title: Comparative analysis of two complete Corynebacterium ulcerans genomes and detection of candidate virulence factors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Corynebacterium ulcerans has been detected as a commensal in domestic and wild animals that may serve as reservoirs for zoonotic infections. During the last decade, the frequency and severity of human infections associated with C. ulcerans appear to be increasing in various countries. As the knowledge of genes contributing to the virulence of this bacterium was very limited, the complete genome sequences of two C. ulcerans strains detected in the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro were determined and characterized by comparative genomics: C. ulcerans 809 was initially isolated from an elderly woman with fatal pulmonary infection and C. ulcerans BR-AD22 was recovered from a nasal sample of an asymptomatic dog.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The circular chromosome of C. ulcerans 809 has a total size of 2,502,095 bp and encodes 2,182 predicted proteins, whereas the genome of C. ulcerans BR-AD22 is 104,279 bp larger and comprises 2,338 protein-coding regions. The minor difference in size of the two genomes is mainly caused by additional prophage-like elements in the C. ulcerans BR-AD22 chromosome. Both genomes show a highly similar order of orthologous coding regions; and both strains share a common set of 2,076 genes, demonstrating their very close relationship. A screening for prominent virulence factors revealed the presence of phospholipase D (Pld), neuraminidase H (NanH), endoglycosidase E (EndoE), and subunits of adhesive pili of the SpaDEF type that are encoded in both C. ulcerans genomes. The rbp gene coding for a putative ribosome-binding protein with striking structural similarity to Shiga-like toxins was additionally detected in the genome of the human isolate C. ulcerans 809.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The molecular data deduced from the complete genome sequences provides considerable knowledge of virulence factors in C. ulcerans that is increasingly recognized as an emerging pathogen. This bacterium is apparently equipped with a broad and varying set of virulence factors, including a novel type of a ribosome-binding protein. Whether the respective protein contributes to the severity of human infections (and a fatal outcome) remains to be elucidated by genetic experiments with defined bacterial mutants and host model systems.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Genomforschung und Systembiologie, Centrum für Biotechnologie, Universität Bielefeld, Universitätsstraße 27, D-33615 Bielefeld, Germany.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Trost
authors.forename: Arwa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Dilaimi
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Papavasiliou
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Prisca
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Viehoever
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Burkovski
authors.forename: Siomar C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.forename: Sintia S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: Fernanda A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Dorella
authors.forename: Anderson
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miyoshi
authors.forename: Vasco
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Azevedo
authors.forename: Maria P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Artur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Cíntia S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Louisy S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Priscila
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sabbadini
authors.forename: Alexandre A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.forename: Raphael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hirata
authors.forename: Ana L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Mattos-Guaraldi
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tauch
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D003352:Corynebacterium / Q000235:genetics*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D023061:Gene Order; D016680:Genome, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D039002:Prophages / Q000235:genetics; D011487:Protein Conformation; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors