Dataset Information

The genome sequence of Rickettsia felis identifies the first putative conjugative plasmid in an obligate intracellular parasite.

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.

SUBMITTER: Ogata H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1166351 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

The genome sequence of Rickettsia felis identifies the first putative conjugative plasmid in an obligate intracellular parasite.

Ogata Hiroyuki H Renesto Patricia P Audic Stéphane S Robert Catherine C Blanc Guillaume G Fournier Pierre-Edouard PE Parinello Hugues H Claverie Jean-Michel JM Raoult Didier D

PLoS biology 20050705 8

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, severa ...[more]

PMID: 15984913

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundCompleted genome sequences are rapidly increasing for Rickettsia, obligate intracellular alpha-proteobacteria responsible for various human diseases, including epidemic typhus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. In light of phylogeny, the establishment of orthologous groups (OGs) of open reading frames (ORFs) will distinguish the core rickettsial genes and other group specific genes (class 1 OGs or C1OGs) from those distributed indiscriminately throughout the rickettsial tree (class 2 OG or C2OGs).Methodology/principal findingsWe present 1823 representative (no gene duplications) and 259 non-representative (at least one gene duplication) rickettsial OGs. While the highly reductive (approximately 1.2 MB) Rickettsia genomes range in predicted ORFs from 872 to 1512, a core of 752 OGs was identified, depicting the essential Rickettsia genes. Unsurprisingly, this core lacks many metabolic genes, reflecting the dependence on host resources for growth and survival. Additionally, we bolster our recent reclassification of Rickettsia by identifying OGs that define the AG (ancestral group), TG (typhus group), TRG (transitional group), and SFG (spotted fever group) rickettsiae. OGs for insect-associated species, tick-associated species and species that harbor plasmids were also predicted. Through superimposition of all OGs over robust phylogeny estimation, we discern between C1OGs and C2OGs, the latter depicting genes either decaying from the conserved C1OGs or acquired laterally. Finally, scrutiny of non-representative OGs revealed high levels of split genes versus gene duplications, with both phenomena confounding gene orthology assignment. Interestingly, non-representative OGs, as well as OGs comprised of several gene families typically involved in microbial pathogenicity and/or the acquisition of virulence factors, fall predominantly within C2OG distributions.Conclusion/significanceCollectively, we determined the relative conservation and distribution of 14354 predicted ORFs from 10 rickettsial genomes across robust phylogeny estimation. The data, available at PATRIC (PathoSystems Resource Integration Center), provide novel information for unwinding the intricacies associated with Rickettsia pathogenesis, expanding the range of potential diagnostic, vaccine and therapeutic targets.

Dataset Information

The genome sequence of Rickettsia felis identifies the first putative conjugative plasmid in an obligate intracellular parasite.

Publications

The genome sequence of Rickettsia felis identifies the first putative conjugative plasmid in an obligate intracellular parasite.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets