Independent acquisition and insertion into different chromosomal locations of the same pathogenicity island in Yersinia pestis and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis |
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| Authors: | Janelle M Hare Alexandra K Wagner & Kathleen A McDonough |
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| Institution: | The Department of Biomedical Sciences, University at Albany;David Axelrod Institute, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, 120 Scotland Avenue, PO Box 22002, Albany, NY 12201-2002, USA. |
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| Abstract: | We show that Yersinia pestis and pesticin-sensitive isolates of Y. pseudotuberculosis possess a common 34 kbp DNA region that has all the hallmarks of a pathogenicity island and is inserted into different asparaginyl tRNA genes at different chromosomal locations in each species. This pathogenicity island (YP-HPI) is marked by IS 100 , has a G + C content different from its host, is flanked by 24 bp direct repeats, encodes a putative, P4-like integrase and contains the iron uptake virulence genes from the pgm locus of Y. pestis . These findings indicate independent horizontal acquisition of this island by Y. pestis and Y. pseudotuberculosis . The two YP-HPI locations and their possession of an integrase gene support a model of site-specific integration of the YP-HPI into these bacteria. |
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