We report the complete 6,530,228-bp genome sequence of the symbiotic nitrogen fixing bacterium Rhizobium etli. Six large plasmids comprise one-third of the total genome size. The chromosome encodes most functions necessary for cell growth, whereas few essential genes or complete metabolic pathways are located in plasmids. Chromosomal synteny is disrupted by genes related to insertion sequences, phages, plasmids, and cell-surface components. Plasmids do not show synteny, and their orthologs are mostly shared by accessory replicons of species with multipartite genomes. Some nodulation genes are predicted to be functionally related with chromosomal loci encoding for the external envelope of the bacterium. Several pieces of evidence suggest an exogenous origin for the symbiotic plasmid (p42d) and p42a. Additional putative horizontal gene transfer events might have contributed to expand the adaptive repertoire of R. etli, because they include genes involved in small molecule metabolism, transport, and transcriptional regulation. Twenty-three putative sigma factors, numerous isozymes, and paralogous families attest to the metabolic redundancy and the genomic plasticity necessary to sustain the lifestyle of R. etli in symbiosis and in the soil. multireplicon genome ͉ rhizobiales ͉ symbiosis ͉ horizontal transfer
We describe the epidemiological characteristics, pattern of circulation, and geographical distribution of influenza B viruses and its lineages using data from the Global Influenza B Study. We included over 1.8 million influenza cases occurred in thirty-one countries during 2000–2018. We calculated the proportion of cases caused by influenza B and its lineages; determined the timing of influenza A and B epidemics; compared the age distribution of B/Victoria and B/Yamagata cases; and evaluated the frequency of lineage-level mismatch for the trivalent vaccine. The median proportion of influenza cases caused by influenza B virus was 23.4%, with a tendency (borderline statistical significance, p = 0.060) to be higher in tropical vs. temperate countries. Influenza B was the dominant virus type in about one every seven seasons. In temperate countries, influenza B epidemics occurred on average three weeks later than influenza A epidemics; no consistent pattern emerged in the tropics. The two B lineages caused a comparable proportion of influenza B cases globally, however the B/Yamagata was more frequent in temperate countries, and the B/Victoria in the tropics (p = 0.048). B/Yamagata patients were significantly older than B/Victoria patients in almost all countries. A lineage-level vaccine mismatch was observed in over 40% of seasons in temperate countries and in 30% of seasons in the tropics. The type B virus caused a substantial proportion of influenza infections globally in the 21st century, and its two virus lineages differed in terms of age and geographical distribution of patients. These findings will help inform health policy decisions aiming to reduce disease burden associated with seasonal influenza.
Rhizobium etli CFN42 contains six plasmids. Only one of them, p42a, is self-conjugative at high frequency. This plasmid is strictly required for mobilization of the symbiotic plasmid (pSym). To study the transfer mechanism of p42a, a self-transmissible cosmid clone containing its transfer region was isolated. Its sequence showed that most of the tra genes are highly similar to genes of Agrobacterium tumefaciens pTiC58 and other related plasmids. Four putative regulatory genes were identified; three of these (traI, traR, and cinR) belong to the LuxR-LuxI family. Mutagenesis of these genes confirmed their requirement for p42a transfer. We found that the conjugative transfer of p42a is dependent on quorum sensing, and consequently pSym transfer also was found to be similarly regulated, establishing a complex link between environmental conditions and pSym transfer. Although R. etli has been shown to produce different N-acyl-homoserine lactones, only one of them, a 3-oxo-C 8 -homoserine lactone encoded by the traI gene described here, was involved in transfer. Mutagenesis of the fourth regulatory gene, traM, had no effect on transfer. Analysis of transcriptional fusions of the regulatory genes to a reporter gene suggests a complex regulation scheme for p42a conjugative transfer. Conjugal transfer gene expression was found to be directly upregulated by TraR and the 3-oxo-C 8 -homoserine lactone synthesized by TraI. The traI gene was autoregulated by these elements and positively regulated by CinR, while cinR expression required traI. Finally, we did not detect expression of traM, indicating that in p42a TraM may be expressed so weakly that it cannot inhibit conjugal transfer, leading to the unrepressed transfer of p42a.
Background: Fabaceae (legumes) is one of the largest families of flowering plants, and some members are important crops. In contrast to what we know about their great diversity or economic importance, our knowledge at the genomic level of chloroplast genomes (cpDNAs or plastomes) for these crops is limited.
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