title: Genomic evolution of Vibrio cholerae.
abstract: Vibrio cholera, the causal agent of cholera, also occupies an autochthonous aquatic inhabitant. The current, seventh cholera pandemic is linked to O1 El Tor biotype and O139 serogroups. In the last decades, we have witnessed a shift involving genetically and phenotypically varied pandemic clones in Asia and Africa. Recent comparative genomic studies have identified a large 'mobilome', or composed of mobile genomic islands in V. cholerae. All seventh pandemic isolates have highly related genome sequences, but they can be differentiated by set of these genomic islands. A consequence of the extensive lateral gene transfer is that classically important diagnostic markers, such as serotype and biotype, are not reliable and new methods based on genomic sequences are required.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences and Institute of Microbiology, Seoul National University, Gwanak 599 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yong-Joon
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Hana
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Je Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Dong Wook
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jongsik
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chun
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D001208:Asia; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D002771:Cholera / Q000453:epidemiology; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D044404:Genomic Islands; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D058873:Pandemics; D014734:Vibrio cholerae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*