RT Journal
A1 Raoult, Didier
A1 Ogata, Hiroyuki
A1 Audic, Stéphane
A1 Robert, Catherine
A1 Suhre, Karsten
A1 Drancourt, Michel
A1 Claverie, Jean-Michel
T1 Tropheryma whipplei Twist: A Human Pathogenic Actinobacteria  With a Reduced Genome
JF Genome Research 
JO Genome Research 
YR 2003 
FD August 01 
VO 13 
IS 8 
SP 1800 
OP 1809 
DO 10.1101/gr.1474603 
UL http://genome.cshlp.org/content/13/8/1800.abstract 
AB The human pathogen Tropheryma whipplei is the only known reduced  genome species (<1 Mb) within the Actinobacteria [high G+C Gram-positive  bacteria]. We present the sequence of the 927,303-bp circular genome of T.  whipplei Twist strain, encoding 808 predicted protein-coding genes.  Specific genome features include deficiencies in amino acid metabolisms, the  lack of clear thioredoxin and thioredoxin reductase homologs, and a mutation  in DNA gyrase predicting a resistance to quinolone antibiotics. Moreover, the  alignment of the two available T. whipplei genome sequences (Twist  vs. TW08/27) revealed a large chromosomal inversion the extremities of which  are located within two paralogous genes. These genes belong to a large  cell-surface protein family defined by the presence of a common repeat highly  conserved at the nucleotide level. The repeats appear to trigger frequent  genome rearrangements in T. whipplei, potentially resulting in the  expression of different subsets of cell surface proteins. This might represent  a new mechanism for evading host defenses. The T. whipplei genome  sequence was also compared to other reduced bacterial genomes to examine the  generality of previously detected features. The analysis of the genome  sequence of this previously largely unknown human pathogen is now guiding the  development of molecular diagnostic tools and more convenient culture  conditions.