Arnold IC, Zigova Z, Holden M, Lawley TD, Rad R, Dougan G, Falkow S, Bentley SD, Müller A. Comparative whole genome sequence analysis of the carcinogenic bacterial model pathogen Helicobacter felis.
Genome Biol Evol 2011;
3:302-8. [PMID:
21402865 PMCID:
PMC4197744 DOI:
10.1093/gbe/evr022]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The gram-negative bacterium Helicobacter felis naturally
colonizes the gastric mucosa of dogs and cats. Due to its ability to
persistently infect laboratory mice, H. felis has been used
extensively to experimentally model gastric disorders induced in humans by
H. pylori. We determined the 1.67 Mb genome sequence of
H. felis using combined Solexa and 454 pyrosequencing,
annotated the genome, and compared it with multiple previously published
Helicobacter genomes. About 1,063 (63.6%) of the 1,671
genes identified in the H. felis genome have orthologues in
H. pylori, its closest relative among the fully sequenced
Helicobacter species. Many H. pylori
virulence factors are shared by H. felis: these include the
gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase GGT, the immunomodulator NapA, and the secreted
enzymes collagenase and HtrA. Helicobacter felis lacks a Cag
pathogenicity island and the vacuolating cytotoxin VacA but possesses a complete
comB system conferring natural competence. Remarkable features of the H.
felis genome include its paucity of transcriptional regulators and
an extraordinary abundance of chemotaxis sensors and restriction/modification
systems. Helicobacter felis possesses an episomally replicating
6.7-kb plasmid and harbors three chromosomal regions with deviating GC content.
These putative horizontally acquired regions show homology and synteny with the
recently isolated H. pylori plasmid pHPPC4 and homology to
Campylobacter bacteriophage genes (transposases,
structural, and lytic genes), respectively. In summary, the H.
felis genome harbors a variety of putative mobile elements that are
unique among Helicobacter species and may contribute to this
pathogen’s carcinogenic properties.
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