A whole-genome shotgun optical map of Yersinia pestis strain KIM.

Yersinia pestis is the causative agent of the bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic plagues (also known as black death) and has been responsible for recurrent devastating pandemics throughout history. To further understand this virulent bacterium and to accelerate an ongoing sequencing project, two whole-genome restriction maps (XhoI and PvuII) of Y. pestis strain KIM were constructed using shotgun optical mapping.