The complete genome sequence and analysis of Corynebacterium diphtheriae NCTC13129.

ABSTRACT: Corynebacterium diphtheriae is a Gram-positive, non-spore forming, non-motile, pleomorphic rod belonging to the genus Corynebacterium and the actinomycete group of organisms. The organism produces a potent bacteriophage-encoded protein exotoxin, diphtheria toxin (DT), which causes the symptoms of diphtheria. This potentially fatal infectious disease is controlled in many developed countries by an effective immunisation programme. However, the disease has made a dramatic return in recent years, in particular within the Eastern European region. The largest, and still on-going, outbreak since the advent of mass immunisation started within Russia and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union in the 1990s. We have sequenced the genome of a UK clinical isolate (biotype gravis strai

SUBMITTER: Cerdeno-Tarraga AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC275568 | biostudies-literature | 2003 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature