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Journal of Bacteriology, April 2001, p. 2586-2594, Vol. 183, No. 8
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.8.2586-2594.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Yersinia pestis pFra Shows Biovar-Specific Differences and Recent Common Ancestry with a Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhi Plasmid

Michael B. Prentice,1,* Keith D. James,2 Julian Parkhill,2 Stephen G. Baker,2 Kim Stevens,2 Mark N. Simmonds,2 Karen L. Mungall,2 Carol Churcher,2 Petra C. F. Oyston,3 Richard W. Titball,3 Brendan W. Wren,4 John Wain,5 Derek Pickard,6 Tran Tinh Hien,5 Jeremy J. Farrar,5 and Gordon Dougan6

Department of Medical Microbiology, St. Bartholomew's and the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry,1 Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine,4 and Department of Biochemistry, Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine,6 London, The Sanger Centre, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton,2 and Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, Salisbury,3 United Kingdom, and Oxford-Wellcome Clinical Research Unit, Centre for Tropical Diseases, Cho Quan Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam5

Received 6 November 2000/Accepted 29 January 2001

Population genetic studies suggest that Yersinia pestis, the cause of plague, is a clonal pathogen that has recently emerged from Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. Plasmid acquisition is likely to have been a key element in this evolutionary leap from an enteric to a flea-transmitted systemic pathogen. However, the origin of Y. pestis-specific plasmids remains obscure. We demonstrate specific plasmid rearrangements in different Y. pestis strains which distinguish Y. pestis bv. Orientalis strains from other biovars. We also present evidence for plasmid-associated DNA exchange between Y. pestis and the exclusively human pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Medical Microbiology, St. Bartholomew's and the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London ECIA 7BE, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 207 601 8411. Fax: 44 207 601 8409. E-mail: m.b.prentice{at}mds.qmw.ac.uk.

Journal of Bacteriology, April 2001, p. 2586-2594, Vol. 183, No. 8
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.8.2586-2594.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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