PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Jing Wang
AU  - Changjun Wang
AU  - Weizhong Feng
AU  - Youjun Feng
AU  - Liming Zhi
AU  - Wenjuan Li
AU  - Yi Yao
AU  - Shibo Jiang
AU  - Jiaqi Tang
TI  - A Novel Family of Genomics Islands Across Multiple Species of <em>Streptococcus</em>
AID  - 10.1101/065920
DP  - 2016 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 065920
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/07/26/065920.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/07/26/065920.full
AB  - The genus Streptococcus is one of the most genomically diverse and important human and agricultural pathogens. The acquisition of genomic islands (GIs) plays a central role in adaptation to new hosts in the genus pathogens. The research presented here employs a comparative genomics approach to define a novel family of GIs in the genus Streptococcus which also appears across strains of the same species. Specifically, we identified 9 Streptococcus genomes out of 67 sequenced genomes analyzed, and we termed these as 15bp Streptococcus genomic islands, or 15SGIs, including i) insertion adjacent to the 3’ end of ribosome l7/l12 gene, ii) large inserts of horizontally acquired DNA, and iii) the presence of mobility genes (integrase) and replication initiators. We have identified a novel family of 15SGIs and seems to be important in species differentiation and adaptation to new hosts. It plays an important role during strain evolution in the genus Streptococcus.