1. Genomic sequence of a Lyme disease spirochaete, Borrelia burgdorferi
- Author
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Larry Watthey, Lisa McDonald, Delwood Richardson, Cheryl Bowman, Bonnie Hatch, Wai Mun Huang, Nanette Palmer, J. Craig Venter, Granger G. Sutton, Robert J. Dodson, Brian Dougherty, J F Tomb, John Quackenbush, Claire Fujii, Matthew D. Cotton, Rebecca A. Clayton, Erin Hickey, Steven L. Salzberg, Teresa Utterback, Janice Weidman, Michelle L. Gwinn, Kevin Roberts, Stacey Garland, Mark Raymond Adams, Claire M. Fraser, Raju Lathigra, Mark S. Hanson, Sherwood R. Casjens, Patricia Artiach, Owen White, René Van Vugt, Anthony R. Kerlavage, Karen A. Ketchum, Jeannine D. Gocayne, Jeremy Peterson, Robert D. Fleischmann, Hamilton O. Smith, and Kurt Horst
- Subjects
DNA, Bacterial ,DNA Repair ,Transcription, Genetic ,Molecular Sequence Data ,Replication Origin ,Genome ,Plasmid ,Borrelia burgdorferi Group ,Antigenic variation ,Gene family ,Borrelia burgdorferi ,Gene ,Recombination, Genetic ,Genetics ,Lyme Disease ,Multidisciplinary ,biology ,Chemotaxis ,Membrane Proteins ,Biological Transport ,Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial ,Chromosomes, Bacterial ,Telomere ,bacterial infections and mycoses ,biology.organism_classification ,Protein Biosynthesis ,Lyme disease microbiology ,Energy Metabolism ,Mycoplasma genitalium ,Genome, Bacterial ,Plasmids - Abstract
The genome of the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi B31, the aetiologic agent of Lyme disease, contains a linear chromosome of 910,725 base pairs and at least 17 linear and circular plasmids with a combined size of more than 533,000 base pairs. The chromosome contains 853 genes encoding a basic set of proteins for DNA replication, transcription, translation, solute transport and energy metabolism, but, like Mycoplasma genitalium, it contains no genes for cellular biosynthetic reactions. Because B. burgdorferi and M. genitalium are distantly related eubacteria, we suggest that their limited metabolic capacities reflect convergent evolution by gene loss from more metabolically competent progenitors. Of 430 genes on 11 plasmids, most have no known biological function; 39% of plasmid genes are paralogues that form 47 gene families. The biological significance of the multiple plasmid-encoded genes is not clear, although they may be involved in antigenic variation or immune evasion.
- Published
- 1997
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