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Infection and Immunity, May 2000, p. 2630-2637, Vol. 68, No. 5
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Identification and Genetic Characterization of Haemophilus influenzae Genetic Island 1

Chih-Ching Chang,1 Janet R. Gilsdorf,2 Victor J. DiRita,3 and Carl F. Marrs1,*

Department of Epidemiology,1 Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases,2 and Department of Microbiology & Immunology and Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine,3 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109

Received 2 December 1999/Returned for modification 14 January 2000/Accepted 7 February 2000

The type b capsule of pathogenic Haemophilus influenzae is a critical factor for H. influenzae survival in the blood and the establishment of invasive infections. Other pathogenic factors associated with type b strains may also play a role in invasion and sustained bacteremia, leading to the seeding of deep tissues. The gene encoding haemocin is the only noncapsular gene found to be specific to type b strains until now. Here we report the discovery of an approximately 16-kb genetic locus, HiGI1, that is present primarily in type b strains. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and Southern hybridization were used to map this new locus between secG (HI0445) and fruA (HI0446), which are contiguous in Rd, a nonpathogenic derivative of a serotype d strain. It is inserted at the 3' end of tRNA4Leu and has regions whose G+C content differs from the average genomic G+C content of H. influenzae. An integrase gene, which encodes a CP4-57 like integrase, is located downstream of tRNA4Leu. Hybridization probes based on the sequences within the HiGI1 locus have been used to screen 61 H. influenzae strains (2 type a, 22 type b, 2 type c, 1 type d, 3 type e, 7 type f, and 21 nontypeable H. influenzae [NTHi]) from our collection. This HiGI1 locus exists in all 22 type b strains and two NTHi strains and is likely to have been acquired by an ancestral type b strain.

* Corresponding author. 109 Observatory St., School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109. Phone: (734) 647-2404. Fax: (734) 764-3192. E-mail: cfmarrs{at}umich.edu.

Infection and Immunity, May 2000, p. 2630-2637, Vol. 68, No. 5
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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