The missing link: Bordetella petrii is endowed with both the metabolic versatility of environmental bacteria and virulence traits of pathogenic Bordetellae.
BACKGROUND
Bordetella petrii is the only environmental species hitherto found among the otherwise host-restricted and pathogenic members of the genus Bordetella. Phylogenetically, it connects the pathogenic Bordetellae and environmental bacteria of the genera Achromobacter and Alcaligenes, which are opportunistic pathogens. B. petrii strains have been isolated from very different environmental niches, including river sediment, polluted soil, marine sponges and a grass root. Recently, clinical isolates associated with bone degenerative disease or cystic fibrosis have also been described.


RESULTS
In this manuscript we present the results of the analysis of the completely annotated genome sequence of the B. petrii strain DSMZ12804. B. petrii has a mosaic genome of 5,287,950 bp harboring numerous mobile genetic elements, including seven large genomic islands. Four of them are highly related to the clc element of Pseudomonas knackmussii B13, which encodes genes involved in the degradation of aromatics. Though being an environmental isolate, the sequenced B. petrii strain also encodes proteins related to virulence factors of the pathogenic Bordetellae, including the filamentous hemagglutinin, which is a major colonization factor of B. pertussis, and the master virulence regulator BvgAS. However, it lacks all known toxins of the pathogenic Bordetellae.


CONCLUSIONS
The genomic analysis suggests that B. petrii represents an evolutionary link between free-living environmental bacteria and the host-restricted obligate pathogenic Bordetellae. Its remarkable metabolic versatility may enable B. petrii to thrive in very different ecological niches.
Gross
Roy
R
Chair of Microbiology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany. roy@biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de
Guzman
Carlos A
CA
Sebaihia
Mohammed
M
dos Santos
Vítor A P Martins
VA
Pieper
Dietmar H
DH
Koebnik
Ralf
R
Lechner
Melanie
M
Bartels
Daniela
D
Buhrmester
Jens
J
Choudhuri
Jomuna V
JV
Ebensen
Thomas
T
Gaigalat
Lars
L
Herrmann
Stefanie
S
Khachane
Amit N
AN
Larisch
Christof
C
Link
Stefanie
S
Linke
Burkhard
B
Meyer
Folker
F
Mormann
Sascha
S
Nakunst
Diana
D
Rückert
Christian
C
Schneiker-Bekel
Susanne
S
Schulze
Kai
K
Vorhölter
Frank-Jörg
FJ
Yevsa
Tetyana
T
Engle
Jacquelyn T
JT
Goldman
William E
WE
Pühler
Alfred
A
Göbel
Ulf B
UB
Goesmann
Alexander
A
Blöcker
Helmut
H
Kaiser
Olaf
O
Martinez-Arias
Rosa
R
D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001482:Base Composition; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001884:Bordetella / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D016950:Bordetella bronchiseptica / Q000235:genetics; D042483:Bordetella parapertussis / Q000235:genetics; D001886:Bordetella pertussis / Q000235:genetics; D002876:Chromosomes, Bacterial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D015698:Genomic Library; D020071:Interspersed Repetitive Sequences; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D026801:Synteny; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics; D010566:Virulence Factors, Bordetella / Q000235:genetics
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D010566:Virulence Factors, Bordetella