Bartonella henselae Genome sequencing and assembly. Bartonella henselae

Study goals : identify genomic differences between strains of Bartonella henselae isolated from cats and belonging to the genotype I or II. B. henselae is a Gram-negative facultative intracellular bacterium of veterinary and zoonotic importance distributed worldwide. Domestic cats and other felids are the major reservoir hosts for this pathogen. In humans, B. henselae is the main causative agent of cat scratch disease (CSD), a syndrome characterized by a self-limiting regional lymphadenopathy in immunocompetent patients. However, infected immunocompromised individuals can develop severe multiple clinical manifestations including bacillary angiomatosis, hepatic peliosis, hepatitis, endocarditis, fever and bacteremia (3). Three distinct genotypes have been defined on the basis of their 16S rRNA sequence. Genotype I has been associated with more severe clinical manifestations than those induced by genotype II in humans.