title: Genetics of metabolic variations between Yersinia pestis biovars and the proposal of a new biovar, microtus.
abstract: Yersinia pestis has been historically divided into three biovars: antiqua, mediaevalis, and orientalis. On the basis of this study, strains from Microtus-related plague foci are proposed to constitute a new biovar, microtus. Based on the ability to ferment glycerol and arabinose and to reduce nitrate, Y. pestis strains can be assigned to one of four biovars: antiqua (glycerol positive, arabinose positive, and nitrate positive), mediaevalis (glycerol positive, arabinose positive, and nitrate negative), orientalis (glycerol negative, arabinose positive, and nitrate positive), and microtus (glycerol positive, arabinose negative, and nitrate negative). A 93-bp in-frame deletion in glpD gene results in the glycerol-negative characteristic of biovar orientalis strains. Two kinds of point mutations in the napA gene may cause the nitrate reduction-negative characteristic in biovars mediaevalis and microtus, respectively. A 122-bp frameshift deletion in the araC gene may lead to the arabinose-negative phenotype of biovar microtus strains. Biovar microtus strains have a unique genomic profile of gene loss and pseudogene distribution, which most likely accounts for the human attenuation of this new biovar. Focused, hypothesis-based investigations on these specific genes will help delineate the determinants that enable this deadly pathogen to be virulent to humans and give insight into the evolution of Y. pestis and plague pathogenesis. Moreover, there may be the implications for development of biovar microtus strains as a potential vaccine.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Analytical Microbiology, National Center for Biomedical Analysis, Army Center for Microbial Detection and Research, Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing 100071, China. yangrf@nic.bmi.ac.cn
authors.forename: Dongsheng
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Zongzhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: Yajun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Yanping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Decui
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pei
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.forename: Junhui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhai
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Baizhong
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Zhizhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Lixia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Ruixia
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Zongmin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zhaobiao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Peitang
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Ruifu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001089:Arabinose / Q000378:metabolism; D003411:Arvicolinae / Q000382:microbiology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D023281:Genomics; D005990:Glycerol / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D009566:Nitrates / Q000378:metabolism; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010930:Plague / Q000382:microbiology; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D015010:Yersinia pestis / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D009566:Nitrates; D001089:Arabinose; D005990:Glycerol