Molecular characterization of virulent genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa based on componential usage divergence

Genetic characteristics of virulent genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa attracted significant attention for they could govern their drug-resistances. Studies on the componential usage divergences in the virulent genes are beneficial for further explicating their molecular characteristics. In present study, one thousand complete genomes of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were considered to study the molecular characteristics of 21 typical virulent genes. The important componential usage patterns (i.e., the base usage pattern, the codon usage pattern and their divergences) of 21 specific virulent genes were counted and calculated. The results show that (1) most virulent genes concerned in the present study are high GC sequences (overall GC ratio > 50%), especially from the codon usage perspective, the virulent genes are obviously GC3-abundant sequences (GC3 ratio > 70%); (2) the relative synonymous codon usage of all concerned virulent genes are uneven, especially in the anvM and the lptA, there is no codon for some certain amino acids, which could reveal their obvious codon usage bias; (3) some genes (i.e., the oprF and the fadD1) with lower divergence have steady effective number of codons. The findings of the present work would improve novel insights on the genetic characteristics of virulent genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.