ABSTRACT
In highly virulent strains of Yersinia pestis, the porin gene border- ing pigmentation (pgm) locus was observed to be usually broken by IS100. In this case, the pgm locus that carries virulence genes (high pathogenicity island) and biofilm formation genes (hms operon) is flanked by direct copies of IS100, which can cause its destabilization. We studied the prevalence of the intact and dis- rupted porin genes among 240 strains of Y. pestis from 39 natural centers in Russia and abroad, and 68 strains of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis from different geographical regions. The majority of the highly virulent Y. pestis strains and some phylogenetic lines of Y. pseudotuberculosis 0:1 serotype contain disrupted porin genes. At the same time, deletion of the pgm locus by flanking IS100 in Y pseudotuberculosis is impossible, because IS100 is integrated in the porin gene in the reverse orientation as compared to Y pestis. The porin genes are intact in all Y pestis strains with low epidemic importance and some phylogenetic lines of highly virulent Y pestis strains from some desert foci and Caspian sandy focus, as well as most strains of Y pseudotuberculosis 0:1 serotype. Less virulent strains of Y pseudotuberculosis 0:3 serotype revealed extensive deletion, which included the porin gene and a portion of the gene astE. The nucleotide sequence of the porin genes in Y pestis and Y pseudotuberculosis strains from different geographical regions are identical. Three alleles of the porin gene differ solely by the site of integration and orientation of IS 100 or by the lack of integration. The nucleotide sequence of IS 100, embedded in the porin gene of Yersinia, has minor differences only in two Y pestis strains isolated in America. Low frequency of Hms- mutations correlates with the intact condition of the porin gene in Y pestis. This correlation is absent in Y pseudotuberculosis.
