The genome sequence of Bacillus anthracis Ames and comparison to closely related bacteria.
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.
Read
Timothy D
TD
The Institute for Genomic Research, 9712 Medical Center Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20850, USA. anthrax@tigr.org).
Peterson
Scott N
SN
Tourasse
Nicolas
N
Baillie
Les W
LW
Paulsen
Ian T
IT
Nelson
Karen E
KE
Tettelin
Hervé
H
Fouts
Derrick E
DE
Eisen
Jonathan A
JA
Gill
Steven R
SR
Holtzapple
Erik K
EK
Okstad
Ole Andreas
OA
Helgason
Erlendur
E
Rilstone
Jennifer
J
Wu
Martin
M
Kolonay
James F
JF
Beanan
Maureen J
MJ
Dodson
Robert J
RJ
Brinkac
Lauren M
LM
Gwinn
Michelle
M
DeBoy
Robert T
RT
Madpu
Ramana
R
Daugherty
Sean C
SC
Durkin
A Scott
AS
Haft
Daniel H
DH
Nelson
William C
WC
Peterson
Jeremy D
JD
Pop
Mihai
M
Khouri
Hoda M
HM
Radune
Diana
D
Benton
Jonathan L
JL
Mahamoud
Yasmin
Y
Jiang
Lingxia
L
Hance
Ioana R
IR
Weidman
Janice F
JF
Berry
Kristi J
KJ
Plaut
Roger D
RD
Wolf
Alex M
AM
Watkins
Kisha L
KL
Nierman
William C
WC
Hazen
Alyson
A
Cline
Robin
R
Redmond
Caroline
C
Thwaite
Joanne E
JE
White
Owen
O
Salzberg
Steven L
SL
Thomason
Brendan
B
Friedlander
Arthur M
AM
Koehler
Theresa M
TM
Hanna
Philip C
PC
Kolstø
Anne-Brit
AB
Fraser
Claire M
CM
D001408:Bacillus anthracis / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D002876:Chromosomes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D012329:RNA, Bacterial