Comparative genome analysis of non-toxigenic non-O1 versus toxigenic O1Vibrio cholerae.
Pathogenic strains ofVibrio choleraeare responsible for endemic and pandemic outbreaks of the disease cholera. The complete toxigenic mechanisms underlying virulence inVibriostrains are poorly understood. The hypothesis of this work was that virulent versus non-virulent strains ofV. choleraeharbor distinctive genomic elements that encode virulence. The purpose of this study was to elucidate genomic differences between the O1 serotypes and non-O1V. choleraePS15, a non-toxigenic strain, in order to identify novel genes potentially responsible for virulence. In this study, we compared the whole genome of the non-O1 PS15 strain to the whole genomes of toxigenic serotypes at the phylogenetic level, and found that the PS15 genome was distantly related to those of toxigenicV. cholerae. Thus we focused on a detailed gene comparison between PS15 and the distantly related O1V. choleraeN16961. Based on sequence alignment we tentatively assigned chromosome numbers 1 and 2 to elements within the genome of non-O1V. choleraePS15. Further, we found that PS15 and O1V. choleraeN16961 shared 98% identity and 766 genes, but of the genes present in N16961 that were missing in the non-O1V. choleraePS15 genome, 56 were predicted to encode not only for virulence-related genes (colonization, antimicrobial resistance, and regulation of persister cells) but also genes involved in the metabolic biosynthesis of lipids, nucleosides and sulfur compounds. Additionally, we found 113 genes unique to PS15 that were predicted to encode other properties related to virulence, disease, defense, membrane transport, and DNA metabolism. Here, we identified distinctive and novel genomic elements between O1 and non-O1V. choleraegenomes as potential virulence factors and, thus, targets for future therapeutics. Modulation of such novel targets may eventually enhance eradication efforts of endemic and pandemic disease cholera in afflicted nations.
Eastern New Mexico University, Department of Biology, Portales, New Mexico, 88130, USA.
Munmun
M
Mukherjee
Eastern New Mexico University, Department of Biology, Portales, New Mexico, 88130, USA.
Prathusha
P
Kakarla
QC Laboratory, Harvest and Post Harvest Technology Division, Central Institute of Fisheries Education (CIFE), Seven Bungalows, Versova, Andheri (W), Mumbai 400061, India.
Sanath
S
Kumar
Eastern New Mexico University, Department of Biology, Portales, New Mexico, 88130, USA.
Esmeralda
E
Gonzalez
Eastern New Mexico University, Department of Biology, Portales, New Mexico, 88130, USA.
Jared T
JT
Floyd
Eastern New Mexico University, Department of Biology, Portales, New Mexico, 88130, USA.
Madhuri
M
Inupakutika
Eastern New Mexico University, Department of Biology, Portales, New Mexico, 88130, USA.
Amith Reddy
AR
Devireddy
Eastern New Mexico University, Department of Biology, Portales, New Mexico, 88130, USA.
Selena R
SR
Tirrell
Eastern New Mexico University, Department of Biology, Portales, New Mexico, 88130, USA.
Merissa
M
Bruns
University of Massachusetts Lowell, Department of Clinical Laboratory and Nutritional Sciences, Lowell, MA 01854, USA.
Guixin
G
He
National Center for Genome Resources, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87505, USA.
Ingrid E
IE
Lindquist
National Center for Genome Resources, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87505, USA.
Anitha
A
Sundararajan
National Center for Genome Resources, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87505, USA.
Faye D
FD
Schilkey
National Center for Genome Resources, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87505, USA.
Joann
J
Mudge
Eastern New Mexico University, Department of Biology, Portales, New Mexico, 88130, USA.
Manuel F
MF
Varela
O1; Vibrio cholerae; cholera; cholera toxin; genome comparison; non-O1; serogroup; virulence