June 9, 2005 It is spring time, and the idyllic image is of new-
born lambs and their mothers feasting on lush pastures. But a
potential killer lurks in the grass. Today, the hiding places
for that killer - a bacterium called Chlamydophila abortus - are
fewer because of the genome sequence produced in a collaboration
between the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, the Moredun
Research Institute and the Scottish Crop Research Institute.
Infection with Chlamydophila abortus is the most common cause of
infectious abortion in sheep in the UK, leading to loss of lambs
and economic costs of around £30M each year. Chlamydial
infections of humans and animals are of enormous public and
animal health significance worldwide, both in terms of disease
and economic impact. The genome sequence, published in Genome
Research, will bring new possibilities in the fight to control
the spread of infection. "Genomics has transformed this field
because we had a complete lack of genetic tools for research
directed at combating chlamydia