Small Chromosome Vibrio cholerae

Image: Circular representation of the large chromosome vibrio cholerae

Caption: The complete genome of Vibrio cholerae El Tor N16961 consists of two circular chromosomes (2,961,146 and 1,072,313 base pair) with 3,890 predicted open reading frames (2,775 and 1,115 on each chromosome respectively). The majority of recognizable genes for essential cell functions (e.g., DNA replication, transcription, translation, etc.) and pathoginisity (e.g., toxin, surface antigens, and adhesion) are located on the large chromosome. The small chromosome contains a large percentage of hypothetical genes, more genes that appear to have origins other than the _ Proteobacteria, a gene capture system (integron island) that suggests this may have been a megaplasmid captured by an ancestral Vibrio species. The Vibrio cholerae genome sequence provides a starting point for undersanding how a free living, environmental microorganism is also a human pathogen.

Source: The Institute for Genomic Research

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