The genome sequence of the facultative intracellular pathogen Brucella melitensis.

DelVecchio VG, Kapatral V, Redkar RJ, Patra G, Mujer C, Los T, Ivanova N,
Anderson I, Bhattacharyya A, Lykidis A, Reznik G, Jablonski L, Larsen N, D'Souza
M, Bernal A, Mazur M, Goltsman E, Selkov E, Elzer PH, Hagius S, O'Callaghan D,
Letesson JJ, Haselkorn R, Kyrpides N, Overbeek R.

Brucella melitensis is a facultative intracellular bacterial pathogen that causes
abortion in goats and sheep and Malta fever in humans. The genome of B.
melitensis strain 16M was sequenced and found to contain 3,294,935 bp distributed
over two circular chromosomes of 2,117,144 bp and 1,177,787 bp encoding 3,197
ORFs. By using the bioinformatics suite ERGO, 2,487 (78%) ORFs were assigned
functions. The origins of replication of the two chromosomes are similar to those
of other alpha-proteobacteria. Housekeeping genes, including those involved in
DNA replication, transcription, translation, core metabolism, and cell wall
biosynthesis, are distributed on both chromosomes. Type I, II, and III secretion
systems are absent, but genes encoding sec-dependent, sec-independent, and
flagella-specific type III, type IV, and type V secretion systems as well as
adhesins, invasins, and hemolysins were identified. Several features of the B.
melitensis genome are similar to those of the symbiotic Sinorhizobium meliloti.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 Jan 8;99(1):443-8. Epub 2001 Dec 26.