Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is an emerging pathogen. Recently there has been a global in the number of outbreaks caused by non-O157 STECs, typically involving six serogroups O26, O45, 0103, 0111, and 0145. STEC O145:H28 has been associated with severe human disease including hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), and is demonstrated by the 2007 Belgian ice-cream-associated outbreak and 2010 US lettuce-associated outbreak, with over 10% of patients developing HUS in each. The goal of this work was to do comparative genomics of strains, clinical and environmental, to investigate genome diversity and virulence evolution of this important foodborne pathogen.
The newer hierarchical genome assembly process (HGAP) performs de novo assembly using data from a single PacBio long insert library. To assess the benefits of this method, DNA from several Salmonella enterica serovars was isolated from a pure culture. Genome sequencing was performed using Pacific Biosciences RS sequencing technology. The HGAP process enabled us to close sixteen Salmonella subsp. enterica genomes and their associated mobile elements: The ten serotypes include: Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis) S. Bareilly, S. Heidelberg, S. Cubana, S. Javiana and S. Typhimurium, S. Newport, S. Montevideo, S. Agona, and S. Tennessee. In addition,…
Complete, high-quality microbial genomes are very valuable across a broad array of fields, from environmental studies, to human microbiome health, food pathogen surveillance, etc. Long-read sequencing enables accurate resolution of complex microbial genomes and is becoming the new standard. Here we report our novel Microbial Assembly pipeline to facilitate rapid, large-scale analysis of microbial genomes. We sequenced a 48-plex library with one SMRT Cell 8M on the Sequel II System, demultiplexed, then analyzed the data with Microbial Assembly.
In this AGBT 2017 poster, the University of Helsinki’s Petri Auevinen reports on efforts to understand bacteria that grow on, and subsequently spoil, food. This analysis monitored DNA modifications and transcriptomic changes in three species of lactic acid bacteria. Scientists discovered that the organisms’ metabolic profiles change substantially when grown together compared to those cultured individually, and are now studying how Cas protein activity changes under these conditions too.
Complete, high-quality microbial genomes are very valuable across a broad array of fields, from environmental studies, to human microbiome health, food pathogen surveillance, etc. Long-read sequencing enables accurate resolution of complex microbial genomes and is becoming the new standard. Here we report our novel Microbial Assembly pipeline to facilitate rapid, large-scale analysis of microbial genomes. We sequenced a 48-plex library with one SMRT Cell 8M on the Sequel II System, demultiplexed, then analyzed the data with Microbial Assembly.
A total of 91 draft genome sequences were used to analyze isolates of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis obtained from feral mice caught on poultry farms in Pennsylvania. One objective was to find mutations disrupting open reading frames (ORFs) and another was to determine if ORF-disruptive mutations were present in isolates obtained from other sources. A total of 83 mice were obtained between 1995-1998. Isolates separated into two genomic clades and 12 subgroups due to 742 mutations. Nineteen ORF-disruptive mutations were found, and in addition, bigA had exceptional heterogeneity requiring additional evaluation. The TRAMS algorithm detected only 6 ORF disruptions. The…
Infant formula (IF) requires a strict microbiological standard because of the high vulnerability of infants to foodborne diseases. The current study used the PacBio single molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing platform to generate full-length 16S rRNA-based bacterial microbiota profiles of thirty Chinese domestic and imported IF samples. A total of 600 species were identified, dominated by Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactococcus lactis and Lactococcus piscium. Distinctive bacterial profiles were observed between the two sample groups, as confirmed with both principal coordinate analysis and multivariate analysis of variance. Moreover, the product whey protein nitrogen index (WPNI), representing the degree of preheating, negatively correlated with…
Diagnoses that are both timely and accurate are critically important for patients with life-threatening or drug resistant infections. Technological improvements in High-Throughput Sequencing (HTS) have led to its use in pathogen detection and its application in clinical diagnoses of infectious diseases. The present study compares two HTS methods, 16S rRNA marker gene sequencing (metataxonomics) and whole metagenomic shotgun sequencing (metagenomics), in their respective abilities to match the same diagnosis as traditional culture methods (culture inference) for patients with ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP). The metagenomic analysis was able to produce the same diagnosis as culture methods at the species-level for five…
The Pacific Biosciences (Menlo Park, CA) single molecule, real-time sequencing technology (SMRT) was reported to have some advantages in analyzing the bacterial profile of environmental samples. In this study, the presence of bacterial contaminants in raw milk, UHT milk, and infant formula was determined by SMRT sequencing of the full length 16S rRNA gene. The bacterial profiles obtained at different taxonomic levels revealed clear differences in bacterial community structure across the 16 analyzed dairy samples. No indicative pathogenic bacteria were found in any of these tested samples. However, some of the detected bacterial species (e.g., Bacillus cereus, Enterococcus casseliflavus, and…
Application of manure from antibiotic-treated animals to crops facilitates the dissemination of antibiotic resistance determinants into the environment. However, our knowledge of the identity, diversity, and patterns of distribution of these antibiotic resistance determinants remains limited. We used a new combination of methods to examine the resistome of dairy cow manure, a common soil amendment. Metagenomic libraries constructed with DNA extracted from manure were screened for resistance to beta-lactams, phenicols, aminoglycosides, and tetracyclines. Functional screening of fosmid and small-insert libraries identified 80 different antibiotic resistance genes whose deduced protein sequences were on average 50 to 60% identical to sequences deposited…
Commercially manufactured ‘jiaosu’ (fermented fruit and vegetable juices) have gained popularity in Asia recently. Like other fermented products, they have a high microbial diversity and richness. However, no published study has yet described their microbiota composition. Thus, this work aimed to obtain the full-length 16S rRNA profiles of jiaosu using the PacBio single-molecule, real-time sequencing technology. We described the bacterial microbiota of three jiaosu products purchased from Taiwan and Japan. Bacterial sequences from all three samples distributed across seven different phyla, mainly Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. Forty-three genera were identified (e.g. Ochrobactrum, Lactobacillus, Mycobacterium, and Acinetobacter). Fifty- five species…
Tetragenococcus halophilus KUD23, a non-histamine producer, was isolated from a traditional Korean high-salt fermented soybean paste, doenjang. The strain was safe in terms of antibiotic susceptibility, hemolytic activity and biofilm formation. It could grow on De Man-Rogosa-Sharpe agar containing 21% (w/v) NaCl, exhibited acid production at 15% NaCl, and had strain-specific proteolytic and lipolytic activities under salt stress. Complete genome analysis of T. halophilus KUD23 and comparative genomic analysis shed light on the genetic background behind these phenotypic characteristics, including non-production of histamine and proteolytic and lipolytic activities.© FEMS 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Ampicillin, the first semi-synthetic penicillin active against Enterobacteriaceae, was released onto the market in 1961. The first outbreaks of disease caused by ampicillin-resistant strains of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium were identified in the UK in 1962 and 1964. We aimed to date the emergence of this resistance in historical isolates of S enterica serotype Typhimurium.In this retrospective, whole-genome sequencing study, we analysed 288 S enterica serotype Typhimurium isolates collected between 1911 and 1969 from 31 countries on four continents and from various sources including human beings, animals, feed, and food. All isolates were tested for antimicrobial drug susceptibility with the…
Antibiotic resistance is a major problem in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, the causative agent of typhoid. Multidrug-resistant (MDR) isolates are prevalent in parts of Asia and Africa and are often associated with the dominant H58 haplotype. Reduced susceptibility to fluoroquinolones is also widespread, and sporadic cases of resistance to third-generation cephalosporins or azithromycin have also been reported. Here, we report the first large-scale emergence and spread of a novel S. Typhi clone harboring resistance to three first-line drugs (chloramphenicol, ampicillin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole) as well as fluoroquinolones and third-generation cephalosporins in Sindh, Pakistan, which we classify as extensively drug resistant (XDR).…
Whole genome sequencing (WGS), using high throughput sequencing technology, reveals the complete sequence of the bacterial genome in a few days. WGS is increasingly being used for source tracking, pathogen surveillance and outbreak investigation due to its high discriminatory power. In the food industry, WGS used for source tracking is beneficial to support contamination investigations. Despite its increased use, no standards or guidelines are available today for the use of WGS in outbreak and/or trace-back investigations. Here we present a validation of our complete (end-to-end) WGS workflow for Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella enterica including: subculture of isolates, DNA extraction, sequencing…