Molecular Epidemiology of the SRL Pathogenicity Island

Molecular epidemiology of the SRL pathogenicity island.

The Shigella resistance locus (SRL), which is carried on the SRL pathogenicity island (PAI) in Shigella flexneri 2a YSH6000, mediates resistance to the antibiotics streptomycin, ampicillin, chloramphenicol, and tetracycline. In the present study, we investigated the distribution and structural variation of the SRL and the SRL PAI in 71 Shigella isolates and 28 other enteric pathogens by PCR and...

Molecular studies on the epidemiology and pathogenicity of Clostridium difficile.

Molecular evolution of pathogenicity-island genes in Pseudomonas viridiflava.

The bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas viridiflava possesses two pathogenicity islands (PAIs) that share many gene homologs, but are structurally and phenotypically differentiated (T-PAI and S-PAI). These PAIs are paralogous, but only one is present in each isolate. While this dual presence/absence polymorphism has been shown to be maintained by balancing selection, little is known about the molecu...

The Yersinia high-pathogenicity island.

A pathogenicity island present only in highly pathogenic strains of Yersinia (Y. enterocolitica 1B, Y. pseudotuberculosis I and Y. pestis) has been identified on the chromosome of Yersinia spp. and has been designated High-Pathogenicity Island (HPI). The Yersinia HPI carries a cluster of genes involved in the biosynthesis, transport and regulation of the siderophore yersiniabactin. The major fu...

PIPS: Pathogenicity Island Prediction Software

The adaptability of pathogenic bacteria to hosts is influenced by the genomic plasticity of the bacteria, which can be increased by such mechanisms as horizontal gene transfer. Pathogenicity islands play a major role in this type of gene transfer because they are large, horizontally acquired regions that harbor clusters of virulence genes that mediate the adhesion, colonization, invasion, immun...