title: The genome and transcriptomes of the anti-tumor agent Clostridium novyi-NT.
abstract: Bacteriolytic anti-cancer therapies employ attenuated bacterial strains that selectively proliferate within tumors. Clostridium novyi-NT spores represent one of the most promising of these agents, as they generate potent anti-tumor effects in experimental animals. We have determined the 2.55-Mb genomic sequence of C. novyi-NT, identifying a new type of transposition and 139 genes that do not have homologs in other bacteria. The genomic sequence was used to facilitate the detection of transcripts expressed at various stages of the life cycle of this bacterium in vitro as well as in infections of tumors in vivo. Through this analysis, we found that C. novyi-NT spores contained mRNA and that the spore transcripts were distinct from those in vegetative forms of the bacterium.
authors.affiliation: The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Ludwig Center for Cancer Genetics & Therapeutics, The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland 21231, USA.
authors.forename: Chetan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bettegowda
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Jimmy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cheong
authors.forename: Manu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kohli
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Szabo
authors.forename: Xiaosong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Luis A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Diaz
authors.forename: Victor E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Velculescu
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Parmigiani
authors.forename: Kenneth W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Kinzler
authors.forename: Bert
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Vogelstein
authors.forename: Shibin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003013:Clostridium / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D016680:Genome, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D015698:Genomic Library; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000628:therapy; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics*; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D012335:RNA, Ribosomal