AUTHOR=Suárez-Esquivel Marcela , Ruiz-Villalobos Nazareth , Castillo-Zeledón Amanda , Jiménez-Rojas César , Roop II R. Martin , Comerci Diego J. , Barquero-Calvo Elías , Chacón-Díaz Carlos , Caswell Clayton C. , Baker Kate S. , Chaves-Olarte Esteban , Thomson Nicholas R. , Moreno Edgardo , Letesson Jean J. , De Bolle Xavier , Guzmán-Verri Caterina TITLE=Brucella abortus Strain 2308 Wisconsin Genome: Importance of the Definition of Reference Strains JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology VOLUME=7 YEAR=2016 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2016.01557 DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2016.01557 ISSN=1664-302X ABSTRACT=

Brucellosis is a bacterial infectious disease affecting a wide range of mammals and a neglected zoonosis caused by species of the genetically homogenous genus Brucella. As in most studies on bacterial diseases, research in brucellosis is carried out by using reference strains as canonical models to understand the mechanisms underlying host pathogen interactions. We performed whole genome sequencing analysis of the reference strain B. abortus 2308 routinely used in our laboratory, including manual curated annotation accessible as an editable version through a link at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brucella#Genomics. Comparison of this genome with two publically available 2308 genomes showed significant differences, particularly indels related to insertional elements, suggesting variability related to the transposition of these elements within the same strain. Considering the outcome of high resolution genomic techniques in the bacteriology field, the conventional concept of strain definition needs to be revised.