Survey of genome organization and gene content of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis

Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis is an intracellular pathogen that causes Caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) disease in sheep and goats. The widespread occurrence and the economic importance of this pathogen have prompted investigation of its pathogenesis. We used a genomic library of C. pseudotuberculosis to generate 1440 genomic survey sequences (GSSs); these were analyzed in silico with bioinformatics tools, using public databases for comparative analyses. We employed non-redundant unique sequences as a query for BLAST searches against the genome, the translated genome and the proteome of four other Corynebacterium species that have been completely sequenced. We were able to characterize approximately 8% of the genome of C. pseudotuberculosis, including previously undescribed functional group genes, based on the COG database; the GSSs classification into categories gave 13% information storage and processing, 14% cellular processes and 23% metabolism. We found a close relation between C. pseudotuberculosis and C. diphtheriae conserved-gene synteny in Corynebacteria species.