title: A genomic island in Vibrio cholerae with VPI-1 site-specific recombination characteristics contains CRISPR-Cas and type VI secretion modules.
abstract: Cholera is a devastating diarrhoeal disease caused by certain strains of serogroup O1/O139 Vibrio cholerae. Mobile genetic elements such as genomic islands (GIs) have been pivotal in the evolution of O1/O139 V. cholerae. Perhaps the most important GI involved in cholera disease is the V. cholerae pathogenicity island 1 (VPI-1). This GI contains the toxin-coregulated pilus (TCP) gene cluster that is necessary for colonization of the human intestine as well as being the receptor for infection by the cholera-toxin bearing CTX phage. In this study, we report a GI (designated GIVchS12) from a non-O1/O139 strain of V. cholerae that is present in the same chromosomal location as VPI-1, contains an integrase gene with 94% nucleotide and 100% protein identity to the VPI-1 integrase, and attachment (att) sites 100% identical to those found in VPI-1. However, instead of TCP and the other accessory genes present in VPI-1, GIVchS12 contains a CRISPR-Cas element and a type VI secretion system (T6SS). GIs similar to GIVchS12 were identified in other V. cholerae genomes, also containing CRISPR-Cas elements and/or T6SS's. This study highlights the diversity of GIs circulating in natural V. cholerae populations and identifies GIs with VPI-1 recombination characteristics as a propagator of CRISPR-Cas and T6SS modules.
authors.affiliation: University of Technology Sydney, School of Life Sciences, Sydney, 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Labbate
authors.affiliation: University of Alberta, Department of Biological Sciences, Edmonton, T6G 2E9, Canada.
authors.forename: Fabini D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Orata
authors.affiliation: University of Technology Sydney, The ithree institute, Sydney, 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Nicola K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Petty
authors.affiliation: University of Technology Sydney, School of Life Sciences, Sydney, 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Nathasha D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Jayatilleke
authors.affiliation: University of Technology Sydney, School of Life Sciences, Sydney, 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: William L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: University of Alberta, Department of Biological Sciences, Edmonton, T6G 2E9, Canada.
authors.forename: Paul C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Kirchberger
authors.affiliation: University of Technology Sydney, School of Life Sciences, Sydney, 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.affiliation: Defence Science and Technology Group, Melbourne, 3207, Australia.
authors.forename: Gulay
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, CB10 1SA, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Ankur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mutreja
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, CB10 1SA, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Nicholas R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Thomson
authors.affiliation: University of Alberta, Department of Biological Sciences, Edmonton, T6G 2E9, Canada.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Boucher
authors.affiliation: University of Technology Sydney, The ithree institute, Sydney, 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Ian G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Charles
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D064112:Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats; D044404:Genomic Islands; D005810:Multigene Family; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D000069376:Type VI Secretion Systems / Q000235:genetics; D041242:Vibrio cholerae O139 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D044163:Vibrio cholerae non-O1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D000069376:Type VI Secretion Systems; D037521:Virulence Factors