Supporting data for "chiA and gbpA genes are not uniformly distributed amongst diverse Vibrio cholerae"

Members of the bacterial genus Vibrio utilize chitin both as a
metabolic substrate and a signal to activate natural competence. Vibrio cholerae is a bacterial enteric pathogen,
sub-lineages of which can cause pandemic cholera. However, the chitin metabolic
pathway in V. cholerae has been
dissected using only a limited number of laboratory strains of this species.
Here, we survey the complement of key chitin metabolism genes amongst 195
diverse V. cholerae. We show that the
gene encoding GbpA, known to be an important colonization and virulence factor
in pandemic isolates, is not ubiquitous amongst V. cholerae. We also identify a putatively novel chitinase, and
present experimental evidence in support of its functionality. Our data
indicate that the chitin metabolic pathway within V. cholerae is more complex than previously thought, and
emphasize the importance of considering genes and functions in the context of a
species in its entirety, rather than simply relying on traditional reference
strains.