title: The pla gene, encoding plasminogen activator, is not specific to Yersinia pestis.
abstract: Here we present evidence to show that the pla gene, previously thought to be specific to Yersinia pestis, occurs in some strains of Citrobacter koseri and Escherichia coli. This means that detection of this gene on its own can no longer be taken as evidence of detection of Y. pestis.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. stephanie.hansch@ibv.uio.no.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hänsch
authors.affiliation: Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna Campus, Bologna, Italy. elisabetta.cilli@unibo.it.
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cilli
authors.affiliation: Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna Campus, Bologna, Italy. giulio.catalano@unibo.it.
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Catalano
authors.affiliation: Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Ravenna Campus, Bologna, Italy. giorgio.gruppioni@unibo.it.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gruppioni
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. raffaella.bianucci@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Raffaella
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bianucci
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. n.c.stenseth@ibv.uio.no.
authors.forename: Nils C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Stenseth
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. barbara.bramanti@ibv.uio.no.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bramanti
authors.affiliation: Microbiology and Infection Unit, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK. m.pallen@warwick.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Pallen
mesh_terms: D001106:Archaeology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D041041:Citrobacter koseri / Q000235:genetics*; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics*; D005580:Fossils / Q000382:microbiology*; D015870:Gene Expression; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids / Q000737:chemistry; D010960:Plasminogen Activators / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D015010:Yersinia pestis / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C078140:Pla protease, Yersinia pestis; D010960:Plasminogen Activators