Tularemia and Bioterrorism

Hodges, Lisa S.; Penn, Robert L.

doi:10.1007/0-387-23685-6_3

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 96 publications

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“…A locally isolated clinical strain of Francisella tularensis holarctica was used as a paradigm for this evaluation as (1) it is a highly virulent bacterium developed in the past to be used as a bioweapon (Dennis et al 2001); (2) it was previously tentatively manipulated, as it is easy to transform (Hodges and Penn 2005); (3) four other complete genomes of different F. tularensis subspecies, including one with reduced pathogenicity in humans (LVS), are available for comparison (F. tularensis tularensis SCHU S4, GenBank accession no. AJ749949; F. tularensis holarctica LVS, GenBank accession no.…”

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confidence: 99%

Rapid comparative genomic analysis for clinical microbiology: The Francisella tularensis paradigm

Scola

Elkarkouri²,

Li³

et al. 2008

Genome Res.

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It is critical to avoid delays in detecting strain manipulations, such as the addition/deletion of a gene or modification of genes for increased virulence or antibiotic resistance, using genome analysis during an epidemic outbreak or a bioterrorist attack. Our objective was to evaluate the efficiency of genome analysis in such an emergency context by using contigs produced by pyrosequencing without time-consuming finishing processes and comparing them to available genomes for the same species. For this purpose, we analyzed a clinical isolate of Francisella tularensis subspecies holarctica (strain URFT1), a potential biological weapon, and compared the data obtained with available genomic sequences of other strains. The technique provided 1,800,530 bp of assembled sequences, resulting in 480 contigs. We found by comparative analysis with other strains that all the gaps but one in the genome sequence were caused by repeats. No new genes were found, but a deletion was detected that included three putative genes and part of a fourth gene. The set of 35 candidate LVS virulence attenuation genes was identified, as well as a DNA gyrase mutation associated with quinolone resistance. Selection for variable sequences in URFT1 allowed the design of a strain-specific, highly effective typing system that was applied to 74 strains and six clinical specimens. The analysis presented herein may be completed within approximately 6 wk, a duration compatible with that required by an urgent context. In the bioterrorism context, it allows the rapid detection of strain manipulation, including intentionally added virulence genes and genes that support antibiotic resistance.[Supplemental material is available online at www.genome.org.]The availability of whole-genome sequences is revolutionizing the fields of bacteriology and infectious disease. By mid-2007, 479 bacterial genomes from 352 distinct species had been sequenced, including representative strains of all notable human pathogens (Fournier et al. 2007). With the increasing capacity of nucleotide sequencing over the last decade, complete bacterial pathogen genome sequencing has allowed, from the description of a unique bacterial genome, the understanding of genome organization and metabolic pathway analysis, and has facilitated the comparison of multiple strains to identify determinants responsible for strain-specific pathogenicity (Beres et al. 2006;Diep et al. 2006). This approach may include hypervirulent or multiresistant strains that eventually may be used as bioweapons or that may cause epidemic outbreaks. From this perspective, the rapid identification of new genes, gene loss, or gene modifications that would explain new virulence or antibiotic resistance, and the identification of strain-specific sequences that would make it possible to trace epidemics, is critical. Such comparisons have been tentatively performed using microarray technology (Broekhuijsen et al. 2003); however, this technique is not well suited to the detection of small sequence variations and is unable t...

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confidence: 99%

Rapid comparative genomic analysis for clinical microbiology: The Francisella tularensis paradigm

Scola

Elkarkouri²,

Li³

et al. 2008

Genome Res.

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“…Bakterie F. tularensis wywołują tularemię -ostrą chorobę zakaźną ludzi i zwierząt zwaną inaczej dżumą gryzoni, dawniej gorączką królików (rabbit fever), gorączką jelenich much (deer-fly fever), chorobą straganiarzy (market men's disease) w USA, chorobą zajęcy (yato-bayo) i chorobą Ohary w Japonii oraz chorobą łowców szczurów wodnych w Rosji [27,36,37]. Tularemia występuje bardzo szeroko wśród wielu gatunków, nie tylko dzikich zwierząt: opisano przypadki wśród zajęczaków, gryzoni, zwierząt mięsożernych, ryb, bezkręgowców oraz stawonogów.…”

Section: Chorobotwórczość źRódła I Drogi Zakażeniaunclassified

Francisella tularensis – a deceitful pathogen

Formińska

Zasada

2017

Postępy Mikrobiologii - Advancements of Microbiology

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Francisella tularensis is an intracellular bacterial pathogen which causes a potentially lethal disease named tularemia. Some studies have been conducted to describe and identify the virulence factors of F. tularensis. This pathogen is able to infect a variety of cells of various hosts, including wild animals, especially rabbits, hares and rodents, and humans. This may suggest that genes of F. tularensis must adapt to many different intraorganismal environments. Still, little is known about the virulence of F. tularensis. This review focuses on the main virulence factors of F. tularensis which are involved in intramacrophage replication and its survival mechanisms during infection.

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Tularemia and Bioterrorism

Cited by 2 publications

References 96 publications

Rapid comparative genomic analysis for clinical microbiology: The Francisella tularensis paradigm

Rapid comparative genomic analysis for clinical microbiology: The Francisella tularensis paradigm

Francisella tularensis – a deceitful pathogen

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