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Clinical Microbiology Reviews, April 2004, p. 434-464, Vol. 17, No. 2
0893-8512/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/CMR.17.2.434-464.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Intraspecific Diversity of Yersinia pestis

Andrey P. Anisimov,1 Luther E. Lindler,2 and Gerald B. Pier3*

Department of Infectious Diseases, State Research Center for Applied Microbiology, 142279 Obolensk, Serpukhov District, Moscow Region, Russia,1 Department of Bacterial Diseases, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910,2 Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 021153

Increased interest in the pathogenic potential of Yersinia pestis has emerged because of the potential threats from bioterrorism. Pathogenic potential is based on genetic factors present in a population of microbes, yet most studies evaluating the role of specific genes in virulence have used a limited number of strains. For Y. pestis this issue is complicated by the fact that most strains available for study in the Americas are clonally derived and thus genetically restricted, emanating from a strain of Y. pestis introduced into the United States in 1902 via marine shipping and subsequent spread of this strain throughout North and South America. In countries from the former Soviet Union (FSU), Mongolia, and China there are large areas of enzootic foci of Y. pestis infection containing genetically diverse strains that have been intensely studied by scientists in these countries. However, the results of these investigations are not generally known outside of these countries. Here we describe the variety of methods used in the FSU to classify Y. pestis strains based on genetic and phenotypic variation and show that there is a high level of diversity in these strains not reflected by ones obtained from sylvatic areas and patients in the Americas.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 181 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115. Phone: (617) 525-2269. Fax: (617) 731-1541. E-mail: gpier{at}rics.bwh.harvard.edu.

Clinical Microbiology Reviews, April 2004, p. 434-464, Vol. 17, No. 2
0893-8512/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/CMR.17.2.434-464.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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