title: Genome sequence of Shigella flexneri 2a: insights into pathogenicity through comparison with genomes of Escherichia coli K12 and O157.
abstract: We have sequenced the genome of Shigella flexneri serotype 2a, the most prevalent species and serotype that causes bacillary dysentery or shigellosis in man. The whole genome is composed of a 4 607 203 bp chromosome and a 221 618 bp virulence plasmid, designated pCP301. While the plasmid shows minor divergence from that sequenced in serotype 5a, striking characteristics of the chromosome have been revealed. The S.flexneri chromosome has, astonishingly, 314 IS elements, more than 7-fold over those possessed by its close relatives, the non-pathogenic K12 strain and enterohemorrhagic O157:H7 strain of Escherichia coli. There are 13 translocations and inversions compared with the E.coli sequences, all involve a segment larger than 5 kb, and most are associated with deletions or acquired DNA sequences, of which several are likely to be bacteriophage-transmitted pathogenicity islands. Furthermore, S.flexneri, resembling another human-restricted enteric pathogen, Salmonella typhi, also has hundreds of pseudogenes compared with the E.coli strains. All of these could be subjected to investigations towards novel preventative and treatment strategies against shigellosis.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Molecular Virology and Genetic Engineering, Beijing 100052, China. zdsys@sina.com
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Zhenghong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Jianguo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Weichuan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Jinhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xiaobing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jiyu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Guowei
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hongtao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Di
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Lilian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Ailan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Yishan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Junping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Biao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kan
authors.forename: Keyue
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Shuxia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hongsong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Zhijian
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Bingkun
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Runsheng
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Dalong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Boqin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Qiang
authors.forename: Yumei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Yunde
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D007446:Chromosome Inversion; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000235:genetics; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids; D011544:Pseudogenes; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012763:Shigella flexneri / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014178:Translocation, Genetic
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements