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Abouelkhair MA, Kania SA. Whole Genome Sequencing and Comparative Genomics of Six Staphylococcus schleiferi and Staphylococcus coagulans Isolates. Genes (Basel) 2024; 15:284. [PMID: 38540343 PMCID: PMC10969876 DOI: 10.3390/genes15030284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2024] [Revised: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 02/22/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Staphylococcus schleiferi and Staphylococcus coagulans, closely related bacterial species within the Staphylococcus genus, present a challenge in classification and diagnosis due to their close genetic proximity and overlapping phenotypic features. Moreover, our understanding of the virulence mechanisms in staphylococcal species, beyond the extensively studied Staphylococcus aureus, remains limited, underscoring the importance of using comparative data to enhance our insights into virulence within these bacterial species. This study employed a comprehensive approach, utilizing comparative genomics, to identify genomic distinctions between S. schleiferi and S. coagulans, aiming to address the challenges in the accurate classification and diagnosis of these organisms and identify unique features. Whole genome sequencing was performed on six clinical isolates, and their genomes were compared to identify variations in gene content and virulence factors. De novo assembly and annotation revealed two samples as S. coagulans and four samples as S. schleiferi. Analysis of the core genomes revealed conserved regions crucial for defining species identity, while accessory genomic elements contained unique genes, possibly impacting the pathogenicity of the species.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Stephen A. Kania
- Department of Biomedical and Diagnostic Sciences, University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA;
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Park JM, Kim JH, Kim G, Sim HJ, Ahn SM, Choi KS, Kwon HJ. Rapid Antibacterial Activity Assessment of Chimeric Lysins. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:2430. [PMID: 38397110 PMCID: PMC10888538 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25042430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2024] [Revised: 02/16/2024] [Accepted: 02/18/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Various chimeric lysins have been developed as efficacious antibiotics against multidrug-resistant bacteria, but direct comparisons of their antibacterial activities have been difficult due to the preparation of multiple recombinant chimeric lysins. Previously, we reported an Escherichia coli cell-free expression method to better screen chimeric lysins against Staphylococcus aureus, but we still needed to increase the amounts of expressed proteins enough to be able to detect them non-isotopically for quantity comparisons. In this study, we improved the previous cell-free expression system by adding a previously reported artificial T7 terminator and reversing the different nucleotides between the T7 promoter and start codon to those of the T7 phage. The new method increased the expressed amount of chimeric lysins enough for us to detect them using Western blotting. Therefore, the qualitative comparison of activity between different chimeric lysins has become possible via the adjustment of the number of variables between samples without protein purification. We applied this method to select more active chimeric lysins derived from our previously reported chimeric lysin (ALS2). Finally, we compared the antibacterial activities of our selected chimeric lysins with reported chimeric lysins (ClyC and ClyO) and lysostaphin and determined the rank orders of antibacterial activities on different Staphylococcus aureus strains in our experimental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin-Mi Park
- Laboratory of Poultry Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; (J.-M.P.); (J.-H.K.); (S.-M.A.)
- College of Veterinary Medicine and BK21 for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; (G.K.); (H.-J.S.)
- GeNiner Inc., Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Jun-Hyun Kim
- Laboratory of Poultry Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; (J.-M.P.); (J.-H.K.); (S.-M.A.)
- College of Veterinary Medicine and BK21 for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; (G.K.); (H.-J.S.)
- GeNiner Inc., Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Gun Kim
- College of Veterinary Medicine and BK21 for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; (G.K.); (H.-J.S.)
- Laboratory of Pharmacology, Research Institute for Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Hun-Ju Sim
- College of Veterinary Medicine and BK21 for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; (G.K.); (H.-J.S.)
- Laboratory of Pharmacology, Research Institute for Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Sun-Min Ahn
- Laboratory of Poultry Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; (J.-M.P.); (J.-H.K.); (S.-M.A.)
| | - Kang-Seuk Choi
- College of Veterinary Medicine and BK21 for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; (G.K.); (H.-J.S.)
- Laboratory of Avian Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyuk-Joon Kwon
- Laboratory of Poultry Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; (J.-M.P.); (J.-H.K.); (S.-M.A.)
- College of Veterinary Medicine and BK21 for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; (G.K.); (H.-J.S.)
- GeNiner Inc., Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
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Ha EJ, Hong SM, Kim SJ, Ahn SM, Kim HW, Choi KS, Kwon HJ. Tracing the Evolutionary Pathways of Serogroup O78 Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli. Antibiotics (Basel) 2023; 12:1714. [PMID: 38136748 PMCID: PMC10740950 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics12121714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2023] [Revised: 11/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) causes severe economic losses in the poultry industry, and O78 serogroup APEC strains are prevalent in chickens. In this study, we aimed to understand the evolutionary pathways and relationships between O78 APEC and other E. coli strains. To trace these evolutionary pathways, we classified 3101 E. coli strains into 306 subgenotypes according to the numbers and types of single nucleotide polymorphisms (RST0 to RST63-1) relative to the consensus sequence (RST0) of the RNA polymerase beta subunit gene and performed network analysis. The E. coli strains showed four apparently different evolutionary pathways (I-1, I-2, I-3, and II). The thirty-two Korean O78 APEC strains tested in this study were classified into RST4-4 (45.2%), RST3-1 (32.3%), RST21-1 (12.9%), RST4-5 (3.2%), RST5-1 (3.2%), and RST12-6 (3.2%), and all RSTs except RST21-1 (I-2) may have evolved through the same evolutionary pathway (I-1). A comparative genomic study revealed the highest relatedness between O78 strains of the same RST in terms of genome sequence coverage/identity and the spacer sequences of CRISPRs. The early-appearing RST3-1 and RST4-4 prevalence among O78 APEC strains may reflect the early settlement of O78 E. coli in chickens, after which these bacteria accumulated virulence and antibiotic resistance genes to become APEC strains. The zoonotic risk of the conventional O78 APEC strains is low at present, but the appearance of genetically distinct and multiple virulence gene-bearing RST21-1 O78 APEC strains may alert us to a need to evaluate their virulence in chickens as well as their zoonotic risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eun-Jin Ha
- Laboratory of Avian Diseases, Department of Farm Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine and BK21 PLUS for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 088026, Republic of Korea; (E.-J.H.); (S.-M.H.); (S.-J.K.)
- Research Institute for Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; (S.-M.A.); (H.-W.K.)
| | - Seung-Min Hong
- Laboratory of Avian Diseases, Department of Farm Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine and BK21 PLUS for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 088026, Republic of Korea; (E.-J.H.); (S.-M.H.); (S.-J.K.)
- Research Institute for Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; (S.-M.A.); (H.-W.K.)
| | - Seung-Ji Kim
- Laboratory of Avian Diseases, Department of Farm Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine and BK21 PLUS for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 088026, Republic of Korea; (E.-J.H.); (S.-M.H.); (S.-J.K.)
- Research Institute for Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; (S.-M.A.); (H.-W.K.)
| | - Sun-Min Ahn
- Research Institute for Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; (S.-M.A.); (H.-W.K.)
| | - Ho-Won Kim
- Research Institute for Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; (S.-M.A.); (H.-W.K.)
| | - Kang-Seuk Choi
- Laboratory of Avian Diseases, Department of Farm Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine and BK21 PLUS for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 088026, Republic of Korea; (E.-J.H.); (S.-M.H.); (S.-J.K.)
- Research Institute for Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; (S.-M.A.); (H.-W.K.)
| | - Hyuk-Joon Kwon
- Research Institute for Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; (S.-M.A.); (H.-W.K.)
- Laboratory of Poultry Medicine, Department of Farm Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine and BK21 PLUS for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 088026, Republic of Korea
- Farm Animal Clinical Training and Research Center (FACTRC), GBST, Seoul National University, Pyeongchang 25354, Republic of Korea
- GeNiner Inc., Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
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Park JM, Ko DS, Kim HS, Kim NH, Kim EK, Roh YH, Kim D, Kim JH, Choi KS, Kwon HJ. Rapid Screening and Comparison of Chimeric Lysins for Antibacterial Activity against Staphylococcus aureus Strains. Antibiotics (Basel) 2023; 12:antibiotics12040667. [PMID: 37107029 PMCID: PMC10135017 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics12040667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2023] [Revised: 03/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Chimeric lysins composed of various combinations of cell wall-lysing (enzymatic) and cell-wall-binding (CWB) domains of endolysins, autolysins, and bacteriocins have been developed as alternatives to or adjuvants of conventional antibiotics. The screening of multiple chimeric lysin candidates for activity via E. coli expression is not cost effective, and we previously reported on a simple cell-free expression system as an alternative. In this study, we sufficiently improved upon this cell-free expression system for use in screening activity via a turbidity reduction test, which is more appropriate than a colony reduction test when applied in multiple screening. Using the improved protocol, we screened and compared the antibacterial activity of chimeric lysin candidates and verified the relatively strong activity associated with the CHAP (cysteine, histidine-dependent amidohydrolase/peptidase) domain of secretory antigen SsaA-like protein (ALS2). ALS2 expressed in E. coli showed two major bands, and the smaller one (subprotein) was shown to be expressed by an innate downstream promoter and start codon (ATG). The introduction of synonymous mutations in the promoter resulted in clearly reduced expression of the subprotein, whereas missense mutations in the start codon abolished antibacterial activity as well as subprotein production. Interestingly, most of the S. aureus strains responsible for bovine mastitis were susceptible to ALS2, but those from human and chicken were less susceptible. Thus, the simple and rapid screening method can be applied to select functional chimeric lysins and define mutations affecting antibacterial activity, and ALS2 may be useful in itself and as a lead molecule to control bovine mastitis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin-Mi Park
- Laboratory of Poultry Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
- Research Institute for Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, BK21 for Veterinary Science, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Dae-Sung Ko
- Laboratory of Poultry Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
- Research Institute for Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, BK21 for Veterinary Science, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Hee-Soo Kim
- Laboratory of Poultry Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
- Research Institute for Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, BK21 for Veterinary Science, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Nam-Hyung Kim
- Laboratory of Poultry Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
- Research Institute for Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, BK21 for Veterinary Science, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Eun-Kyoung Kim
- Department of Farm Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Pyeongchang-gun 25354, Republic of Korea
| | - Young-Hye Roh
- Department of Farm Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Pyeongchang-gun 25354, Republic of Korea
| | - Danil Kim
- Department of Farm Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Pyeongchang-gun 25354, Republic of Korea
| | - Jae-Hong Kim
- Laboratory of Poultry Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
| | - Kang-Seuk Choi
- Research Institute for Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, BK21 for Veterinary Science, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
- Laboratory of Avian Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
- Correspondence: (K.-S.C.); (H.-J.K.); Tel.: +82-2-880-1266 (K.-S.C. & H.-J.K.)
| | - Hyuk-Joon Kwon
- Laboratory of Poultry Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
- Research Institute for Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, BK21 for Veterinary Science, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
- Correspondence: (K.-S.C.); (H.-J.K.); Tel.: +82-2-880-1266 (K.-S.C. & H.-J.K.)
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