| 1. |
- Andersson, Jan O, et al.
(författare)
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A century of typhus, lice and Rickettsia
- 2000
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Ingår i: Research in Microbiology. - : EDITIONS SCIENTIFIQUES MEDICALES ELSEVIER. - 0923-2508 .- 1769-7123. ; 151:2, s. 143-150
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- At the beginning of the 20th century, it was discovered at the Pasteur Institute in Tunis that epidemic typhus is transmitted by the human body louse. The complete genome sequence of its causative agent, Rickettsia prowazekii, was determined at Uppsala University in Sweden at the end of the century. In this mini-review, we discuss insights gained from the genome sequence of this fascinating and deadly organism.
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| 2. |
- Andersson, Jan O, et al.
(författare)
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Genome degradation is an ongoing process in Rickettsia
- 1999
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Ingår i: Molecular biology and evolution. - : SOC MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EVOLUTION. - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 16:9, s. 1178-1191
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- To study reductive evolutionary processes in bacterial genomes, we examine sequences in the Rickettsia genomes which are unconstrained by selection and evolve as pseudogenes, one of which is the metK gene, which codes for AdoMet synthetase. Here, we sequenced the metK gene and three surrounding genes in eight different species of the genus Rickettsia. The metK gene was found to contain a high incidence of deletions in six lineages, while the three genes in its surroundings were functionally conserved in all eight lineages. A more drastic example of gene degradation was identified in the metK downstream region, which contained an open reading frame in Rickettsia felis. Remnants of this open reading frame could be reconstructed in five additional species by eliminating sites of frameshift mutations and termination codons. A detailed examination of the two reconstructed genes revealed that deletions strongly predominate over insertions and that there is a strong transition bias for point mutations which is coupled to an excess of GC-to-AT substitutions. Since the molecular evolution of these inactive genes should reflect the rates and patterns of neutral mutations, our results strongly suggest that there is a high spontaneous rate of deletions as well as a strong mutation bias toward AT pairs in the Rickettsia genomes. This may explain the low genomic G + C content (29%), the small genome size (1.1 Mb), and the high noncoding content (24%), as well as the presence of several pseudogenes in the Rickettsia prowazekii genome.
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| 3. |
- Andersson, Jan O, et al.
(författare)
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Genomic rearrangements during evolution of the obligate intracellular parasite Rickettsia prowazekii as inferred from an analysis of 52015 bp nucleotide sequence
- 1997
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Ingår i: Microbiology. - 1350-0872 .- 1465-2080. ; 143:8, s. 2783-2795
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this study a description is given of the sequence and analysis of 52 kb from the 1.1 Mb genome of Rickettsia prowazekii, a member of the alpha-Proteobacteria. An investigation was made of nucleotide frequencies and amino acid composition patterns of 41 coding sequences, distributed in 10 genomic contigs, of which 32 were found to have putative homologues in the public databases. Overall, the coding content of the individual contigs ranged from 59 to 97%, with a mean of 81%. The genes putatively identified included genes involved in the biosynthesis of nucleotides, macromolecules and cell wall structures as well as citric acid cycle component genes. In addition, a putative identification was made of a member of the regulatory response family of two-component signal transduction systems as well as a gene encoding haemolysin. For one gene, the homologue of metK, an internal stop codon was discovered within a region that is otherwise highly conserved. Comparisons with the genomic structures of Escherichia coli, Haemophilus influenzae and Bacillus subtilis have revealed several atypical gene organization patterns in the R. prowazekii genome. For example, R. prowazekii was found to have a unique arrangement of genes upstream of dnaA in a region that is highly conserved among other microbial genomes and thought to represent the origin of replication of a primordial replicon. The results presented in this paper support the hypothesis that the R. prowazekii genome is a highly derived genome and provide examples of gene order structures that are unique for the Rickettsia.
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| 4. |
- Andersson, Jan O, et al.
(författare)
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Insights into the evolutionary process of genome degradation
- 1999
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Ingår i: Current Opinion in Genetics and Development. - 0959-437X .- 1879-0380. ; 9:6, s. 664-671
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Studies of noncoding and pseudogene sequence diversity, particularly in Rickettsia, have begun to reveal the basic principles of genome degradation in microorganisms. Increasingly, studies of genes and genomes suggest that there has been an extensive amount of horizontal gene transfer among microorganisms. As this inflow of genetic material does not seem generally to have resulted in genome size expansions, however, degenerative processes must be at the very least as widespread as horizontal gene transfer. The basic principles of gene degradation and elimination that are being explored in Rickettsia are likely to be of major importance for our understanding of how microbial genomes evolve.
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| 5. |
- Andersson, Jan O, et al.
(författare)
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Pseudogenes, junk DNA, and the dynamics of Rickettsia genomes
- 2001
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Ingår i: Molecular biology and evolution. - 0737-4038 .- 1537-1719. ; 18:5, s. 829-839
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Studies of neutrally evolving sequences suggest that differences in eukaryotic genome sizes result from different rates of DNA loss. However, very few pseudogenes have been identified in microbial species, and the processes whereby genes and genomes deteriorate in bacteria remain largely unresolved. The typhus-causing agent, Rickettsia prowazekii, is exceptional in that as much as 24% of its 1.1-Mb genome consists of noncoding DNA and pseudogenes. To test the hypothesis that the noncoding DNA in the R. prowazekii genome represents degraded remnants of ancestral genes, we systematically examined all of the identified pseudogenes and their flanking sequences in three additional Rickettsia species. Consistent with the hypothesis, we observe sequence similarities between genes and pseudogenes in one species and intergenic DNA in another species. We show that the frequencies and average sizes of deletions are larger than insertions in neutrally evolving pseudogene sequences. Our results suggest that inactivated genetic material in the Rickettsia genomes deteriorates spontaneously due to a mutation bias for deletions and that the noncoding sequences represent DNA in the final stages of this degenerative process.
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| 6. |
- Andersson, Siv GE, et al.
(författare)
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The genome sequence of Rickettsia prowazekii and the origin of mitochondria
- 1998
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Ingår i: Nature. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 396:6707, s. 133-140
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We describe here the complete genome sequence (1,111,523 base pairs) of the obligate intracellular parasite Rickettsia prowazekii, the causative agent of epidemic typhus. This genome contains 834 protein-coding genes. The functional profiles of these genes show similarities to those of mitochondrial genes: no genes required for anaerobic glycolysis are found in either R. prowazekii or mitochondrial genomes, but a complete set of genes encoding components of the tricarboxylic acid cycle and the respiratory-chain complex is found in R. prowazekii. In effect, ATP production in Rickettsia is the same as that in mitochondria. Many genes involved in the biosynthesis and regulation of biosynthesis of amino acids and nucleosides in free-living bacteria are absent from R. prowazekii and mitochondria. Such genes seem to have been replaced by homologues in the nuclear (host) genome. The R. prowazekii genome contains the highest proportion of non-coding DNA (24%) detected so far in a microbial genome. Such non-coding sequences may be degraded remnants of 'neutralized' genes that await elimination from the genome. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that R. prowazekii is more closely related to mitochondria than is any other microbe studied so far.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Berglund, Eva Caroline
(författare)
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Genome Evolution and Host Adaptation in Bartonella
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Bacteria of the genus Bartonella infect the red blood cells of a wide range of wild and domestic mammals and are transmitted between hosts by blood-sucking insects. Although most Bartonella infections are asymptomatic, the genus contains several human pathogens. In this work, host adaptation and host switches in Bartonella have been studied from a genomic perspective, with special focus on the acquisition and evolution of genes involved in host interactions. As part of this study, the complete genome of B. grahamii isolated from a Swedish wood mouse was sequenced. A genus-wide comparison revealed that rodent-associated Bartonella species, which have rarely been associated with human disease, have the largest genomes and the largest number of host-adaptability genes. Analysis of known and putative genes for host interactions identified several families of autotransporters as horizontally transferred to the Bartonella ancestor, with a possible role both during early host adaptation and subsequent host shifts. In B. grahamii, the association of a gene transfer agent (GTA) and phage-derived run-off replication of a large genomic segment was demonstrated for the first time. Among all acquisitions to the Bartonella ancestor, the only well conserved gene clusters are those that encode the GTA and contain the origin of the run-off replication. This conservation, along with a high density of host-adaptability genes in the amplified region suggest that the GTA provides a strong selective advantage, possibly by increasing recombination frequencies of host-adaptability genes, thereby facilitating evasion of the host immune system and colonization of new hosts. B. grahamii displays stronger geographic pattern and higher recombination frequencies than the cat-associated B. henselae, probably caused by different lifestyles and/or population sizes of the hosts. The genomic diversity of B. grahamii is markedly lower in Europe and North America than in Asia, possibly an effect of reduced host variability in these areas following the latest ice age.
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