. Earth Science News .
Genome Sequence Shows What Makes Bacteria Dangerous For Troops In Iraq

Scanning electron microscope image of A. baumannii, with maps of its genome (outer circle) and alien island sequences (inner circle - red). Credit: Courtesy of J.Carr/CDC; T.Gianoulis and D.Massa/Yale
by Staff Writers
New Haven CT (SPX) Mar 12, 2007
Researchers at Yale have identified multiple pathogenic "alien islands" in the genome of the A. baumannii, bacteria that has been responsible for new and highly drug-resistant infections in combat troops in the Middle East, according to a report in the March 1 issue of Genes and Development.

"Drug resistant bacterial infections are a rapidly growing problem in hospital settings, and now in difficult conditions of combat. We targeted A. baumannii as a growing threat for our troops in Iraq," said s principal investigator Michael Snyder, the Lewis B Cullman Professor of Molecular Cellular and Developmental Biology. "Having the genome sequence of this microbe is critical for understanding how it harms humans."

A. baumannii causes infections such as pneumonia, meningitis, sepsis and urinary tract infections. Although it rarely causes infection in healthy individuals, persons with diabetes, chronic lung disease, or with compromised immune systems are at increased risk.

The bacterium has been isolated from soil and water, as well as the skin of healthcare workers, and hospital-acquired infections due to A. baumannii have been associated with a mortality rate as high as 75 percent.

Recently an outbreak of blood stream infections with drug-resistant A. baumannii was reported in over 240 troops in Iraq.

The DNA sequence analysis of A. baumannii revealed several important features including some that may allow researchers to design better drugs to treat infection. A surprising 17 percent of the DNA that codes for protein in this microorganism is present in "alien islands," or sequences that originated in other microorganisms.

"It is like an old pair of jeans-no pun intended-which have been patched so many times that the patches represent a significant portion of the structure," said Snyder. "Although not originally part of the organism, these 'alien island' sequences have become integrated into the A. baumannii DNA and now represent a significant portion of that genome."

Bacteria typically acquire alien DNA from other microorganisms through a process known as "horizontal gene transfer," and alien DNA is more likely to be retained and passed down to next generations of bacteria when it provides a survival benefit.

This study reported that 16 of the presumed 28 alien islands in A. baumannii, contain genes implicated in virulence.

Two of the alien islands identified contained genes that did not match known sequences in the databases. The experiments showed that genes in those islands were important for virulence by a selectively inactivating them and causing a loss of virulence.

The authors suggest that these newly identified virulence genes may be good targets for antimicrobial drug development in addition to providing insight into the way organisms evolve virulence.

The researchers used a combination of cutting-edge technologies, including the high-density DNA pyro-sequencing process developed by 454 Life Sciences and functional screening via transposon mutagenesis. Using this process the genome of a comparable microbe could be sequenced and analyzed completely in only a few weeks, according to Snyder..

Michael Egholm, vice president of research and development with 454 Life Sciences, said, "454 Sequencing allows the rapid elucidation of the DNA sequence of any microbe and, when combined with gene function screens, can identify many novel genes important for microbial pathogenesis."

454 Life Sciences has made its technology commercially available via the 454 Sequencing Center, which offers sequencing services to clients worldwide.

According to Snyder, "The new 454 Sequencing technology allows any lab to be able to efficiently sequence a bacterial genome at high quality. In fact, a bacterial genome can be now sequenced and annotated for less than the price of a car."

Other authors on the paper were Michael G. Smith, Tara A. Gianoulis, L. N. Ornston, Mark Gerstein at Yale and Stefan Pukatzki and John J. Mekalanos at Harvard. This research was supported by funds from the National Institutes of Health, the Burroughs Wellcome Foundation, and the American Cancer Society. Citation: Genes and Development (March 1, 2007)

Email This Article

Related Links
Iraq: The first technology war of the 21st century

A Year Of Added Life More Valuable For The Young
Ann Arbor MI (SPX) Mar 08, 2007
Many important health policy issues, such as the allocation of avian flu vaccine in a pandemic or mandatory HPV vaccinations for young women, require policy makers to decide healthcare priorities for different age groups. Yet economic methods used to allocate health care dollars and other resources may substantially undervalue childhood interventions, a new University of Michigan study suggests.







  • Indonesia Allots One Billion Dollars To Prevent Floods
  • Relief Flows Into Indonesia Quake Area As Death Toll Revised Down
  • Global Disaster Bill Declines In 2006 Says Swiss Re
  • Death And Destruction After Powerful Indonesia Quake

  • Climate Shifts And The Probability Of Randomness
  • EU Summit Seeks Unity On Tackling Global Warming
  • Banning New Coal Power Plants Will Slow Warming
  • The U.N.'s War On Global Warming

  • CryoSat-2 On The Road To Recovery
  • Space Scientists To Take The Pulse Of Planet Earth
  • Climate Change View Clearer With New Oceans Satellite
  • Satellite Scientists Set To Descend On Hobart

  • New Lithium-Ion Battery Technology Created
  • Unlocking The Secrets Of High-Temperature Superconductors
  • China Bans New Small Coal-Based Power Generators
  • Progress Made in Biomass-to-Biofuels Conversion Process

  • Genome Sequence Shows What Makes Bacteria Dangerous For Troops In Iraq
  • A Year Of Added Life More Valuable For The Young
  • Researchers Reconstruct Spread Of Bird Flu From China
  • Troubling Trends In AIDS Cases

  • Remote Sheep Population Resists Genetic Drift
  • Social Tolerance Allows Bonobos To Outperform Chimpanzees On A Cooperative Task
  • Why Do Birds Migrate
  • Some Corals Might Be Able To Fight The Heat

  • Bacterium Could Treat PCBs Without The Need For Dredging
  • Asian Pollution Linked To Stronger Pacific Storm System
  • Canada's Oil Sands To Keep Polluting
  • As An Economy Blossoms An Ancient Capital Suffocates

  • Getting On Your Nerves And Repairing Them
  • Human Rights In Darfur
  • Aging Boosts Chances That A Family Line Will Be Long-Lived
  • These Legs Were Made for Fighting Not Just Climbing Over You

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement