eans that diagnostic and forensic tests developed using this information will have extremely low false positive, or misidentification rates, a crucial criterion for advanced tests. False positives from anthrax environmental tests would have an inordinate impact on public health should an outbreak occur.

The work also shows for the first time that how researchers "discover" DNA fingerprints is crucial to what they can be used for. The selection of anthrax strains for whole genome sequencing was guided by prior work on the large global anthrax collection, which maximized the information that was ultimately obtained from the whole genome sequencing effort. Similar efforts without such forethought would be ineffective at defining major bacterial populations.

This study shows that diverse strains of pathogens will not be recognized unless they are contained within the scope for the discovery process.

"That the genetic relationships of anthrax have been defined to a new level of precision provides a critical step toward future detection of this potential public threat," added Keim. "In addition, this study established a model for other biothreat pathogens, and common public health related diseases such as E. coli, Strep, Staph, and Salmonella."

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Contact: Galen Perry
gperry@tgen.org
602-343-8423
The Translational Genomics Research Institute
30-Aug-2004

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