Genomic Deletion Marking an Emerging Subclone of Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica in France and the Iberian Peninsula

Authors

M. P. Dempsey, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
M. Dobson, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
C. Zhang, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
M. Zhang, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
C. Lion, Centre Hospitalier et Universitaire
C. B. Gutiérrez-Martín, University of León
P. C. Iwen, University of Nebraska Medical Center
P. D. Fey, University of Nebraska Medical Center
M. E. Olson, University of Nebraska Medical Center
D. Niemeyer, Office of the Air Force Surgeon General
S. Francesconi, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
R. Crawford, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
M. Stanley, Northern Arizona University
J. Rhodes, Northern Arizona University
D. M. Wagner, Northern Arizona UniversityFollow
A. J. Vogler, Northern Arizona University
D. Birdsell, Northern Arizona University
P. Keim, Northern Arizona University
A. Johansson, Swedish Defence Research Agency
S. H. Hinrichs, University of Nebraska Medical CenterFollow
A. K. Benson, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2007

Citation

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Nov. 2007, p. 7465-7470, Vol. 73, No. 22

Comments

Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica is widely disseminated in North America and the boreal and temperate regions of the Eurasian continent. Comparative genomic analyses identified a 1.59-kb genomic deletion specific to F. tularensis subsp. holarctica isolates from Spain and France. Phylogenetic analysis of strains carrying this deletion by multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis showed that the strains comprise a highly related set of genotypes, implying that these strains were recently introduced or recently emerged by clonal expansion in France and the Iberian Peninsula.