Journal article
Genome sequence of the saprophyte Leptospira biflexa provides insights into the evolution of Leptospira and the pathogenesis of leptospirosis
M Picardeau, DM Bulach, C Bouchier, RL Zuerner, N Zidane, PJ Wilson, S Creno, ES Kuczek, S Bommezzadri, JC Davis, A McGrath, MJ Johnson, C Boursaux-Eude, T Seemann, Z Rouy, RL Coppel, JI Rood, A Lajus, JK Davies, C Médigue Show all
Plos One | PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE | Published : 2008
Abstract
Leptospira biflexa is a free-living saprophytic spirochete present in aquatic environments. We determined the genome sequence of L. biflexa, making it the first saprophytic Leptospira to be sequenced. The L. biflexa genome has 3,590 protein-coding genes distributed across three circular replicons: the major 3,604 chromosome, a smaller 278-kb replicon that also carries essential genes, and a third 74 kb replicon. Comparative sequence analysis provides evidence that L. biflexa is an excellent model for the study of Leptospira evolution; we conclude that 2052 genes (61%) represent a progenitor genome that existed before divergence of pathogenic and saprophytic Leptospira spedes. Comparisons of ..
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Awarded by French Ministry of Research ANR Jeunes Chercheurs
Awarded by Consortium National de Recherche en Genomique
Funding Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the following: National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia; Australian Research Council; U.S. Department of Agriculture; Institut Pasteur, Paris, France; French Ministry of Research ANR Jeunes Chercheurs (no. 05-JCJC-0105-01); Consortium National de Recherche en Genomique (no. RNG-20040057); ACI IMPBio 2004 (MicroScope project). Funders had no role in the planning, performance or analysis of the work.