Brucella abortus Strain 2308 Wisconsin Genome: Importance of the Definition of Reference Strains

SUÁREZ-ESQUIVEL M; RUIZ-VILLALOBOS N; CASTILLO-ZELEDÓN A; JIMÉNEZ-ROJAS C; ROOP II RM; COMERCI DJ; BARQUERO-CALVO E; CHACÓN-DÍAZ C; CASWELL CC; BAKER KS; CHAVES-OLARTE E; THOMSON NR; MORENO E; LETESSON JJ; DE BOLLE X1; GUZMÁN-VERRI C

Frontiers in microbiology- Infectious Diseases

Frontiers Editorial Office

Lugar: Laussane; Año: 2016 vol. 7 p. 1 - 7

Brucellosis is a bacterial infectious disease affecting a wide range of mammals and a neglected zoonosis caused by species of the genetically homogenous genus Brucella.As in most studies on bacterial diseases, research in brucellosis is carried out by using reference strains as canonical models to understand the mechanisms underlying host pathogen interactions. We performed whole genome sequencing analysis of the reference strain B. abortus 2308 routinely used in our laboratory, including manual curated annotation accessible as an editable version through a link at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brucella#Genomics. Comparison of this genome with two publically available 2308 genomes showed significant differences, particularly indels related to insertional elements, suggesting variability related to the transposition of these elements within thesame strain. Considering the outcome of high resolution genomic techniques in the bacteriology field, the conventional concept of strain definition needs to be revised.