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Use of an ordered cosmid library to deduce the genomic organization of Mycobacterium leprae
Author(s) -
Eiglmeier K.,
Honoré N.,
Woods S. A.,
Caudron B.,
Cole S. T.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
molecular microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 247
eISSN - 1365-2958
pISSN - 0950-382X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1993.tb01111.x
Subject(s) - cosmid , contig , biology , housekeeping gene , genome , genetics , genomic organization , mycobacterium leprae , genomic library , gene , computational biology , leprosy , base sequence , gene expression , immunology
Summary In an attempt to unify the genetic and biological research on Mycobacterium leprae , the aetiological agent of leprosy, a cosmid library was constructed and then ordered by a combination of fingerprinting and hybridization techniques. The genome of M. leprae is represented by four contigs of overlapping clones which, together, account for nearly 2.B Mb of DNA. Several arguments suggest that the gaps between the contigs are small in size and that virtually complete coverage of the chromosome has been obtained. All of the cloned M. leprae genes have been positioned on the contig maps together with the 29 copies of the dispersed repetitive element, RLEP. These have been classified into four groups on the basis of differences in their organization. Several key housekeeping genes were identified and mapped by hybridization with heterologous probes, and the current genome map of this uncultivable pathogen comprises 72 loci.