Identification, distribution, and expression of novel genes in 10 clinical isolates of nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae.

ABSTRACT: We hypothesize that Haemophilus influenzae, as a species, possesses a much greater number of genes than that found in any single H. influenzae genome. This supragenome is distributed throughout naturally occurring infectious populations, and new strains arise through autocompetence and autotransformation systems. The effect is that H. influenzae populations can readily adapt to environmental stressors. The supragenome hypothesis predicts that significant differences exist between and among the genomes of individual infectious strains of nontypeable H. influenzae (NTHi). To test this prediction, we obtained 10 low-passage NTHi clinical isolates from the middle ear effusions of patients with chronic otitis media. DNA sequencing was performed with 771 clones chosen at random from a pooled gen

SUBMITTER: Shen K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1111819 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature