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Auto Tag: Shigella flexneri

June 1, 2021  |  

Metagenomic analysis of type II diabetes gut microbiota using PacBio HiFi reads reveals taxonomic and functional differences

In the past decade, the human microbiome has been increasingly shown to play a major role in health. For example, imbalances in gut microbiota appear to be associated with Type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a major determinant of the long-term prognosis among T2DM patients, with a 2- to 4-fold increased mortality risk when present. However, the exact microbial strains or functions implicated in disease need further investigation. From a large study with 523 participants (185 healthy controls, 186 T2DM patients without CAD, and 106 T2DM patients with CAD), 3 samples from each patient group were selected for long read sequencing. Each sample was prepared and sequenced on one Sequel II System SMRT Cell, to assess whether long accurate PacBio HiFi reads could yield additional insights to those made using short reads. Each of the 9 samples was subject to metagenomic assembly and binning, taxonomic classification and functional profiling. Results from metagenomic assembly and binning show that it is possible to generate a significant number of complete MAGs (Metagenome Assembled Genomes) from each sample, with over half of the high-quality MAGs being represented by a single circular contig. We show that differences found in taxonomic and functional profiles of healthy versus diabetic patients in the small 9-sample study align with the results of the larger study, as well as with results reported in literature. For example, the abundances of beneficial short- chain fatty acid (SCFA) producers such as Phascolarctobacterium faecium and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii were decreased in T2DM gut microbiota in both studies, while the abundances of quinol and quinone biosynthesis pathways were increased as compared to healthy controls. In conclusion, metagenomic analysis of long accurate HiFi reads revealed important taxonomic and functional differences in T2DM versus healthy gut microbiota. Furthermore, metagenome assembly of long HiFi reads led to the recovery of many complete MAGs and a significant number of complete circular bacterial chromosome sequences.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Rapid transcriptional responses to serum exposure are associated with sensitivity and resistance to antibody-mediated complement killing in invasive Salmonella Typhimurium ST313

Background: Salmonella Typhimurium ST313 exhibits signatures of adaptation to invasive human infection, including higher resistance to humoral immune responses than gastrointestinal isolates. Full resistance to antibody-mediated complement killing (serum resistance) among nontyphoidal Salmonellae is uncommon, but selection of highly resistant strains could compromise vaccine-induced antibody immunity. Here, we address the hypothesis that serum resistance is due to a distinct genotype or transcriptome response in S. Typhimurium ST313.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Sensitivity to the two peptide bacteriocin plantaricin EF is dependent on CorC, a membrane-bound, magnesium/cobalt efflux protein.

Lactic acid bacteria produce a variety of antimicrobial peptides known as bacteriocins. Most bacteriocins are understood to kill sensitive bacteria through receptor-mediated disruptions. Here, we report on the identification of the Lactobacillus plantarum plantaricin EF (PlnEF) receptor. Spontaneous PlnEF-resistant mutants of the PlnEF-indicator strain L. plantarum NCIMB 700965 (LP965) were isolated and confirmed to maintain cellular ATP levels in the presence of PlnEF. Genome comparisons resulted in the identification of a single mutated gene annotated as the membrane-bound, magnesium/cobalt efflux protein CorC. All isolates contained a valine (V) at position 334 instead of a glycine (G) in a cysteine-ß-synthase domain at the C-terminal region of CorC. In silico template-based modeling of this domain indicated that the mutation resides in a loop between two ß-strands. The relationship between PlnEF, CorC, and metal homeostasis was supported by the finding that PlnEF-resistance was lost when PlnEF was applied together with high concentrations of Mg2+ , Co2+ , Zn2+ , or Cu2+ . Lastly, PlnEF sensitivity was increased upon heterologous expression of LP965 corC but not the G334V CorC mutant in the PlnEF-resistant strain Lactobacillus casei BL23. These results show that PlnEF kills sensitive bacteria by targeting CorC. © 2019 The Authors. MicrobiologyOpen published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Potential KPC-2 carbapenemase reservoir of environmental Aeromonas hydrophila and Aeromonas caviae isolates from the effluent of an urban wastewater treatment plant in Japan.

Aeromonas hydrophila and Aeromonas caviae adapt to saline water environments and are the most predominant Aeromonas species isolated from estuaries. Here, we isolated antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) Aeromonas strains (A. hydrophila GSH8-2 and A. caviae GSH8M-1) carrying the carabapenemase blaKPC-2 gene from a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent in Tokyo Bay (Japan) and determined their complete genome sequences. GSH8-2 and GSH8M-1 were classified as newly assigned sequence types ST558 and ST13, suggesting no supportive evidence of clonal dissemination. The strains appear to have acquired blaKPC-2 -positive IncP-6-relative plasmids (pGSH8-2 and pGSH8M-1-2) that share a common backbone with plasmids in Aeromonas sp. ASNIH3 isolated from hospital wastewater in the United States, A. hydrophila WCHAH045096 isolated from sewage in China, other clinical isolates (Klebsiella, Enterobacter and Escherichia coli), and wastewater isolates (Citrobacter, Pseudomonas and other Aeromonas spp.). In addition to blaKPC-2 , pGSH8M-1-2 carries an IS26-mediated composite transposon including a macrolide resistance gene, mph(A). Although Aeromonas species are opportunistic pathogens, they could serve as potential environmental reservoir bacteria for carbapenemase and AMR genes. AMR monitoring from WWTP effluents will contribute to the detection of ongoing AMR dissemination in the environment and might provide an early warning of potential dissemination in clinical settings and communities. © 2019 The Authors. Environmental Microbiology Reports published by Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Genomic variation and strain-specific functional adaptation in the human gut microbiome during early life.

The human gut microbiome matures towards the adult composition during the first years of life and is implicated in early immune development. Here, we investigate the effects of microbial genomic diversity on gut microbiome development using integrated early childhood data sets collected in the DIABIMMUNE study in Finland, Estonia and Russian Karelia. We show that gut microbial diversity is associated with household location and linear growth of children. Single nucleotide polymorphism- and metagenomic assembly-based strain tracking revealed large and highly dynamic microbial pangenomes, especially in the genus Bacteroides, in which we identified evidence of variability deriving from Bacteroides-targeting bacteriophages. Our analyses revealed functional consequences of strain diversity; only 10% of Finnish infants harboured Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis, a subspecies specialized in human milk metabolism, whereas Russian infants commonly maintained a probiotic Bifidobacterium bifidum strain in infancy. Groups of bacteria contributing to diverse, characterized metabolic pathways converged to highly subject-specific configurations over the first two years of life. This longitudinal study extends the current view of early gut microbial community assembly based on strain-level genomic variation.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Retrospective whole-genome sequencing analysis distinguished PFGE and drug-resistance-matched retail meat and clinical Salmonella isolates.

Non-typhoidal Salmonella is a leading cause of outbreak and sporadic-associated foodborne illnesses in the United States. These infections have been associated with a range of foods, including retail meats. Traditionally, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) have been used to facilitate public health investigations of Salmonella infections. However, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has emerged as an alternative tool that can be routinely implemented. To assess its potential in enhancing integrated surveillance in Pennsylvania, USA, WGS was used to directly compare the genetic characteristics of 7 retail meat and 43 clinical historic Salmonella isolates, subdivided into 3 subsets based on PFGE and AST results, to retrospectively resolve their genetic relatedness and identify antimicrobial resistance (AMR) determinants. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analyses revealed that the retail meat isolates within S. Heidelberg, S. Typhimurium var. O5- subset 1 and S. Typhimurium var. O5- subset 2 were separated from each primary PFGE pattern-matched clinical isolate by 6-12, 41-96 and 21-81 SNPs, respectively. Fifteen resistance genes were identified across all isolates, including fosA7, a gene only recently found in a limited number of Salmonella and a =95?%?phenotype to genotype correlation was observed for all tested antimicrobials. Moreover, AMR was primarily plasmid-mediated in S. Heidelberg and S. Typhimurium var. O5- subset 2, whereas AMR was chromosomally carried in S. Typhimurium var. O5- subset 1. Similar plasmids were identified in both the retail meat and clinical isolates. Collectively, these data highlight the utility of WGS in retrospective analyses and enhancing integrated surveillance for Salmonella from multiple sources.

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April 21, 2020  |  

Plasmids of Shigella flexneri serotype 1c strain Y394 provide advantages to bacteria in the host.

Shigella flexneri has an extremely complex genome with a significant number of virulence traits acquired by mobile genetic elements including bacteriophages and plasmids. S. flexneri serotype 1c is an emerging etiological agent of bacillary dysentery in developing countries. In this study, the complete nucleotide sequence of two plasmids of S. flexneri serotype 1c strain Y394 was determined and analysed.The plasmid pINV-Y394 is an invasive or virulence plasmid of size 221,293?bp composed of a large number of insertion sequences (IS), virulence genes, regulatory and maintenance genes. Three hundred and twenty-eight open reading frames (ORFs) were identified in pINV-Y394, of which about a half (159 ORFs) were identified as IS elements. Ninety-seven ORFs were related to characterized genes (majority of which are associated with virulence and their regulons), and 72 ORFs were uncharacterized or hypothetical genes. The second plasmid pNV-Y394 is of size 10,866?bp and encodes genes conferring resistance against multiple antibiotics of clinical importance. The multidrug resistance gene cassette consists of tetracycline resistance gene tetA, streptomycin resistance gene strA-strB and sulfonamide-resistant dihydropteroate synthase gene sul2.These two plasmids together play a key role in the fitness of Y394 in the host environment. The findings from this study indicate that the pathogenic S. flexneri is a highly niche adaptive pathogen which is able to co-evolve with its host and respond to the selection pressure in its environment.

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