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Journal of Bacteriology, December 2002, p. 6665-6680, Vol. 184, No. 23
0021-9193/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.23.6665-6680.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Gene Islands Integrated into tRNAGly Genes Confer Genome Diversity on a Pseudomonas aeruginosa Clone

Karen D. Larbig,1 Andreas Christmann,1,2 André Johann,3 Jens Klockgether,1 Thomas Hartsch,3,{dagger} Rainer Merkl,2 Lutz Wiehlmann,1 Hans-Joachim Fritz,2,3 and Burkhard Tümmler1*

Klinische Forschergruppe, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover,1 Abteilung Molekulare Genetik und Präparative Molekularbiologie, Institut für Mikrobiologie und Genetik,2 Göttingen Genomics Laboratory, Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany3

Received 12 June 2002/ Accepted 29 August 2002

Intraclonal genome diversity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was studied in one of the most diverse mosaic regions of the P. aeruginosa chromosome. The ca. 110-kb large hypervariable region located near the lipH gene in two members of the predominant P. aeruginosa clone C, strain C and strain SG17M, was sequenced. In both strains the region consists of an individual strain-specific gene island of 111 (strain C) or 106 (SG17M) open reading frames (ORFs) and of a 7-kb stretch of clone C-specific sequence of 9 ORFs. The gene islands are integrated into conserved tRNAGly genes and have a bipartite structure. The first part adjacent to the tRNA gene consists of strain-specific ORFs encoding metabolic functions and transporters, the majority of which have homologs of known function in other eubacteria, such as hemophores, cytochrome c biosynthesis, or mercury resistance. The second part is made up mostly of ORFs of yet-unknown function. Forty-seven of these ORFs are mutual homologs with a pairwise amino acid sequence identity of 35 to 88% and are arranged in the same order in the two gene islands. We hypothesize that this novel type of gene island derives from mobile elements which, upon integration, endow the recipient with strain-specific metabolic properties, thus possibly conferring on it a selective advantage in its specific habitat.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Klinische Forschergruppe, OE 6711, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, D-30625 Hannover, Germany. Phone: 49-511-5322920. Fax: 49-511-5326723. E-mail: Tuemmler.Burkhard{at}MH-Hannover.de.

{dagger} Present address: Integrated Genomics GmbH, 07745 Jena, Germany.


Journal of Bacteriology, December 2002, p. 6665-6680, Vol. 184, No. 23
0021-9193/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.23.6665-6680.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.




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