title: The missing link: Bordetella petrii is endowed with both the metabolic versatility of environmental bacteria and virulence traits of pathogenic Bordetellae.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Chair of Microbiology, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany. roy@biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de
authors.forename: Roy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.forename: Carlos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Guzman
authors.forename: Mohammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sebaihia
authors.forename: Vítor A P Martins
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: dos Santos
authors.forename: Dietmar H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Pieper
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Koebnik
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lechner
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bartels
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Buhrmester
authors.forename: Jomuna V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Choudhuri
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ebensen
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gaigalat
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Herrmann
authors.forename: Amit N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Khachane
authors.forename: Christof
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Larisch
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Link
authors.forename: Burkhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Linke
authors.forename: Folker
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: Sascha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mormann
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nakunst
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rückert
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schneiker-Bekel
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schulze
authors.forename: Frank-Jörg
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Vorhölter
authors.forename: Tetyana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yevsa
authors.forename: Jacquelyn T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Engle
authors.forename: William E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Goldman
authors.forename: Alfred
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pühler
authors.forename: Ulf B
authors.initials: UB
authors.lastname: Göbel
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goesmann
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Blöcker
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kaiser
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martinez-Arias
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D010566:Virulence Factors, Bordetella