| Abstract: | Published reports about structural organization of genes coding for pathogenicity factors are reviewed. Many of such genes are often united into "virulence blocks" or "pathogenicity islands" and are surrounded by mobile genetic elements, promoting their transposition between related bacteria genomes and leading to changes in virulence in the course of evolution. Data on the similarity of nucleotide sequences of virulence genes in different bacteria are presented, despite differences in their localization in the relevant genomes. The role of rRNA genes in dissemination of virulence genes among different bacteria during transduction or conjugation is shown. |
