Whole-Genome Comparison between<i>Photorhabdus</i>Strains To Identify Genomic Regions Involved in the Specificity of Nematode Interaction

Abstract

The bacterium Photorhabdus establishes a highly specific association with Heterorhabditis, its nematode host. Photorhabdus strains associated with Heterorhabditis bacteriophora or Heterorhabditis megidis were compared using a Photorhabdus DNA microarray. We describe 31 regions belonging to the Photorhabdus flexible gene pool. Distribution analysis of regions among the Photorhabdus genus identified loci possibly involved in nematode specificity.