Our understanding of microbiology has evolved enormously over the last 150 years. Few institutions have witnessed our collective progress more closely than the National Collection of Type Cultures (NCTC). In fact, the collection itself is a record of the many milestones microbiologists have crossed, building on the discoveries of those who came before. To date, 60% of NCTC’s historic collection now has a closed, finished reference genome, thanks to PacBio Single Molecule, Real- Time (SMRT) Sequencing. We are excited to be their partner in crossing this latest milestone on their quest to improve human and animal health by understanding the…
The UK’s National Collection of Type Cultures (NCTC) is a unique collection of more than 5,000 expertly preserved and authenticated bacterial cultures, many of historical significance. Founded in 1920, NCTC is the longest established collection of its type anywhere in the world, with a history of its own that has reflected — and contributed to — the evolution of microbiology for more than 100 years.
Lameness is a significant problem resulting in millions of dollars in lost revenue annually. In commercial broilers, the most common cause of lameness is bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO). We are using a wire flooring model to induce lameness attributable to BCO. We used 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing to determine that Staphylococcus spp. were the main species associated with BCO. Staphylococcus agnetis, which previously had not been isolated from poultry, was the principal species isolated from the majority of the bone lesion samples. Administering S. agnetis in the drinking water to broilers reared on wire flooring increased the incidence of…
For comprehensive metabolic reconstructions and a resulting understanding of the pathways leading to natural products, it is desirable to obtain complete information about the genetic blueprint of the organisms used. Traditional Sanger and next-generation, short-read sequencing technologies have shortcomings with respect to read lengths and DNA-sequence context bias, leading to fragmented and incomplete genome information. The development of long-read, single molecule, real-time (SMRT) DNA sequencing from Pacific Biosciences, with >10,000 bp average read lengths and a lack of sequence context bias, now allows for the generation of complete genomes in a fully automated workflow. In addition to the genome sequence,…
In this PacBio User Group Meeting presentation, Nic Wheeler of University of Wisconsin-Madison, speaks about RNA sequencing for filarial nematodes associated with understudied tropical diseases. His team used Iso-Seq analysis to improve gene models and achieve better transcriptome coverage for these worms, which typically have poorly annotated and fragmented genome assemblies. While getting enough RNA to study is a technical challenge, the group still managed to generate full-length isoforms, many of which were novel or contained novel junctions.
In a push to develop insect-based food sources for people, Brenda Oppert from the USDA has been sequencing bug genomes with PacBio technology. Long reads are essential because of the highly repetitive sequences and large genomes. On the Sequel II System, a single SMRT Cell is sufficient to generate 350-fold coverage and produce a high-quality assembly for some of the insects she’s studying.
Tigecycline is one of the last-resort antibiotics to treat complicated infections caused by both multidrug-resistant Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria1. Tigecycline resistance has sporadically occurred in recent years, primarily due to chromosome-encoding mechanisms, such as overexpression of efflux pumps and ribosome protection2,3. Here, we report the emergence of the plasmid-mediated mobile tigecycline resistance mechanism Tet(X4) in Escherichia coli isolates from China, which is capable of degrading all tetracyclines, including tigecycline and the US FDA newly approved eravacycline. The tet(X4)-harbouring IncQ1 plasmid is highly transferable, and can be successfully mobilized and stabilized in recipient clinical and laboratory strains of Enterobacteriaceae bacteria. It…
Schistosomes cause schistosomiasis, the worldtextquoterights second most important parasitic disease after malaria. A peculiar feature of schistosomes is their ability to produce viable and fertile hybrids. Originally only present in the tropics, schistosomiasis is now also endemic in Europe. Based on two genetic markers the European species had been identified as a hybrid between the ruminant-infective Schistosoma bovis and the human-infective Schistosoma haematobium.Here we describe for the first time the genomic composition of the European schistosome hybrid (77% of S. haematobium and 23% of S. bovis origins), its morphometric parameters and its compatibility with the European vector snail and intermediate…
Introduction: Emergence of resistance determinants of blaNDM and mcr-1 has undermined the antimicrobial effectiveness of the last line drugs carbapenems and colistin. Aim: This work aimed to assess the prevalence of blaNDM and mcr-1 in E. coli strains collected from food in Shenzhen, China, during the period 2015 to 2017. Methods: Multidrug-resistant E. coli strains were isolated from food samples. Plasmids encoding mcr-1 or blaNDM genes were characterised and compared with plasmids found in clinical isolates.ResultsAmong 1,166 non-repeated cephalosporin-resistant E. coli strains isolated from 2,147 food samples, 390 and 42, respectively, were resistant to colistin and meropenem, with five strains…
Salmonella genomic island 3 (SGI3) was first described as a chromosomal island in Salmonella 4,[5],12:i:-, a monophasic variant of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium. The SGI3 DNA sequence detected from Salmonella 4,[5],12:i:- isolated in Japan was identical to that of a previously reported one across entire length of 81?kb. SGI3 consists of 86 open reading frames, including a copper homeostasis and silver resistance island (CHASRI) and an arsenic tolerance operon, in addition to genes related to conjugative transfer and DNA replication or partitioning, suggesting that the island is a mobile genetic element. We successfully selected transconjugants that acquired SGI3…
Yellowhorn (Xanthoceras sorbifolium) is a species of the Sapindaceae family native to China and is an oil tree that can withstand cold and drought conditions. A pseudomolecule-level genome assembly for this species will not only contribute to understanding the evolution of its genes and chromosomes but also bring yellowhorn breeding into the genomic era.Here, we generated 15 pseudomolecules of yellowhorn chromosomes, on which 97.04% of scaffolds were anchored, using the combined Illumina HiSeq, Pacific Biosciences Sequel, and Hi-C technologies. The length of the final yellowhorn genome assembly was 504.2 Mb with a contig N50 size of 1.04 Mb and a…
Nontyphoidal Salmonella enterica (NTS) poses a major public health risk worldwide that is amplified by the existence of antimicrobial-resistant strains, especially those resistant to quinolones and extended-spectrum cephalosporins (ESC). Little is known on the dissemination of plasmids harboring the acquired genetic determinants that confer resistance to these antimicrobials across NTS serotypes from livestock in the United States. NTS isolates (n?=?183) from U.S. swine clinical cases retrieved during 2014 to 2016 were selected for sequencing based on their phenotypic resistance to enrofloxacin (quinolone) or ceftiofur (3rd-generation cephalosporin). De novo assemblies were used to identify chromosomal mutations and acquired antimicrobial resistance genes…
In 2011, VIM-1-producing Salmonella enterica serovar Infantis and Escherichia coli were isolated for the first time in four German livestock farms. In 2015/2016, highly related isolates were identified in German pig production. This raised the issue of potential reservoirs for these isolates, the relation of their mobile genetic elements, and potential links between the different affected farms/facilities. In a piglet-producing farm suspicious for being linked to some blaVIM-1 findings in Germany, fecal and environmental samples were examined for the presence of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae and Salmonella spp. Newly discovered isolates were subjected to Illumina whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and S1 pulsed-field gel…
Here, we report the complete genome sequence of strain NMC 61 of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis, which was previously isolated from conveyor belts during chicken slaughter and has the potential to form biofilms on several surfaces. The genome is predicted to contain 110 noncoding small RNAs on the chromosome.
A production herd of Czech Simmental cattle (Czech Red Pied, CRP), the conserved subpopulation of this breed, and the ancient local breed Czech Red cattle (CR) were screened for diversity in the antibacterial toll-like receptors (TLRs), which are members of the innate immune system. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplicons of TLR1, TLR2, TLR4, TLR5, and TLR6 from pooled DNA samples were sequenced with PacBio technology, with 3–5×?coverage per gene per animal. To increase the reliability of variant detection, the gDNA pools were sequenced in parallel with the Illumina X-ten platform at low coverage (60× per gene). The diversity in conserved…