In Silico Analysis of a Novel Plasmid from the Coral Pathogen Vibrio coralliilyticus Reveals Two Potential “Ecological Islands”

Microorganisms

Jenny Wachter²  Stuart A. Hill¹ 

[1]Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115, USA

关键词: plasmid;    annotation;    ecological islands;    pathogenicity;   

DOI  :  10.3390/microorganisms4010003

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

As virulence often correlates with the presence of plasmid replicons in several Vibrio spp., this study investigated whether non-chromosomal DNA could be found in the coral pathogen, Vibrio coralliilyticus BAA-450. A circular plasmid, 26,631 bp in size, was identified. DNA sequence analysis indicated that the plasmid contained 30 open reading frames, six tRNA genes, 12 inverted repeats, three direct repeats and presented no continuous sequence identity to other replicons within the database. Consequently, these findings indicate that this is a novel, previously unidentified, plasmid. Two putative “ecological islands” were also identified and are predicted to encode for various factors that would facilitate growth and survival under different ecological conditions. In addition, two open reading frames may encode proteins that contribute to the pathogenicity of the organism. Functional cooperativity is also indicated between several plasmid- and chromosomally-encoded proteins, which, in a single instance, would allow a fully functioning nutrient uptake system to be established.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.