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本帖最后由 蓝鱼o_0 于 2011-10-5 00:23 编辑
【进展】新英格兰医学2011-细菌基因组学与感染性疾病
地址:http://www.nejm.org/action/clickThrough?id=2505&url=%2Fdoi%2Ffull%2F10.1056%2FNEJMra1003071%3Fquery%3Dfeatured_infectious-disease&loc=%2Finfectious-disease&pubId=40088338
The pace of technical advancement in microbial genomics has been breathtaking. Since 1995, when the first complete genome sequence of a free-living organism, Haemophilus influenzae, was published, 1 1554 complete bacterial genome sequences (the majority of which are from pathogens) and 112 complete archaeal genome sequences have been determined, and more than 4800 and 90, respectively, are in progress. 2 A total of 41 complete eukaryotic genome sequences have been determined (19 from fungi), and more than 1100 are in progress. Complete reference genome sequences are available for 2675 viral species, and for some of these species, a large number of strains have been completely sequenced. Nearly 40,000 strains of influenza virus 3 and more than 300,000 strains of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 have been partially sequenced. 4 However, the selection of microbes and viruses for genome sequencing is heavily biased toward the tiny minority that are amenable to cultivation in the laboratory, numerically dominant in particular habitats of interest (e.g., the human body), and associated with disease. In 2006, investigators reported in-depth metagenomic sequence data from a human mixed microbial community 5; in 2007 more than 1000 genes from single cells of cultivation-resistant bacteria were identified. 6 Since then, a flood of such data has ensued ( Figure 1Figure 1 Genome Projects and Completed Genomes since 1995.). 7-9 Individual investigators can now produce a draft sequence of a bacterial genome containing 4 million base pairs in about a day. 10-12 The revolution in DNA-sequencing technology has to a large extent democratized microbial genomics and altered the way infectious diseases are studied. 11 However, gene annotation and error correction still take time and effort. Today, the major challenges in microbial genomics are to predict the function of gene products and the behavior of organisms and communities from their sequences and to use genomic data to develop improved tools for managing infectious diseases.
Genomic Diversity The human body contains remarkable microbial taxonomic richness, with thousands of symbiont species and strains per individual host. Of these, an estimated 90% have not yet been cultivated in the laboratory. 13 Differences between closely related strains and species are responsible for virulence, host-species adaptation, and other aspects of lifestyle and account for the individualized nature of the human microbiota. For example, the gene content of pathogenic and nonpathogenic strains of Escherichia coli, as well as different pathogenic types, varies by as much as 36%. 14,15 Comparisons of complete genome sequences from multiple strains of the same bacterial species reveal a set of core genes that are common to all strains and a set of dispensable genes that are absent in at least one strain. 16 The sum of these genes (i.e., those represented in at least one strain) constitutes the species pangenome. As compared with the genomes of plants and animals, genomes of microbes are small and usually contain one or two chromosomes, as well as a variable number of plasmids (see Glossary). Yet, approximately 90% of a typical microbial genome encodes proteins or structural RNAs, 17 whereas only about 1.1% of the human genome is coding sequence. 18 As a result, some complex bacteria have more genes than some simple eukaryotes. Microbial diversification and adaptation have been accompanied by gene loss and genome reduction, genome rearrangement, horizontal gene transfer, and gene duplication. 19,20 The first two of these processes are especially evident in human-specific pathogens, such as Bordetella pertussis (the causative agent of whooping cough), 21,22 Tropheryma whipplei (the agent of Whipple's disease), 23 and Yersinia pestis (the agent of bubonic plague). A total of 3.7% of Y. pestis genes appear to be inactive, especially those associated with enteropathogenicity. 24 The genome of Mycobacterium leprae, the cause of leprosy, provides an even more dramatic example of reductive evolution. Protein-coding genes account for less than half of its genome, whereas inactive and fragmented genes account for most of the remainder. 25 Genomic islands are discrete clusters of contiguous genes found in bacterial chromosomes and plasmids, usually between 10,000 and 200,000 base pairs in length with features that suggest a history and origin distinct from other segments of the genome (see Glossary). 26,27 Some islands are stably assimilated into the genome; others appear to have been acquired recently and may still be mobile. Genomic islands enhance the fitness of the recipient by providing new, accessory functions, such as pathogenicity, drug resistance, or catabolic functions. One of the most dramatic examples of short-term genome evolution can be seen in the CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat) loci of bacteria and archaea. CRISPRs serve as a defense against invading phages and plasmids, in a manner akin to adaptive immunity. 28 These genomic loci contain segments of phage and plasmid sequences captured from previous encounters. These segments are stored within the CRISPR loci as spacer sequences and are expressed as small RNAs, which then interfere with replication of newly encountered phages and plasmids that bear the same sequences.
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