Programa de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales, Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad Nacional, Heredia 3000, Costa Rica.
Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales, Facultad de Microbiología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José 1180, Costa Rica.
Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Oct 20;21(20):7749. doi: 10.3390/ijms21207749.
organisms are responsible for one of the most widespread bacterial zoonoses, named brucellosis. The disease affects several species of animals, including humans. One of the most intriguing aspects of the brucellae is that the various species show a ~97% similarity at the genome level. Still, the distinct species display different host preferences, zoonotic risk, and virulence. After 133 years of research, there are many aspects of the biology that remain poorly understood, such as host adaptation and virulence mechanisms. A strategy to understand these characteristics focuses on the relationship between the genomic diversity and host preference of the various species. Pseudogenization, genome reduction, single nucleotide polymorphism variation, number of tandem repeats, and mobile genetic elements are unveiled markers for host adaptation and virulence. Understanding the mechanisms of genome variability in the genus is relevant to comprehend the emergence of pathogens.
生物体是引起最广泛的细菌性人畜共患病之一的原因，这种疾病被称为布鲁氏菌病。该疾病影响包括人类在内的多个动物物种。布鲁氏菌属最有趣的方面之一是，尽管各个物种在基因组水平上具有约 97%的相似度，但它们表现出不同的宿主偏好、人畜共患病风险和毒力。经过 133 年的研究，仍然有许多生物学方面的知识尚未得到充分理解，例如宿主适应和毒力机制。为了理解这些特性，人们关注了各种布鲁氏菌物种的基因组多样性与宿主偏好之间的关系。假基因化、基因组缩减、单核苷酸多态性变异、串联重复数和可移动遗传元件揭示了宿主适应和毒力的标记。理解布鲁氏菌属中基因组变异性的机制对于理解病原体的出现具有重要意义。
