This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Collyn, F.
Right arrow Articles by Marceau, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Collyn, F.
Right arrow Articles by Marceau, M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, August 2004, p. 4784-4790, Vol. 72, No. 8
0019-9567/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.72.8.4784-4790.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

YAPI, a New Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Pathogenicity Island

François Collyn,1 Alain Billault,2 Chantal Mullet,1 Michel Simonet,1* and Michaël Marceau1

E0364 INSERM, Faculté de Médecine Henri Warembourg, Université de Lille II, and Institut de Biologie de Lille, F-59021 Lille,1 CNRS UMR8030 and Génoscope, F-91006 Evry, France2

Received 27 January 2004/ Returned for modification 9 March 2004/ Accepted 10 April 2004

Pathogenicity islands (PAIs) are chromosomal clusters of pathogen-specific virulence genes often found at tRNA loci. In the Yersinia pseudotuberculosis 32777 chromosome, we characterized a 98-kb segment that has all of the characteristic features of a PAI, including insertion in a (phenylalanine) tRNA gene, the presence of a bacteriophage-like integrase-encoding gene, and direct repeats at the integration sites. The G+C content of the segment ranges from 31 to 60%, reflecting a genetic mosaic: this is consistent with the notion that the sequences were horizontally acquired. The PAI, termed YAPI (for Yersinia adhesion pathogenicity island), carries 95 open reading frames and includes (i) the previously described pil operon, encoding a type IV pilus that contributes to pathogenicity (F. Collyn et al., Infect. Immun. 70:6196-6205, 2002); (ii) a block of genes potentially involved in general metabolism; (iii) a gene cluster for a restriction-modification system; and (iv) a large number of mobile genetic elements. Furthermore, the PAI can excise itself from the chromosome at low frequency and in a precise manner, and deletion does not result in a significant decrease of bacterial virulence compared to inactivation of the fimbrial gene cluster alone. The prevalence and size of the PAI vary from one Y. pseudotuberculosis strain to another, and it can be found integrated into either of the two phe tRNA loci present on the species' chromosome. YAPI was not detected in the genome of the genetically closely related species Y. pestis, whereas a homologous PAI is harbored by the Y. enterocolitica chromosome.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Département de Pathogenèse des Maladies Infectieuses, Institut de Biologie de Lille, 1, rue du Professeur Calmette, F-59021 Lille Cedex, France. Phone: 33-3-20-87-11-78. Fax: 33-3-20-87-11-83. E-mail: michel.simonet{at}ibl.fr.

Editor: J. B. Bliska

Infection and Immunity, August 2004, p. 4784-4790, Vol. 72, No. 8
0019-9567/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.72.8.4784-4790.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Blisnick, T., Ave, P., Huerre, M., Carniel, E., Demeure, C. E. (2008). Oral Vaccination against Bubonic Plague Using a Live Avirulent Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Strain. Infect. Immun. 76: 3808-3816 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Falker, S., Schilling, J., Schmidt, M. A., Heusipp, G. (2007). Overproduction of DNA Adenine Methyltransferase Alters Motility, Invasion, and the Lipopolysaccharide O-Antigen Composition of Yersinia enterocolitica. Infect. Immun. 75: 4990-4997 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Juhas, M., Crook, D. W., Dimopoulou, I. D., Lunter, G., Harding, R. M., Ferguson, D. J. P., Hood, D. W. (2007). Novel Type IV Secretion System Involved in Propagation of Genomic Islands. J. Bacteriol. 189: 761-771 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Collyn, F., Guy, L., Marceau, M., Simonet, M., Roten, C.-A. H. (2006). Describing ancient horizontal gene transfers at the nucleotide and gene levels by comparative pathogenicity island genometrics. Bioinformatics 22: 1072-1079 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kariyawasam, S., Johnson, T. J., Nolan, L. K. (2006). The pap Operon of Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli Strain O1:K1 Is Located on a Novel Pathogenicity Island. Infect. Immun. 74: 744-749 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Collyn, F., Fukushima, H., Carnoy, C., Simonet, M., Vincent, P. (2005). Linkage of the Horizontally Acquired ypm and pil Genes in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. Infect. Immun. 73: 2556-2558 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»