|EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE
Wednesday, October 11, 2000
2:00 p.m. EST
Genome Sequencing Sheds Light on Bacterium Harmful to Newborns
- The genome of U. urealyticum is the second smallest of any sequenced
microbe, consisting of only 751,719 DNA base pairs. (For comparison, a
typical bacterium has millions of base pairs of DNA, and the human genome
contains about 3 billion.).
- The U. urealyticum genome consists of 652 genes, half of which have
unknown functions. Some of these mysterious genes are similar to genes
identified in other organisms, but more than half of them have never been
- This bacterium has a novel metabolic system. Like all bacteria of the
genus Ureaplasma, it can "digest" urea, a substance commonly found in urine.
But U. urealyticum apparently possesses enzymes that metabolize urea
differently than any known bacteria.
The genome sequence of U. urealyticum will be compared with the sequences of
other sexually transmitted bacteria in order to search out any
commonalities. "The sequence is now available in a relational database
designed to make comparisons between organisms that damage the reproductive
tract," says project officer Penelope J. Hitchcock, D.V.M., chief of NIAID's
Sexually Transmitted Disease branch. To date, the genomes of five
STD-causing bacteria have been sequenced with NIAID support, and that
information, along with the gene sequences of other STD pathogens, is made
widely available to researchers via the STDGEN Web site at
Finally, the U. urealyticum genome was sequenced with a new technique,
developed at PE Biosystems, that allowed just two researchers using one
automated sequencing machine to complete the work in 21 months. The
effectiveness of such a "micro-sequencing center" may encourage other small,
academic labs to take on genome projects of their own.
In addition to NIAID, this effort was supported by the Department of
Microbiology of the UAB, PE Biosystems, and Eli Lilly and Company.
NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIAID
supports basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose, and treat
infectious and immune-mediated illnesses, including HIV/AIDS and other
sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, malaria, autoimmune disorders,
asthma and allergies.
Press releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available
on the NIAID Web site at http://www.niaid.nih.gov
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
is a component of the National Institutes of Health,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
JI Glass et. al. The complete sequence of Ureaplasma Urealyticum: alternate
views of a minimal genome and mucosal pathogen. Nature 407(6805):757-62