Genome fragments selected for comparison of variability between R. prowazekii and R. conorii. Open boxes, ORFs present in both genomes; wavy lines, remnant in one Rickettsia species from a gene present in the other species; trisected box, gene split in R. conorii but not in R. prowazekii; solid lines between boxes, intergenic spacers exhibiting low interspecies variability; dashed lines between boxes, intergenic spacers with high interspecies variability.