The complete genome sequence of Francisella tularensis, the causative agent of tularemia.

@article{citeulike:93312, abstract = {Francisella tularensis is one of the most infectious human pathogens known. In the past, both the former Soviet Union and the US had programs to develop weapons containing the bacterium. We report the complete genome sequence of a highly virulent isolate of F. tularensis (1,892,819 bp). The sequence uncovers previously uncharacterized genes encoding type IV pili, a surface polysaccharide and iron-acquisition systems. Several virulence-associated genes were located in a putative pathogenicity island, which was duplicated in the genome. More than 10\% of the putative coding sequences contained insertion-deletion or substitution mutations and seemed to be deteriorating. The genome is rich in IS elements, including IS630 Tc-1 mariner family transposons, which are not expected in a prokaryote. We used a computational method for predicting metabolic pathways and found an unexpectedly high proportion of disrupted pathways, explaining the fastidious nutritional requirements of the bacterium. The loss of biosynthetic pathways indicates that F. tularensis is an obligate host-dependent bacterium in its natural life cycle. Our results have implications for our understanding of how highly virulent human pathogens evolve and will expedite strategies to combat them.}, address = {Swedish Defence Research Agency, SE-901 82 Ume\r{a}, Sweden.}, author = {Larsson, P. and Oyston, P. C. and Chain, P. and Chu, M. C. and Duffield, M. and Fuxelius, H. H. and Garcia, E. and H\"{a}lltorp, G. and Johansson, D. and Isherwood, K. E. and Karp, P. D. and Larsson, E. and Liu, Y. and Michell, S. and Prior, J. and Prior, R. and Malfatti, S. and Sj\"{o}stedt, A. and Svensson, K. and Thompson, N. and Vergez, L. and Wagg, J. K. and Wren, B. W. and Lindler, L. E. and Andersson, S. G. and Forsman, M. and Titball, R. W. }, citeulike-article-id = {93312}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng1499}, issn = {1061-4036}, journal = {Nat Genet}, keywords = {frank}, month = {February}, number = {2}, pages = {153--159}, posted-at = {2008-03-07 16:29:42}, priority = {2}, title = {The complete genome sequence of Francisella tularensis, the causative agent of tularemia.}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng1499}, volume = {37}, year = {2005} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:93312 L3 - citeulike-article-id:93312 TI - The complete genome sequence of Francisella tularensis, the causative agent of tularemia. JF - Nat Genet VL - 37 IS - 2 SP - 153 EP - 159 AD - Swedish Defence Research Agency, SE-901 82 Umeå, Sweden. SN - 1061-4036 N2 - Francisella tularensis is one of the most infectious human pathogens known. In the past, both the former Soviet Union and the US had programs to develop weapons containing the bacterium. We report the complete genome sequence of a highly virulent isolate of F. tularensis (1,892,819 bp). The sequence uncovers previously uncharacterized genes encoding type IV pili, a surface polysaccharide and iron-acquisition systems. Several virulence-associated genes were located in a putative pathogenicity island, which was duplicated in the genome. More than 10% of the putative coding sequences contained insertion-deletion or substitution mutations and seemed to be deteriorating. The genome is rich in IS elements, including IS630 Tc-1 mariner family transposons, which are not expected in a prokaryote. We used a computational method for predicting metabolic pathways and found an unexpectedly high proportion of disrupted pathways, explaining the fastidious nutritional requirements of the bacterium. The loss of biosynthetic pathways indicates that F. tularensis is an obligate host-dependent bacterium in its natural life cycle. Our results have implications for our understanding of how highly virulent human pathogens evolve and will expedite strategies to combat them. KW - frank AU - Larsson, P AU - Oyston, PC AU - Chain, P AU - Chu, MC AU - Duffield, M AU - Fuxelius, HH AU - Garcia, E AU - Hälltorp, G AU - Johansson, D AU - Isherwood, KE AU - Karp, PD AU - Larsson, E AU - Liu, Y AU - Michell, S AU - Prior, J AU - Prior, R AU - Malfatti, S AU - Sjöstedt, A AU - Svensson, K AU - Thompson, N AU - Vergez, L AU - Wagg, JK AU - Wren, BW AU - Lindler, LE AU - Andersson, SG AU - Forsman, M AU - Titball, RW PY - 2005/02// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng1499 ER -