Characterization of Fusobacterium varium Fv113-g1 isolated from a patient with ulcerative colitis based on complete genome sequence and transcriptome analysis

PLoS One. 2017 Dec 7;12(12):e0189319. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189319. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Fusobacterium spp. present in the oral and gut flora is carcinogenic and is associated with the risk of pancreatic and colorectal cancers. Fusobacterium spp. is also implicated in a broad spectrum of human pathologies, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC). Here we report the complete genome sequence of Fusobacterium varium Fv113-g1 (genome size, 3.96 Mb) isolated from a patient with UC. Comparative genome analyses totally suggested that Fv113-g1 is basically assigned as F. varium, in particular, it could be reclassified as notable F. varium subsp. similar to F. ulcerans because of partial shared orthologs. Compared with the genome sequences of F. varium ATCC 27725 (genome size, 3.30 Mb) and other strains of Fusobacterium spp., Fv113-g1 possesses many accessary pan-genome sequences with noteworthy multiple virulence factors, including 44 autotransporters (type V secretion system, T5SS) and 13 Fusobacterium adhesion (FadA) paralogs involved in potential mucosal inflammation. Indeed, transcriptome analysis demonstrated that Fv113-g1-specific accessary genes, such as multiple T5SS and fadA paralogs, showed notably increased expression with D-MEM cultivation than with brain heart infusion broth. This implied that growth condition may enhance the expression of such potential virulence factors, leading to remarkable survival against other gut microorganisms and to the pathogenicity to human intestinal epithelium.

MeSH terms

  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism
  • Colitis, Ulcerative / microbiology*
  • Fusobacterium / genetics
  • Fusobacterium / isolation & purification*
  • Genome, Bacterial*
  • Humans
  • Transcriptome*

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the grant-in-aid from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, Japan (H25-Nanchi-Ippan-031), and the Research Program on Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases from the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (grant numbers: 16fk0108119j0001 and 17fk0108219j0002). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.