The biology of plague: Systems approach used to investigate strains of Yersinia
Wednesday, January 23, 2013 - 08:30
in Biology & Nature
(Phys.org)—When is the plague not the plague? When it's a different strain of the same bacteria. In two strains of the bacteria genus Yersinia —a highly lethal pathogen and its less-virulent form—scientists performed multi-omic analyses to gain insights how they differ. They found that how the genes in both are expressed contribute to the striking difference in the diseases caused by these pathogens. The research team included scientists from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the J. Craig Venter Institute, and the University of Texas Medical Branch.