Probing the pan-genome of Listeria monocytogenes: new insights into intraspecific niche expansion and genomic diversification.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Bacterial pathogens often show significant intraspecific variations in ecological fitness, host preference and pathogenic potential to cause infectious disease. The species of Listeria monocytogenes, a facultative intracellular pathogen and the causative agent of human listeriosis, consists of at least three distinct genetic lineages. Two of these lineages predominantly cause human sporadic and epidemic infections, whereas the third lineage has never been implicated in human disease outbreaks despite its overall conservation of many known virulence factors.

Results

Here we compare the genomes of 26 L. monocytogenes strains representing the three lineages based on both in silico comparative genomic analysis and high-density, pan-genomic DNA array hybridizations. We

SUBMITTER: Deng X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2996996 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature