Comparative Genome Analysis of Vibrio vulnificus, a Marine Pathogen

  1. Chung-Yung Chen1,6,
  2. Keh-Ming Wu1,6,
  3. Yo-Cheng Chang2,
  4. Chuan-Hsiung Chang3,
  5. Hui-Chi Tsai1,
  6. Tsai-Lien Liao1,
  7. Yen-Ming Liu1,
  8. Hsiang-Ju Chen1,
  9. Arthur Bo-Ting Shen4,
  10. Jian-Chiuan Li1,
  11. Teh-Li Su1,
  12. Chung-Ping Shao5,
  13. Chung-Te Lee5,
  14. Lien-I Hor5, and
  15. Shih-Feng Tsai1,3,4,7
  1. 1 Division of Molecular and Genomic Medicine, National Health Research Institutes, Taipei 115, Taiwan
  2. 2 Biomedical Engineering Center, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu 310, Taiwan
  3. 3 Institute of Genetics, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan
  4. 4 Genome Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 112, Taiwan
  5. 5 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan

Abstract

The halophile Vibrio vulnificus is an etiologic agent of human mortality from seafood-borne infections. We applied whole-genome sequencing and comparative analysis to investigate the evolution of this pathogen. The genome of biotype 1 strain, V. vulnificus YJ016, was sequenced and includes two chromosomes of estimated 3377 kbp and 1857 kbp in size, and a plasmid of 48,508 bp. A super-integron (SI) was identified, and the SI region spans 139 kbp and contains 188 gene cassettes. In contrast to non-SI sequences, the captured gene cassettes are unique for any given Vibrio species and are highly variable among V. vulnificus strains. Multiple rearrangements were found when comparing the 5.3-Mbp V. vulnificus YJ016 genome and the 4.0-Mbp V. cholerae El Tor N16961 genome. The organization of gene clusters of capsular polysaccharide, iron metabolism, and RTX toxin showed distinct genetic features of V. vulnificus and V. cholerae. The content of the V. vulnificus genome contained gene duplications and evidence of horizontal transfer, allowing for genetic diversity and function in the marine environment. The genomic information obtained in this study can be applied to monitoring vibrio infections and identifying virulence genes in V. vulnificus.

Footnotes

  • [Supplemental material is available online at www.genome.org and at http://genome.nhri.org.tw/vv/. The nucleotide sequence data from this study have been submitted to DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank under accession nos. BA000037, BA000038, and AP005352.]

  • Article and publication are at http://www.genome.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gr.1295503.

  • ↵6 These authors contributed equally to this work.

  • ↵7 Corresponding author. E-MAIL petsai{at}nhri.org.tw; FAX 886-28200552.

    • Accepted September 24, 2003.
    • Received February 24, 2003.
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  1. doi: 10.1101/gr.1295503 Genome Res. 13: 2577-2587 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press

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