Dataset Information

Evidence for reductive genome evolution and lateral acquisition of virulence functions in two Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis strains.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, a gram-positive, facultative intracellular pathogen, is the etiologic agent of the disease known as caseous lymphadenitis (CL). CL mainly affects small ruminants, such as goats and sheep; it also causes infections in humans, though rarely. This species is distributed worldwide, but it has the most serious economic impact in Oceania, Africa and South America. Although C. pseudotuberculosis causes major health and productivity problems for livestock, little is known about the molecular basis of its pathogenicity. METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS:We characterized two C. pseudotuberculosis genomes (Cp1002, isolated from goats; and CpC231, isolated from sheep). Analysis of the predicted genomes showed high similarity in genomic architecture, gene content and genetic order. When C. pseudotuberculosis was compared with other Corynebacterium species, it became evident that this pathogenic species has lost numerous genes, resulting in one of the smallest genomes in the genus. Other differences that could be part of the adaptation to pathogenicity include a lower GC content, of about 52%, and a reduced gene repertoire. The C. pseudotuberculosis genome also includes seven putative pathogenicity islands, which contain several classical virulence factors, including genes for fimbrial subunits, adhesion factors, iron uptake and secreted toxins. Additionally, all of the virulence factors in the islands have characteristics that indicate horizontal transfer. CONCLUSIONS:These particular genome characteristics of C. pseudotuberculosis, as well as its acquired virulence factors in pathogenicity islands, provide evidence of its lifestyle and of the pathogenicity pathways used by this pathogen in the infection process. All genomes cited in this study are available in the NCBI Genbank database (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank/) under accession numbers CP001809 and CP001829.

SUBMITTER: Ruiz JC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3078919 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Evidence for reductive genome evolution and lateral acquisition of virulence functions in two Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis strains.

Ruiz Jerônimo C JC D'Afonseca Vívian V Silva Artur A Ali Amjad A Pinto Anne C AC Santos Anderson R AR Rocha Aryanne A M C AA Lopes Débora O DO Dorella Fernanda A FA Pacheco Luis G C LG Costa Marcília P MP Turk Meritxell Z MZ Seyffert Núbia N Moraes Pablo M R O PM Soares Siomar C SC Almeida Sintia S SS Castro Thiago L P TL Abreu Vinicius A C VA Trost Eva E Baumbach Jan J Tauch Andreas A Schneider Maria Paula C MP McCulloch John J Cerdeira Louise T LT Ramos Rommel T J RT Zerlotini Adhemar A Dominitini Anderson A Resende Daniela M DM Coser Elisângela M EM Oliveira Luciana M LM Pedrosa André L AL Vieira Carlos U CU Guimarães Cláudia T CT Bartholomeu Daniela C DC Oliveira Diana M DM Santos Fabrício R FR Rabelo Élida Mara ÉM Lobo Francisco P FP Franco Glória R GR Costa Ana Flávia AF Castro Ieso M IM Dias Sílvia Regina Costa SR Ferro Jesus A JA Ortega José Miguel JM Paiva Luciano V LV Goulart Luiz R LR Almeida Juliana Franco JF Ferro Maria Inês T MI Carneiro Newton P NP Falcão Paula R K PR Grynberg Priscila P Teixeira Santuza M R SM Brommonschenkel Sérgio S Oliveira Sérgio C SC Meyer Roberto R Moore Robert J RJ Miyoshi Anderson A Oliveira Guilherme C GC Azevedo Vasco V

PloS one 20110418 4

<h4>Background</h4>Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, a gram-positive, facultative intracellular pathogen, is the etiologic agent of the disease known as caseous lymphadenitis (CL). CL mainly affects small ruminants, such as goats and sheep; it also causes infections in humans, though rarely. This species is distributed worldwide, but it has the most serious economic impact in Oceania, Africa and South America. Although C. pseudotuberculosis causes major health and productivity problems for liv ...[more]

PMID: 21533164

Similar Datasets

Project description:Seven genomes of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis biovar equi were sequenced on the Ion Torrent PGM platform, generating high-quality scaffolds over 2.35 Mbp. This bacterium is the causative agent of disease known as "pigeon fever" which commonly affects horses worldwide. The pangenome of biovar equi was calculated and two phylogenomic approaches were used to identify clustering patterns within Corynebacterium genus. Furthermore, other comparative analyses were performed including the prediction of genomic islands and prophages, and SNP-based phylogeny. In the phylogenomic tree, C. pseudotuberculosis was divided into two distinct clades, one formed by nitrate non-reducing species (biovar ovis) and another formed by nitrate-reducing species (biovar equi). In the latter group, the strains isolated from California were more related to each other, while the strains CIP 52.97 and 1/06-A formed the outermost clade of the biovar equi. A total of 1,355 core genes were identified, corresponding to 42.5% of the pangenome. This pangenome has one of the smallest core genomes described in the literature, suggesting a high genetic variability of biovar equi of C. pseudotuberculosis. The analysis of the similarity between the resistance islands identified a higher proximity between the strains that caused more severe infectious conditions (infection in the internal organs). Pathogenicity islands were largely conserved between strains. Several genes that modulate the pathogenicity of C. pseudotuberculosis were described including peptidases, recombination enzymes, micoside synthesis enzymes, bacteriocins with antimicrobial activity and several others. Finally, no genotypic differences were observed between the strains that caused the three different types of infection (external abscess formation, infection with abscess formation in the internal organs, and ulcerative lymphangitis). Instead, it was noted that there is a higher phenetic correlation between strains isolated at California compared to the other strains. Additionally, high variability of resistance islands suggests gene acquisition through several events of horizontal gene transfer.

Dataset Information

Evidence for reductive genome evolution and lateral acquisition of virulence functions in two Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis strains.

Publications

Evidence for reductive genome evolution and lateral acquisition of virulence functions in two Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis strains.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets