Nature Biotechnology
21, 1307 - 1313 (2003)
Published online: 5 October 2003; | doi:10.1038/nbt886
The genome sequence of the entomopathogenic bacterium Photorhabdus luminescensEric Duchaud1, Christophe Rusniok1, Lionel Frangeul2, Carmen Buchrieser1, Alain Givaudan5, Séad Taourit1, Stéphanie Bocs6, Caroline Boursaux-Eude2, Michael Chandler7, Jean-François Charles3, Elie Dassa4, Richard Derose8, Sylviane Derzelle3, Georges Freyssinet8, Sophie Gaudriault5, Claudine Médigue6, Anne Lanois5, Kerrie Powell9, Patricia Siguier7, Rachel Vincent5, Vincent Wingate9, Mohamed Zouine1, Philippe Glaser1, Noël Boemare5, Antoine Danchin3
& Frank Kunst11
Laboratoire de Génomique des Microorganismes Pathogènes, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Dr. Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France. 2
Génopole, Plate-Forme Intégration et Analyse Génomiques, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Dr. Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France. 3
Unité de Génétique des Génomes Bactériens, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Dr. Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France. 4
Unité de Programmation Moléculaire et Toxicologie Génétique, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Dr. Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France. 5
Laboratoire EMIP, Université Montpellier II, IFR122, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (UMR 1133), 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5, France. 6
Atelier de Génomique Comparative, Génoscope/CNRS-UMR 8030, 2, rue Gaston Crémieux, 91006 Evry Cedex 15, France. 7
Laboratoire de Microbiologie et de Génétique Moléculaire, CNRS, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse Cedex, France. 8
Bayer CropScience, 1 rue Pierre Fontaine, 91058 Evry, France. 9
Bayer CropScience, 2 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709, USA.
Correspondence should be addressed to Frank Kunst fkunst@pasteur.fr
Photorhabdus luminescens is a symbiont of nematodes and a broad-spectrum insect pathogen. The complete genome sequence of strain TT01 is 5,688,987 base pairs (bp) long and contains 4,839 predicted protein-coding genes. Strikingly, it encodes a large number of adhesins, toxins, hemolysins, proteases and lipases, and contains a wide array of antibiotic synthesizing genes. These proteins are likely to play a role in the elimination of competitors, host colonization, invasion and bioconversion of the insect cadaver, making P. luminescens a promising model for the study of symbiosis and host-pathogen interactions. Comparison with the genomes of related bacteria reveals the acquisition of virulence factors by extensive horizontal transfer and provides clues about the evolution of an insect pathogen. Moreover, newly identified insecticidal proteins may be effective alternatives for the control of insect pests.
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