For such a feared infection, cholera can be very simple to treat. Without this basic aid, one in two patients die. Now Claire M. Fraser of the Institute for Genomic Research, Maryland, and colleagues have laid the foundations for better treatments - by revealing V. cholerae 's genetic blueprint. Identifying genes that help the bug survive and replicate should help design drugs to prevent human infection. The sequence is also important scientifically.
Essential functions seem broadly divided between the two chromosomes, the team reports in Nature .
The larger loop accounts for DNA replication, cell division and protein translation, while the smaller chromosome handles sugar transport, metabolism and DNA repair. Heidelberg, J., F. et al . DNA sequence of both chromosomes of the cholera pathogen Vibrio cholerae.