Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Rickettsia, typhus and the mitochondrial connection

Nature volume 396, pages 109–110 (1998)Cite this article

The genome sequence of Rickettsia prowazekii , the agent that causes typhus, has been determined. What emerges is a snapshot of genome re-tailoring in a parasitic bacterium, and a new look at the evolutionary connection between Rickettsia and mitochondria.

On page 133 of this issue, Andersson et al.1 report the complete genome sequence (1,111,523 base pairs) of Rickettsia prowazekii, the causative agent of louse-borne typhus. This bacterium and its relatives represent one of biology's great ironies. On the one hand, the historical ancestors of R. prowazekii precipitated some of the greatest plagues to afflict the human race (see box overleaf). On the other hand, an evolutionary antecedent of R. prowazekii participated in one of the seminal events in the evolution of eukaryotic (nucleus-containing) cells — the formation of mitochondria2, cellular organelles that contain their own DNA and, during oxidative breakdown of glucose, produce the ATP that powers these cells. With the complete genome sequence of R. prowazekii, we can now examine this important genetic blueprint for clues both as to what makes R. prowazekii such a great killer, and what allowed one of its ancestors to contribute so fundamentally to the emergence of eukaryotic cells in the first place.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Relationship between the R.prowazekii genome and mitochondrial DNA.

References

  1. Andersson, S. G. E. et al. Nature 396, 133–140 (1998).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Gray, M. W. & Spencer, D. F. in Evolution of Microbial Life (eds Roberts, D. McL., Sharp, P., Alderson, G. & Collins, M.) 109-126 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1996).

  3. Blattner, F. R. et al. Science 277, 1453–1471 (1997).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Lang, B. F. et al. Nature 387, 493–497 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Yang, D. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 82, 4443–4447 (1985).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Viale, A. M. & Arakaki, A. K. FEBS Lett. 341, 146–151 (1994).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Margulis, L. Origin of Eukaryotic Cells (Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, Connecticut, 1970).

  8. Doolittle, W. F. in Evolution of Microbial Life (eds Roberts, D. McL., Sharp, P., Alderson, G. & Collins, M.) 1-21 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1996).

  9. Felsenstein, J. Phylip (Phylogeny Inference Package) Version 3.5c (Univ. Washington, Seattle, 1993).

  10. Zinsser, H. Rats, Lice and History (Little, Brown, Boston, 1935).

  11. Snyder, J. C. in Cecil -Loeb Textbook of Medicine 11th edn (eds Beeson, P. B. & McDermott, W.) 121-136 (W. B. Saunders, Pennsylvania, 1963).

  12. Gross, L. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 93, 10539–10540 (1996).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, Program in Evolutionary Biology, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Dalhousie University, Halifax, B3H 4H7, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Michael W. Gray

Authors
  1. Michael W. Gray
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Gray, M. Rickettsia, typhus and the mitochondrial connection. Nature 396, 109–110 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/24030

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/24030

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing