title: Loss of TSS1 in hypervirulent Coxiella burnetii 175, the causative agent of Q fever in French Guiana.
abstract: In French Guiana, the unique Coxiella burnetii circulating genotype 17 causes 24% of community-acquired pneumonia, the highest prevalence ever described. To explain this unusual virulence, we performed a comparative genomic analysis of strain Cb175, which was isolated from a patient from French Guiana. Cb175 has a greater number of mutations in genes involved in metabolism compared with the Nine Mile I strain. We found a 6105bp fragment missing in Cb175, which corresponds to the Type 1 secretion systems (T1SS) hlyCABD operon region. This deletion was detected by a specific qPCR in the 8 other strains available from this territory an in none of 298C.burnetii strains from other areas and other genotypes (8/8 vs 0/298, Fisher's exact test, p<0.0000001). Loss of genes implicated in secretion systems has been observed in other epidemic bacterial strains. Thus, the virulence of Cb175 may be linked to this genome reduction.
authors.affiliation: Aix Marseille Université, URMITE, UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198, INSERM 1095, 13005 Marseille, France. Electronic address: felicettadamato@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Felicetta
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: D'Amato
authors.affiliation: Aix Marseille Université, URMITE, UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198, INSERM 1095, 13005 Marseille, France. Electronic address: carole.eldin@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Carole
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Eldin
authors.affiliation: University of Cyprus, Medical School, PO Box 20537, CY 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus. Electronic address: popigeorgiades@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Kalliopi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Georgiades
authors.affiliation: Aix Marseille Université, URMITE, UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198, INSERM 1095, 13005 Marseille, France. Electronic address: soph.edouard@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Edouard
authors.affiliation: Aix Marseille Université, URMITE, UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198, INSERM 1095, 13005 Marseille, France. Electronic address: jeremy.delerce@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Delerce
authors.affiliation: Aix Marseille Université, URMITE, UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198, INSERM 1095, 13005 Marseille, France. Electronic address: labas-noemie@live.fr.
authors.forename: Noémie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Labas
authors.affiliation: Aix Marseille Université, URMITE, UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198, INSERM 1095, 13005 Marseille, France. Electronic address: didier.raoult@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Raoult
mesh_terms: D016997:Coxiella burnetii / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D005616:French Guiana; D017353:Gene Deletion; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D009876:Operon; D015995:Prevalence; D011778:Q Fever / Q000382:microbiology*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D000069177:Type I Secretion Systems / Q000235:genetics*; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D000069177:Type I Secretion Systems
keywords: Cb175; Coxiella burnetii; Guiana