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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2000, p. 3310-3329, Vol. 66, No. 8
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

A Genomic Sample Sequence of the Entomopathogenic Bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens W14: Potential Implications for Virulence

Richard H. Ffrench-Constant,1,* Nicholas Waterfield,1 Valerie Burland,2 Nicole T. Perna,2 Phillip J. Daborn,1 David Bowen,3 and Frederick R. Blattner2

Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, United Kingdom,1 and Laboratory of Genetics,2 and Department of Entomology,3 University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706

Received 6 March 2000/Accepted 25 May 2000

Photorhabdus luminescens is a pathogenic bacterium that lives in the guts of insect-pathogenic nematodes. After invasion of an insect host by a nematode, bacteria are released from the nematode gut and help kill the insect, in which both the bacteria and the nematodes subsequently replicate. However, the bacterial virulence factors associated with this "symbiosis of pathogens" remain largely obscure. In order to identify genes encoding potential virulence factors, we performed ~2,000 random sequencing reads from a P. luminescens W14 genomic library. We then compared the sequences obtained to sequences in existing gene databases and to the Escherichia coli K-12 genome sequence. Here we describe the different classes of potential virulence factors found. These factors include genes that putatively encode Tc insecticidal toxin complexes, Rtx-like toxins, proteases and lipases, colicin and pyocins, and various antibiotics. They also include a diverse array of secretion (e.g., type III), iron uptake, and lipopolysaccharide production systems. We speculate on the potential functions of each of these gene classes in insect infection and also examine the extent to which the invertebrate pathogen P. luminescens shares potential antivertebrate virulence factors. The implications for understanding both the biology of this insect pathogen and links between the evolution of vertebrate virulence factors and the evolution of invertebrate virulence factors are discussed.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biology and Biochemistry, South Building, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 1225 826261. Fax: 44 1225 826779. E-mail: bssrfc{at}bath.ac.uk.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2000, p. 3310-3329, Vol. 66, No. 8
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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