Comparative Genomics of Haemophilus ducreyi; Insight into genes related to Virulence, Disease and Defense

Abstract

Haemophilus ducreyi, a fastidious, gram-negative, coccobacillus bacteria of Pasteurellaceae family causes sexually transmitted disease known as Chancroid which results genital ulcer disease globally characterized by painful sores on the genitalia and also have been associated particularly with facilitating the transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Currently, only a single reference strain (AE017143) are available. This study presents comparative analysis of ten draft genomes isolated from Children with Cutaneous Lesions in Vanuatu and Ghana. Computational analysis of draft sequences have triggered the genes related to virulence, disease and diagnosis. This overall function based analysis based on virulence, disease and diagnosis finally showed that during comparison between ten isolates with reference strain, four genes are common in all additional isolates except reference strain. Random analysis among additional ten isolates except reference strain revealed two genes which are common in three isolates but absolutely absent in all other isolates. Those genes were characterized and found to be functioned as Mercuric ion reductase and Mercury resistance operon regulatory protein. Gene gain/loss was also observed among different isolates in association of CRISPRs and prophage due to their prospective contribution in evolutionary change. This study on multiple strains of Haemophilus ducreyi revealed the biological system of this bacteria including the genes related to virulence and causation of disease which can be effective novel drug/vaccine targets in future prospects.