Open AccessIdentification of a putative pathogenicity island in Shigella flexneri using subtractive hybridisation of the S. flexneri and Escherichia coli genomes
Author(s) -
Walker John C,
Verma Naresh K
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2002.tb11315.x
Subject(s) - shigella flexneri , biology , shigella , pathogenicity island , virulence , genome , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology , escherichia coli , gene , bacteriophage , genomic island , serotype , enterobacteriaceae
The genetic differences between the human pathogen, Shigella flexneri , and the non‐pathogenic Escherichia coli were investigated in an attempt to identify pathogenicity islands (PAIs) in the S. flexneri genome. Genomic subtraction identified a large unique region of DNA which was present in S. flexneri serotype 2a but absent from E. coli K‐12. This 42‐kb DNA segment was localised to the S. flexneri chromosome and was found to contain a number of elements often associated with PAIs including: insertion sequence elements, bacteriophage genes, and a previously identified Shigella virulence gene ( criR ). These findings indicate that this region may form a new PAI in the S. flexneri genome.