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Bacterial genomics

Treasure trove for cholera research

Nature volume 406, pages 469–470 (2000)Cite this article

The study of this disease has a remarkable history, having spawned central tenets in the fields of epidemiology (starting with John Snow's famous tracing of an outbreak to a water pump in Broad Street, London, in 1854), treatment for diarrhoeal disease, microbial ecology and pathogenesis, and mucosal immunology. The complete genome sequence of a representative isolate from the ongoing seventh pandemic of cholera is described by Heidelberg et al.2 on page 477of this issue, and promises to usher in an exciting era of post-genomic investigation of this organism.

The larger chromosome, chromosome I, contains a preponderance of genes dedicated to essential cell functions such as DNA replication, cell division, gene transcription, protein translation and cell-wall biosynthesis. It also has most of the genetic loci that are associated with virulence ( Fig. 2), many of which have been acquired from other species. For example, a major determinant of pathogenicity, cholera toxin3, is encoded in the genome of a virus that integrates into the V. cholerae genome4 on chromosome I. A factor essential for colonization of the intestine, toxin-coregulated pilus5, is encoded on chromosome I in a ‘ Vibrio pathogenicity island’ found in V. cholerae strains that cause pandemics6. The expression of genes involved in virulence is regulated by proteins such as ToxR and ToxT7,8, both of which, along with several other such regulators, are also encoded on the larger chromosome (Fig. 2).

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Figure 1: Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes cholera.

EYE OF SCIENCE/SPL

Figure 2: Distribution on the two Vibrio cholerae chromosomes of key genetic loci required for virulence2.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Department of Medicine, Tufts New England Medical Center, NEMC #041, 750 Washington Street, Boston, 02111, Massachusetts, USA

    Matthew K. Waldor

  2. Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Avenue, Boston, 02111, Massachusetts, USA

    Debabrata RayChaudhuri

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  1. Matthew K. Waldor
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  2. Debabrata RayChaudhuri
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Correspondence to Matthew K. Waldor or Debabrata RayChaudhuri.

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Waldor, M., RayChaudhuri, D. Treasure trove for cholera research . Nature 406, 469–470 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35020178

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