The role of horizontal gene transfer in the evolution of selected foodborne bacterial pathogens

Regions of botulinum neurotoxin A light chain recognized by human anti-toxin antibodies from cervical dystonia patients immunoresistant to toxin treatment. The antigenic structure of the active toxin recognized by human antibodies

“…A blast search of the data bank showed that sequence 239-257 of BoNT/A has a high level of complete identity extending 7-13 residues with over sixty proteins of organisms some of which dwell in humans. Transfer of DNA segments among bacteria has been well documented and has been extensively studied (e.g., Berglund et al 2009;Danchin et al 2007;Gomis-Rüth and Coll 2006;Hallet and Sherratt 1997;Holt et al 2007;Kelly et al 2009;Mosig 1998). It would appear that Clostridium botulinum, at least strain A and likely other strains, had obtained and pasted bits of DNA from other organisms into its genome and it is worthwhile to search for other regions borrowed from other organisms.…”

The evolution and epidemiology of Listeria monocytogenes in Europe and the United States

“…Bacteria can use different ways to achieve recombination (e.g acquisition of new genes) such as conjugation (direct contact between cells), transduction (bacteriophage-mediated), and transformation (uptake of free environmental DNA) (Kelly et al, 2009). Recombination does not happen evenly in all the Listeria genome nor across lineages (den Bekker et al, 2013;Orsi et al, 2011), but it can represent a rapid means to introduce novel genetic material into the bacterial genome.…”

Molecular Risk Assessment and Epidemiological Typing of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli by Using a Novel PCR Binary Typing System

“…Bacterial virulence traits of STEC strains are governed by the dynamic exchange and loss of mobile genetic elements such as plasmids, transposons, insertion sequences, integrons, bacteriophages, and genomic islands (32). These genetic loci characterize the pathogenicity of bacterial species by determining what toxins are produced and how the bacterium attaches to and invades host cells, modulates the host cell cycle and immune responses, survives in stressful environments, and produces biofilms.…”