The rfaD locus: a region of rearrangement in Vibrio cholerae O139.

We analyzed the rfaD locus of the novel epidemic Vibrio cholerae strain O139, a putative region of rearrangement. This region includes 4 orfs in the same orientation. Two orfs, rfaD(O139) and orf2(O139) were almost identical to those described in V. cholerae O1. In contrast, the two other orfs upstream from rfaD(O139), designated orfA(O139) and orfB(O139), were absent from V. cholerae O1, but present in environmental strains of V. cholerae O22, O141 and O155. These results suggest that a chromosomal rearrangement might have occurred in the vicinity of rfaD in V. cholerae O1, resulting in the emergence of V. cholerae O139. The putative source of exogenous DNA might have been V. cholerae O22, O141 and O155.