Genetic exchange and plasmid transfers in Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto revealed by three-way genome comparisons and multilocus sequence typing.

ABSTRACT: Comparative genomics of closely related bacterial isolates is a powerful method for uncovering virulence and other important genome elements. We determined draft sequences (8-fold coverage) of the genomes of strains JD1 and N40 of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, the causative agent of Lyme disease, and we compared the predicted genes from the two genomes with those from the previously sequenced B31 genome. The three genomes are closely related and are evolutionarily approximately equidistant ( approximately 0.5% pairwise nucleotide differences on the main chromosome). We used a Poisson model of nucleotide substitution to screen for genes with elevated levels of nucleotide polymorphisms. The three-way genome comparison allowed distinction between polymorphisms introduced by mutations an

SUBMITTER: Qiu WG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC521097 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature