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Journal of Bacteriology, June 2006, p. 4015-4023, Vol. 188, No. 11
0021-9193/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JB.01837-05
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Department of Energy, Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, California 94598,1 Department of Pathology, Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases and Sealy Center for Vaccine Development, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555,2 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550,3 Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 378314
Received 1 December 2005/ Accepted 15 March 2006
Ehrlichia canis, a small obligately intracellular, tick-transmitted, gram-negative,
-proteobacterium, is the primary etiologic agent of globally distributed canine monocytic ehrlichiosis. Complete genome sequencing revealed that the E. canis genome consists of a single circular chromosome of 1,315,030 bp predicted to encode 925 proteins, 40 stable RNA species, 17 putative pseudogenes, and a substantial proportion of noncoding sequence (27%). Interesting genome features include a large set of proteins with transmembrane helices and/or signal sequences and a unique serine-threonine bias associated with the potential for O glycosylation that was prominent in proteins associated with pathogen-host interactions. Furthermore, two paralogous protein families associated with immune evasion were identified, one of which contains poly(G-C) tracts, suggesting that they may play a role in phase variation and facilitation of persistent infections. Genes associated with pathogen-host interactions were identified, including a small group encoding proteins (n = 12) with tandem repeats and another group encoding proteins with eukaryote-like ankyrin domains (n = 7).
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