Up until a few months ago there were a few representative
samples of the Yersinia pestis genome. Important windows into
its secrets, but windows none the less. In January a Chinese
group remedied this situation by expanding the number of fully
sequenced genomes from 15 to 133 (Cui et al, 2013). China
supplied 107 genomes selected from over 900 genotyped specimens
collected since 1955 to represent bacterial and host diversity.
To these, 11 additional isolates from Mongolia, Myanmar (Burma),
the former Soviet Union, and Madagascar were fully sequenced.
For the analysis, the previously sequenced 15 genomes were added
bringing the total up to 133 including the ancient specimens
from 14th century London. The Core-Genome and the Pan-Genome
Even for a bacterium like Yersinia pestis that is considered to
have little genetic diversity, its genome is more elastic than
any eukaryote (everything but bacteria). The bacterial genome
can be divided into its core genome, found in all members of the
species, and the accessory