SR contributed to sample collection and microbiological analysis. MA provided direction on available means of data analyses. RS conceived the study, analysed the data and wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed to the general content and structure of the final manuscript.”
“Background The enormous impact of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) on the evolution of bacterial www.selleckchem.com/products/BI6727-Volasertib.html species has only been recognized during the past years [1]. Among the mobile genetic elements involved in HGT genomic islands are of particular relevance since they can comprise large genomic regions encoding accessory Selleckchem Momelotinib factors required by the bacteria to thrive in specific environments. For example, many virulence related factors of pathogenic

bacteria are encoded on so-called pathogenicity islands, while metabolic islands frequently encode factors required for detoxification of poisonous compounds or for the utilization of specific carbon sources such as aromatic compounds [2, 3]. The genus Bordetella harbours several important pathogens infecting humans and various animals. While B. pertussis and B. parapertussis are etiological agents of whooping cough in man, B. bronchiseptica and B. avium can cause respiratory infections in various mammalian species and birds, respectively [4]. B. petrii was the first Bordetella species isolated from the environment, while all other

Bordetella species so far could only be found in obligate association with host organisms [5]. Phylogenetically, B. petrii appears to be closely most LY2874455 nmr related to a common ancestor of the pathogenic Bordetellae and links the genus with other environmental bacteria of the genera Achromobacter and Alcaligenes [5, 6]. B. petrii was repeatedly isolated from contaminated soil [7, 8]. However, recently, several isolates from clinical specimens associated with bone degenerative disease or cystic fibrosis were found to be closely related to B. petrii, although the underlying etiology is not

clear in any of the cases [9–11]. The pathogenic Bordetellae encode a multitude of virulence factors including several toxins and adhesins [4]. The evolutionary origin of these factors is unclear, since in contrast to many virulence genes of other pathogens they are not located on mobile genetic elements such as pathogenicity islands or prophages. In fact, so far only few presumptive horizontal gene transfer events are known among the pathogenic members of the genus, e.g. a 66 kb island encoding iron transport genes that presumably has been exchanged between B. pertussis and B. holmesii, a pathogenic species mainly found in immunocompromised individuals [12]. A prevalent feature in the evolution of virulence in this genus is reductive genome evolution, since strains specialized on particular host organisms such as the exclusive human pathogen B. pertussis have presumably evolved from a B. bronchiseptica-like ancestor.