title: Evolution of subspecies of Francisella tularensis.
abstract: Analysis of unidirectional genomic deletion events and single nucleotide variations suggested that the four subspecies of Francisella tularensis have evolved by vertical descent. The analysis indicated an evolutionary scenario where the highly virulent F. tularensis subsp. tularensis (type A) appeared before the less virulent F. tularensis subsp. holarctica (type B). Compared to their virulent progenitors, attenuated strains of F. tularensis exhibited specific unidirectional gene losses.
authors.affiliation: Department of NBC-Analysis, Swedish Defence Research Agency, SE-901 82 Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Svensson
authors.forename: Pär
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Larsson
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Johansson
authors.forename: Mona
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Byström
authors.forename: Mats
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Forsman
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Johansson
mesh_terms: D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005604:Francisella tularensis / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D017353:Gene Deletion; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D010802:Phylogeny; D014774:Virulence