putative chromosomal virulence and surface proteins have homologues in Bacillus cereus, highlighting the similarity of B. anthracis to near-neighbours that are not associated with anthrax. By performing a comparative genome hybridization of 19 B. cereus and Bacillus thuringiensis strains against a B. anthracis DNA microarray, we confirmed the general similarity of chromosomal genes among this group of close relatives. However, we found that the gene sequences of pXO1 and pXO2 were more variable between strains, suggesting plasmid mobility in the group. The complete sequence of B. anthracis is a step towards a better understanding of anthrax pathogenesis.
- Published
- 2003
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