V. cholerae is the causative agent of cholera, an acute, diarrheal illness that most frequently occurs in epidemic form. The V. cholerae genome sequence will provide medical and environmental microbiologists a new starting point for the study of this organism s pathobiological and environmental characteristics. Because this bacterium naturally occurs in many aquatic environments, the most comprehensive approach to cholera control will involve scientists from the fields of infectious disease and environmental microbiology working jointly on this problem, as was done on this project with collaborators representing the foremost researchers in microbial genomics, V. cholerae pathogenicity and ecology. The V. cholerae sequencing project, lead by Dr. John Heidelberg at TIGR, was completed in collaboration with Dr. John Mekalanos, Chairman, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School and Dr. Rita R. Colwell, Director of the National Science Foundation, Inc., founder and former president of University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, and a professor at the Center of Marine Biotechnology and Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Maryland. The determination of the V. cholerae genome sequence represents a milestone in the history of cholera research.
Cholera remains a global plague.
In 1999, approximately 222,475 cases, with 8,423 deaths were reported. Nearly 1000 deaths and 17,000 cases have been reported thus far this year. The genome sequence produced by TIGR provides a new starting point for the study of this unique bacterium that lives in the aquatic environment, yet is a human pathogen of major epidemiological significance. This new information will be useful in the development of vaccines to prevent cholera. The genomic sequence of V. cholerae provides a model for the study of multi-chromosomal prokaryotic organisms, and will also provide important clues to understanding the metabolic and regulatory networks represented by genes linked on one or both the chromosomes.