title: Horizontal gene transfer of a genetic island encoding a type III secretion system distributed in Vibrio cholerae.
abstract: Twelve Vibrio cholerae isolates with genes for a type III secretion system (T3SS) were detected among 110 environmental and 14 clinical isolates. T3SS-related genes were distributed among the various serogroups and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of NotI-digested genomes showed genetic diversity in these strains. However, the restriction fragment length polymorphism profiles of the T3SS-related genes had similar patterns. Additionally, naturally competent T3SS-negative V. cholerae incorporated the ca. 47 kb gene cluster of T3SS, which had been integrated into a site on the chromosome by recombination. Therefore, it is suggested that horizontal gene transfer of T3SS-related genes occurs among V. cholerae in natural ecosystems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology I, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan. mmorita@niid.go.jp
authors.forename: Masatomo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: Shouji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Hirotaka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hiyoshi
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kodama
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okura
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Arakawa
authors.forename: Munirul
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alam
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohnishi
authors.forename: Hidemasa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Izumiya
authors.forename: Haruo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D002771:Cholera / Q000382:microbiology; D002876:Chromosomes, Bacterial; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D014644:Genetic Variation; D044404:Genomic Islands; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D058889:Molecular Typing; D005810:Multigene Family; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D014734:Vibrio cholerae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors