Genetic exchange plays a defining role in the evolution of many bacteria. The recent
accumulation of nucleotide sequence data from multiple members of diverse bacterial …

Francisella tularensis is the causative agent of the acute disease tularemia. Due to its
extreme infectivity and ability to cause disease upon inhalation, F. tularensis has been …

Motivation The insertion sequence (IS) elements are the smallest but most abundant
autonomous transposable elements in prokaryotic genomes, which play a key role in …

Abstract Background The bacterial genus Listeria contains pathogenic and non-pathogenic
species, including the pathogens L. monocytogenes and L. ivanovii, both of which carry …

As more original molecular protocols and subsequent modifications are described in the
literature, it has become difficult for those not directly involved in the development of these …

Bacterial pathogens exhibit significant variation in their genomic content of virulence factors.
This reflects the abundance of strategies pathogens evolved to infect host organisms by …

Bacteria and archaea reproduce clonally, but sporadically import DNA into their
chromosomes from other organisms. In many of these events, the imported DNA replaces an …

Francisella tularensis is a highly virulent gram-negative intracellular bacterium that causes
the zoonotic disease tularemia. Essential for its virulence is the ability to multiply within host …

Background Prior to this study, relatively few strains of Francisella had been genome-
sequenced. Previously published Francisella genome sequences were largely restricted to …

Pathogen emergence (PE) is a complex phenomenon with major public health implications.
Over the past decades, numerous underlying mechanisms facilitating the emergence of …