CELL JOURNAL(Yakhteh), Vol 17, No 3, Autumn 2015 451 Original Article Genome-Wide Analysis of Oceanimonas sp. GK1 Isolated from Gavkhouni Wetland (Iran) Demonstrates Presence of Genes for Virulence and Pathogenicity Laleh Parsa Yeganeh, M.Sc. 1 , Reza Azarbaijani, M.Sc. 1 , Hossein Mousavi, M.Sc. 1 , Seyed Abolhassan Shahzadeh Fazeli, Ph.D. 1, 2 , Mohammad Ali Amoozgar, Ph.D. 3 , Ghasem Hosseini Salekdeh, Ph.D. 1, 4, 5 * 1. Molecular Bank, Iranian Biological Resource Center (IBRC), ACECR, Tehran, Iran 2. Faculty of Basic Sciences and Advanced Technologies in Biology, University of Science and Culture, Tehran, Iran 3. Microorganism Bank, Iranian Biological Resource Center (IBRC), ACECR, Tehran, Iran 4. Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran, Karaj, Iran 5. Department of Molecular Systems Biology, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, Tehran, Iran *Corresponding Address: P.O.Box: 1551813513, Molecular Bank, Iranian Biological Resource Center (IBRC), ACECR, Tehran, Iran Email: salekdeh@ibrc.ir Received: 29/Apr/2014, Accepted: 6/Jan/2015 Abstract Objective: The bacterium Oceanimonas sp. (O. sp.) GK1 is a member of the Aeromona- daceae family and its genome represents several virulence genes involved in fish and human pathogenicity. In this original research study we aimed to identify and characterize the putative virulence factors and pathogenicity of this halotolerant marine bacterium us- ing genome wide analysis. Materials and Methods: The genome data of O. sp. GK1 was obtained from NCBI. Com- parative genomic study was done using MetaCyc database. Results: Whole genome data analysis of the O. sp. GK1 revealed that the bacterium pos- sesses some important virulence genes (e.g. ZOT, RTX toxin, thermostable hemolysin, lateral flagella and type IV pili) which have been implicated in adhesion and biofilm forma- tion and infection in some other pathogenic bacteria. Conclusion: This is the first report of the putative pathogenicity of O. sp.GK1. The genome wide analysis of the bacterium demonstrates the presence of virulence genes causing infectious diseases in many warm- and cold-blooded animals. Keywords: Pathogenicity, Virulence Factors, Halotolerant Cell Journal(Yakhteh), Vol 17, No 3, Autumn 2015, Pages: 451-460 Citation: Parsa Yeganeh L, Azarbaijani R, Mousavi H, Shahzadeh Fazeli SA, Amoozgar MA, Hosseini Salekdeh Gh. Genome-wide analysis of oceanimonas sp. GK1 isolated from gavkhouni wetland (Iran) demonstrates presence of genes for virulence and pathogenicity. Cell J. 2015; 17(3): 451-460. Introduction Oceanimonas sp. (O. sp.) GK1 (IBRC-M10197) was noticed previously for its high capacity of poly-ß-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) production under extreme growth conditions (1). The bacterium be- longs to the Aeromonadaceae family which com- prises of five genera: Aeromonas, Oceanimonas, Oceanisphaera, Tolumonas and Zobellella (2) and contains several important human and animal path- ogens. The pathogens belong mostly to the Aero- monas genus and cause different kinds of diseases in many warm- and cold-blooded animals (3, 4). Travelers’ diarrhea, cellulitis or wound infections due to traumatic injury in aqueous environment, septicemia and various other infections such as urinary tract infections, surgical wound infections, meningitis, peritonitis and endocarditis are diseases that are caused by Aeromonas species (5-8).