Brucella spp, appearing as grains of sand under the microscope
A US study has identified a group of genes in the genome of Brucella abortus that may be responsible for causing disease. 
Photo: CDC/Courtesy of Larry Stauffer, Oregon State Public Health Laboratory/Wikipedia
Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) and the National Animal Disease Center in Ames, Iowa, sequenced the genome of the nonvirulent S19 strain of the bacterium. The strain is used as a vaccine to protect cattle from brucellosis, an infectious disease caused by other strains of B abortus,which leads to reproductive failure in livestock.
Scientists have long wanted to know which genetic features are responsible for virulence in B abortus. By comparing the newly sequenced S19 genome with the genomes of two disease-causing strains, the researchers were able to identify a group of 24 genes that are linked to virulence. Four genes in particular showed consistently large sequence differences in S19 compare with the virulent strains, and these will be the target of further research.
VBI project director Dr Oswald Crasta said: "Further studies are underway to characterize the short list of protein differences that appear to be involved in cellular processes ranging from lipid transport and metabolism to transcription and protein transport.
"We believe that this characterization will explain why strain S19 has been such a successful vaccine over the years and why infection with other strains leads to disease."
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