Despite the plethora of microbial genome papers, most do little more than catalog genes and analyze results, says Hervé Tettelin, a microbial genomics investigator at the Institute for Genomic Research, Rockville, Md. They normally are presented, he says, as underpinnings for further inquiry. But that was not the case when Tettelin and coworkers set out to sequence a serogroup B strain of Neisseria meningitides--their goal was to find vaccine candidates. The resulting Hot Paper "is the first case of a whole genome sequence coming out with a very direct application," he says.1
Neisseria meningitidis lives peacefully in the nasopharynx until unknown factors conspire to make it cross the endothelial cell barrier, where it causes septicemia. From there, it may work its way into the meninges, with meningitis as a possible result. It is primarily a pathogen in infants, responsible for up to 5,300 cases worldwide per year, with 5% to ...
