Intracellular lifestyle of Brucella spp. Common genes with other animal pathogens, plant pathogens, and endosymhionts

Brucella spp. are intracellular pathogens that belong, like Agrobacterium, Rhizobium and Rickettsia, to the alpha-2-subgroup of proteobacteria. The ge nome organization of most Brucella spp. is characterized by the presence of two chromosomes. The intracellular lifestyle of Brucella, as well as the p ossible genes involved in pathogenesis and host cell signaling, are discuss ed, including the presence of genes with high similarity to those from othe r animal pathogens, plant pathogens and endosymbionts. (C) 1999 Editions sc ientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.