The genome sequence of Rickettsia felis identifies the first putative conjugative plasmid in an obligate intracellular parasite.
PLoS Biol, 2005/8;3(8):e248.
Ogata H[1], Renesto P, Audic S, Robert C, Blanc G, Fournier PE, Parinello H, Claverie JM, Raoult D
Affiliations
PMID: 15984913
Impact factor: 9.593
Abstract
We sequenced the genome of Rickettsia felis, a flea-associated obligate intracellular alpha-proteobacterium causing spotted fever in humans. Besides a circular chromosome of 1,485,148 bp, R. felis exhibits the first putative conjugative plasmid identified among obligate intracellular bacteria. This plasmid is found in a short (39,263 bp) and a long (62,829 bp) form. R. felis contrasts with previously sequenced Rickettsia in terms of many other features, including a number of transposases, several chromosomal toxin-antitoxin genes, many more spoT genes, and a very large number of ankyrin- and tetratricopeptide-motif-containing genes. Host-invasion-related genes for patatin and RickA were found. Several phenotypes predicted from genome analysis were experimentally tested: conjugative pili and mating were observed, as well as beta-lactamase activity, actin-polymerization-driven mobility, and hemolytic properties. Our study demonstrates that complete genome sequencing is the fastest approach to reveal phenotypic characters of recently cultured obligate intracellular bacteria.
MeSH terms
Acclimatization; Antigens, Surface; Chromosome Mapping; DNA, Bacterial; Genes, Bacterial; Genome, Bacterial; Genomics; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; Molecular Sequence Data; Open Reading Frames; Phenotype; Plasmids; Rickettsia felis; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
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