The bacterial pangenome as a new tool for analysing pathogenic bacteria

L Rouli (1) , V Merhej (1) , Pierre-Edouard Fournier (1) , Didier Raoult (1)

1 URMITE - Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes

The bacterial pangenome was introduced in 2005 and, in recent years, has been the subject of many studies. Thanks to progress in next-generation sequencing methods, the pangenome can be divided into two parts, the core (common to the studied strains) and the accessory genome, offering a large panel of uses. In this review, we have presented the analysis methods, the pangenome composition and its application as a study of lifestyle. We have also shown that the pangenome may be used as a new tool for redefining the pathogenic species. We applied this to the Escherichia coli and Shigella species, which have been a subject of controversy regarding their taxonomic and pathogenic position. New Microbes and New Infections

Mots clés: Bacteria; bioinformatics tools; comparative genomics; pangenome; pathogenic species

Domaines: Bactériologie; Bio-Informatique, Biologie Systémique [q-bio.QM]

L Rouli, V Merhej, Pierre-Edouard Fournier, Didier Raoult. The bacterial pangenome as a new tool for analysing pathogenic bacteria. New Microbes and New Infections, 2015, 7, pp.72-85. ⟨10.1016/j.nmni.2015.06.005⟩. ⟨hal-01772702⟩