Significant gene order and expression differences in Bordetella pertussis despite limited gene content variation.

ABSTRACT: Bordetella pertussis, an obligate human pathogen and the agent of whooping cough, is a clonal species, despite the dynamic selection pressures imposed by host immunity and vaccine usage. Because the generation of variation is critical for species evolution, we employed a variety of approaches to examine features of B. pertussis genetic variation. We found a high level of conservation of gene content among 137 B. pertussis strains with different geographical, temporal, and epidemiological associations, using comparative genomic hybridization. The limited number of regions of difference were frequently located adjacent to copies of the insertion element IS481, which is present in high numbers in the B. pertussis chromosome. This repeated sequence appears to provide targets for homologous rec

SUBMITTER: Brinig MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1428402 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature