From rxpgnews.com
High Density Oligonucleotide Array Technology to be Used to Analyze Genome of Plague-Causing Bacteria
By Perlegen Sciences
Apr 5, 2005, 08:54
Perlegen Sciences, Inc. announced today that it has received a biodefense partnership grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to analyze the genomes of approximately 150 Yersinia pestis and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis strains. With this funding, Perlegen will use high density oligonucleotide array technology to discover a comprehensive genome-wide set of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in Yersinia species which will aid in distinguishing strains and understanding their biology.
Yersinia pestis is the causative agent of the plague. Historically, as many as 200 million people have died from bubonic plague. Cases of plague are rare today, but the potential use of Yersinia pestis as a biological weapon in acts of terrorism or war is a serious concern. In the event of an outbreak, a genome-wide set of SNPs and the patterns of variation that allow differentiation between individual strains could be valuable in identifying the source of the pathogen. Yersinia pseudotuberculosis is a genetically similar species that can also cause infections in humans.
�We are very excited about contributing to NIAID�s efforts in biodefense,� stated Renee Stokowski, Ph.D., Associate Director of Association Studies at Perlegen and Principal Investigator of this study. �We hope our work leads to the development of a cost-effective and rapid diagnostic tool for distinguishing Yersinia pestis strains.�
Informative SNPs identified by Perlegen will be made publicly available to researchers through dbSNP and other websites. �In addition to creating a SNP resource that can be used for diagnostic purposes, we expect to gain insights into the relationship between Yersinia pestis and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, and the biology of these two species,� stated Dr. Gary Andersen, Staff Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, who will collaborate with Perlegen on this study.
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