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Updated: Jul 19, 2026

High-throughput Detection of Respiratory Pathogens in Animal Specimens by Nanoscale PCR
Published on: November 28, 2016
Current trends in plague research: from genomics to virulence
Xiao-Zhe Huang1, Mikeljon P Nikolich, Luther E Lindler
1Division of Communicable Immunology, Department of Bacterial Diseases, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA. xiaozhe.huang@na.amedd.army.mil
Abstract:
Yersinia pestis is the causative agent of plague, which diverged from Yersinia pseudotuberculosis within the past 20,000 years. Although these two species share a high degree of homology at the DNA level (>90%), they differ radically in their pathogenicity and transmission. In this review, we briefly outline the known virulence factors that differentiate these two species and emphasize genetic studies that have been conducted comparing Y. pestis and Y. pseudotuberculosis. These comparisons have led to a better understanding of the genetic contributions to the differences in the virulence and pathogenicity between these two organisms and have generated information that can be applied in future diagnostic and vaccine development. Comparison of the genetic differences between Y. pestis and Y. pseudotuberculosis has also lent insight into the emergence of acute pathogens from organisms causing milder diseases.
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