Phenotypic and Molecular Genetic Characteristics of Yersinia pestis at an Emerging Natural Plague Focus, Junggar Basin, China.

ABSTRACT: The 15th natural plague focus in China, the Junggar Basin plague focus, is located near an important communication route connecting China and Central Asia and was discovered after 2005. To characterize the phenotypic and genetic diversity of the Yersinia pestis population in this newly established focus, we collected 25 Y. pestis strains from six counties across Junggar Basin in 2005-2006, and determined their biochemical features and genotypes based on multiple-locus variable number of tandem repeats analysis and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats analysis. We inferred the phylogenetic positions and possible sources of the Junggar strains by comparing their genotypes with the genetic diversity for known representative Y. pestis strains. Our results indicate that the

SUBMITTER: Zhang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5928696 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature