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Bhalla N, Nanda RK. Pangenome-wide association study reveals the selective absence of CRISPR genes (Rv2816c-19c) in drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Microbiol Spectr 2024:e0052724. [PMID: 38916315 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.00527-24] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2024] [Accepted: 05/31/2024] [Indexed: 06/26/2024] Open
Abstract
The presence of intermittently dispersed insertion sequences and transposases in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) genome makes intra-genome recombination events inevitable. Understanding their effect on the gene repertoires (GR), which may contribute to the development of drug-resistant Mtb, is critical. In this study, publicly available WGS data of clinical Mtb isolates (endemic region n = 2,601; non-endemic region n = 1,130) were de novo assembled, filtered, scaffolded into assemblies, and functionally annotated. Out of 2,601 Mtb WGS data sets from endemic regions, 2,184 (drug resistant/sensitive: 1,386/798) qualified as high quality. We identified 3,784 core genes, 123 softcore genes, 224 shell genes, and 762 cloud genes in the pangenome of Mtb clinical isolates from endemic regions. Sets of 33 and 39 genes showed positive and negative associations (P < 0.01) with drug resistance status, respectively. Gene ontology clustering showed compromised immunity to phages and impaired DNA repair in drug-resistant Mtb clinical isolates compared to the sensitive ones. Multidrug efflux pump repressor genes (Rv3830c and Rv3855c) and CRISPR genes (Rv2816c-19c) were absent in the drug-resistant Mtb. A separate WGS data analysis of drug-resistant Mtb clinical isolates from the Netherlands (n = 1130) also showed the absence of CRISPR genes (Rv2816c-17c). This study highlights the role of CRISPR genes in drug resistance development in Mtb clinical isolates and helps in understanding its evolutionary trajectory and as useful targets for diagnostics development.IMPORTANCEThe results from the present Pan-GWAS study comparing gene sets in drug-resistant and drug-sensitive Mtb clinical isolates revealed intricate presence-absence patterns of genes encoding DNA-binding proteins having gene regulatory as well as DNA modification and DNA repair roles. Apart from the genes with known functions, some uncharacterized and hypothetical genes that seem to have a potential role in drug resistance development in Mtb were identified. We have been able to extrapolate many findings of the present study with the existing literature on the molecular aspects of drug-resistant Mtb, further strengthening the relevance of the results presented in this study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikhil Bhalla
- Translational Health Group, International Center of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi, India
| | - Ranjan Kumar Nanda
- Translational Health Group, International Center of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi, India
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2
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Shankar G, Akhter Y. Stealing survival: Iron acquisition strategies of Mycobacteriumtuberculosis. Biochimie 2024:S0300-9084(24)00142-1. [PMID: 38901792 DOI: 10.1016/j.biochi.2024.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2024] [Revised: 06/07/2024] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 06/22/2024]
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), faces iron scarcity within the host due to immune defenses. This review explores the importance of iron for Mtb and its strategies to overcome iron restriction. We discuss how the host limits iron as an innate immune response and how Mtb utilizes various iron acquisition systems, particularly the siderophore-mediated pathway. The review illustrates the structure and biosynthesis of mycobactin, a key siderophore in Mtb, and the regulation of its production. We explore the potential of targeting siderophore biosynthesis and uptake as a novel therapeutic approach for TB. Finally, we summarize current knowledge on Mtb's iron acquisition and highlight promising directions for future research to exploit this pathway for developing new TB interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gauri Shankar
- Department of Biotechnology, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Vidya Vihar, Raebareli Road, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, 226 025, India
| | - Yusuf Akhter
- Department of Biotechnology, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Vidya Vihar, Raebareli Road, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, 226 025, India.
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3
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Marin MG, Wippel C, Quinones-Olvera N, Behruznia M, Jeffrey BM, Harris M, Mann BC, Rosenthal A, Jacobson KR, Warren RM, Li H, Meehan CJ, Farhat MR. Analysis of the limited M. tuberculosis accessory genome reveals potential pitfalls of pan-genome analysis approaches. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.21.586149. [PMID: 38585972 PMCID: PMC10996470 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.21.586149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
Pan-genome analysis is a fundamental tool for studying bacterial genome evolution; however, the variety of methods used to define and measure the pan-genome poses challenges to the interpretation and reliability of results. To quantify sources of bias and error related to common pan-genome analysis approaches, we evaluated different approaches applied to curated collection of 151 Mycobacterium tuberculosis ( Mtb ) isolates. Mtb is characterized by its clonal evolution, absence of horizontal gene transfer, and limited accessory genome, making it an ideal test case for this study. Using a state-of-the-art graph-genome approach, we found that a majority of the structural variation observed in Mtb originates from rearrangement, deletion, and duplication of redundant nucleotide sequences. In contrast, we found that pan-genome analyses that focus on comparison of coding sequences (at the amino acid level) can yield surprisingly variable results, driven by differences in assembly quality and the softwares used. Upon closer inspection, we found that coding sequence annotation discrepancies were a major contributor to inflated Mtb accessory genome estimates. To address this, we developed panqc, a software that detects annotation discrepancies and collapses nucleotide redundancy in pan-genome estimates. When applied to Mtb and E. coli pan-genomes, panqc exposed distinct biases influenced by the genomic diversity of the population studied. Our findings underscore the need for careful methodological selection and quality control to accurately map the evolutionary dynamics of a bacterial species.
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Rusic D, Kumric M, Seselja Perisin A, Leskur D, Bukic J, Modun D, Vilovic M, Vrdoljak J, Martinovic D, Grahovac M, Bozic J. Tackling the Antimicrobial Resistance "Pandemic" with Machine Learning Tools: A Summary of Available Evidence. Microorganisms 2024; 12:842. [PMID: 38792673 PMCID: PMC11123121 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12050842] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2024] [Revised: 04/16/2024] [Accepted: 04/19/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance is recognised as one of the top threats healthcare is bound to face in the future. There have been various attempts to preserve the efficacy of existing antimicrobials, develop new and efficient antimicrobials, manage infections with multi-drug resistant strains, and improve patient outcomes, resulting in a growing mass of routinely available data, including electronic health records and microbiological information that can be employed to develop individualised antimicrobial stewardship. Machine learning methods have been developed to predict antimicrobial resistance from whole-genome sequencing data, forecast medication susceptibility, recognise epidemic patterns for surveillance purposes, or propose new antibacterial treatments and accelerate scientific discovery. Unfortunately, there is an evident gap between the number of machine learning applications in science and the effective implementation of these systems. This narrative review highlights some of the outstanding opportunities that machine learning offers when applied in research related to antimicrobial resistance. In the future, machine learning tools may prove to be superbugs' kryptonite. This review aims to provide an overview of available publications to aid researchers that are looking to expand their work with new approaches and to acquaint them with the current application of machine learning techniques in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Doris Rusic
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Split School of Medicine, Soltanska 2A, 21000 Split, Croatia; (D.R.); (A.S.P.); (D.L.); (J.B.); (D.M.)
| | - Marko Kumric
- Department of Pathophysiology, University of Split School of Medicine, Soltanska 2A, 21000 Split, Croatia; (M.K.); (M.V.); (J.V.); (D.M.)
- Laboratory for Cardiometabolic Research, University of Split School of Medicine, Soltanska 2A, 21000 Split, Croatia
| | - Ana Seselja Perisin
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Split School of Medicine, Soltanska 2A, 21000 Split, Croatia; (D.R.); (A.S.P.); (D.L.); (J.B.); (D.M.)
| | - Dario Leskur
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Split School of Medicine, Soltanska 2A, 21000 Split, Croatia; (D.R.); (A.S.P.); (D.L.); (J.B.); (D.M.)
| | - Josipa Bukic
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Split School of Medicine, Soltanska 2A, 21000 Split, Croatia; (D.R.); (A.S.P.); (D.L.); (J.B.); (D.M.)
| | - Darko Modun
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Split School of Medicine, Soltanska 2A, 21000 Split, Croatia; (D.R.); (A.S.P.); (D.L.); (J.B.); (D.M.)
| | - Marino Vilovic
- Department of Pathophysiology, University of Split School of Medicine, Soltanska 2A, 21000 Split, Croatia; (M.K.); (M.V.); (J.V.); (D.M.)
- Laboratory for Cardiometabolic Research, University of Split School of Medicine, Soltanska 2A, 21000 Split, Croatia
| | - Josip Vrdoljak
- Department of Pathophysiology, University of Split School of Medicine, Soltanska 2A, 21000 Split, Croatia; (M.K.); (M.V.); (J.V.); (D.M.)
- Laboratory for Cardiometabolic Research, University of Split School of Medicine, Soltanska 2A, 21000 Split, Croatia
| | - Dinko Martinovic
- Department of Pathophysiology, University of Split School of Medicine, Soltanska 2A, 21000 Split, Croatia; (M.K.); (M.V.); (J.V.); (D.M.)
- Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital of Split, Spinciceva 1, 21000 Split, Croatia
| | - Marko Grahovac
- Department of Pharmacology, University of Split School of Medicine, Soltanska 2A, 21000 Split, Croatia;
| | - Josko Bozic
- Department of Pathophysiology, University of Split School of Medicine, Soltanska 2A, 21000 Split, Croatia; (M.K.); (M.V.); (J.V.); (D.M.)
- Laboratory for Cardiometabolic Research, University of Split School of Medicine, Soltanska 2A, 21000 Split, Croatia
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5
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Asnicar F, Thomas AM, Passerini A, Waldron L, Segata N. Machine learning for microbiologists. Nat Rev Microbiol 2024; 22:191-205. [PMID: 37968359 DOI: 10.1038/s41579-023-00984-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/17/2023]
Abstract
Machine learning is increasingly important in microbiology where it is used for tasks such as predicting antibiotic resistance and associating human microbiome features with complex host diseases. The applications in microbiology are quickly expanding and the machine learning tools frequently used in basic and clinical research range from classification and regression to clustering and dimensionality reduction. In this Review, we examine the main machine learning concepts, tasks and applications that are relevant for experimental and clinical microbiologists. We provide the minimal toolbox for a microbiologist to be able to understand, interpret and use machine learning in their experimental and translational activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Asnicar
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Andrew Maltez Thomas
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Andrea Passerini
- Department of Information Engineering and Computer Science, University of Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Levi Waldron
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology, University of Trento, Trento, Italy.
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Nicola Segata
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology, University of Trento, Trento, Italy.
- Department of Experimental Oncology, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy.
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6
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Hu K, Meyer F, Deng ZL, Asgari E, Kuo TH, Münch PC, McHardy AC. Assessing computational predictions of antimicrobial resistance phenotypes from microbial genomes. Brief Bioinform 2024; 25:bbae206. [PMID: 38706320 PMCID: PMC11070729 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbae206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2023] [Revised: 04/08/2024] [Accepted: 04/11/2024] [Indexed: 05/07/2024] Open
Abstract
The advent of rapid whole-genome sequencing has created new opportunities for computational prediction of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) phenotypes from genomic data. Both rule-based and machine learning (ML) approaches have been explored for this task, but systematic benchmarking is still needed. Here, we evaluated four state-of-the-art ML methods (Kover, PhenotypeSeeker, Seq2Geno2Pheno and Aytan-Aktug), an ML baseline and the rule-based ResFinder by training and testing each of them across 78 species-antibiotic datasets, using a rigorous benchmarking workflow that integrates three evaluation approaches, each paired with three distinct sample splitting methods. Our analysis revealed considerable variation in the performance across techniques and datasets. Whereas ML methods generally excelled for closely related strains, ResFinder excelled for handling divergent genomes. Overall, Kover most frequently ranked top among the ML approaches, followed by PhenotypeSeeker and Seq2Geno2Pheno. AMR phenotypes for antibiotic classes such as macrolides and sulfonamides were predicted with the highest accuracies. The quality of predictions varied substantially across species-antibiotic combinations, particularly for beta-lactams; across species, resistance phenotyping of the beta-lactams compound, aztreonam, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, cefoxitin, ceftazidime and piperacillin/tazobactam, alongside tetracyclines demonstrated more variable performance than the other benchmarked antibiotics. By organism, Campylobacter jejuni and Enterococcus faecium phenotypes were more robustly predicted than those of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enterica, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In addition, our study provides software recommendations for each species-antibiotic combination. It furthermore highlights the need for optimization for robust clinical applications, particularly for strains that diverge substantially from those used for training.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaixin Hu
- Computational Biology of Infection Research, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
- Braunschweig Integrated Centre of Systems Biology (BRICS), Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Fernando Meyer
- Computational Biology of Infection Research, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
- Braunschweig Integrated Centre of Systems Biology (BRICS), Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Zhi-Luo Deng
- Computational Biology of Infection Research, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
- Braunschweig Integrated Centre of Systems Biology (BRICS), Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Ehsaneddin Asgari
- Computational Biology of Infection Research, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
- Molecular Cell Biomechanics Laboratory, Department of Bioengineering and Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, USA
| | - Tzu-Hao Kuo
- Computational Biology of Infection Research, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
- Braunschweig Integrated Centre of Systems Biology (BRICS), Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Philipp C Münch
- Computational Biology of Infection Research, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
- Braunschweig Integrated Centre of Systems Biology (BRICS), Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence RESIST (EXC 2155), Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), partner site Hannover Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Alice C McHardy
- Computational Biology of Infection Research, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
- Braunschweig Integrated Centre of Systems Biology (BRICS), Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
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7
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Bundhoo E, Ghoorah AW, Jaufeerally-Fakim Y. Large-scale Pan Genomic Analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Reveals Key Insights Into Molecular Evolutionary Rate of Specific Processes and Functions. Evol Bioinform Online 2024; 20:11769343241239463. [PMID: 38532808 PMCID: PMC10964447 DOI: 10.1177/11769343241239463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2023] [Accepted: 02/28/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), an infectious disease that is a major killer worldwide. Due to selection pressure caused by the use of antibacterial drugs, Mtb is characterised by mutational events that have given rise to multi drug resistant (MDR) and extensively drug resistant (XDR) phenotypes. The rate at which mutations occur is an important factor in the study of molecular evolution, and it helps understand gene evolution. Within the same species, different protein-coding genes evolve at different rates. To estimate the rates of molecular evolution of protein-coding genes, a commonly used parameter is the ratio dN/dS, where dN is the rate of non-synonymous substitutions and dS is the rate of synonymous substitutions. Here, we determined the estimated rates of molecular evolution of select biological processes and molecular functions across 264 strains of Mtb. We also investigated the molecular evolutionary rates of core genes of Mtb by computing the dN/dS values, and estimated the pan genome of the 264 strains of Mtb. Our results show that the cellular amino acid metabolic process and the kinase activity function evolve at a significantly higher rate, while the carbohydrate metabolic process evolves at a significantly lower rate for M. tuberculosis. These high rates of evolution correlate well with Mtb physiology and pathogenicity. We further propose that the core genome of M. tuberculosis likely experiences varying rates of molecular evolution which may drive an interplay between core genome and accessory genome during M. tuberculosis evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eshan Bundhoo
- Department of Agricultural & Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius
| | - Anisah W Ghoorah
- Department of Digital Technologies, Faculty of Information, Communication & Digital Technologies, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius
| | - Yasmina Jaufeerally-Fakim
- Department of Agricultural & Food Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius
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8
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Silva-Pereira TT, Soler-Camargo NC, Guimarães AMS. Diversification of gene content in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex is determined by phylogenetic and ecological signatures. Microbiol Spectr 2024; 12:e0228923. [PMID: 38230932 PMCID: PMC10871547 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.02289-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 01/18/2024] Open
Abstract
We analyzed the pan-genome and gene content modulation of the most diverse genome data set of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) gathered to date. The closed pan-genome of the MTBC was characterized by reduced accessory and strain-specific genomes, compatible with its clonal nature. However, significantly fewer gene families were shared between MTBC genomes as their phylogenetic distance increased. This effect was only observed in inter-species comparisons, not within-species, which suggests that species-specific ecological characteristics are associated with changes in gene content. Gene loss, resulting from genomic deletions and pseudogenization, was found to drive the variation in gene content. This gene erosion differed among MTBC species and lineages, even within M. tuberculosis, where L2 showed more gene loss than L4. We also show that phylogenetic proximity is not always a good proxy for gene content relatedness in the MTBC, as the gene repertoire of Mycobacterium africanum L6 deviated from its expected phylogenetic niche conservatism. Gene disruptions of virulence factors, represented by pseudogene annotations, are mostly not conserved, being poor predictors of MTBC ecotypes. Each MTBC ecotype carries its own accessory genome, likely influenced by distinct selective pressures such as host and geography. It is important to investigate how gene loss confer new adaptive traits to MTBC strains; the detected heterogeneous gene loss poses a significant challenge in elucidating genetic factors responsible for the diverse phenotypes observed in the MTBC. By detailing specific gene losses, our study serves as a resource for researchers studying the MTBC phenotypes and their immune evasion strategies.IMPORTANCEIn this study, we analyzed the gene content of different ecotypes of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), the pathogens of tuberculosis. We found that changes in their gene content are associated with their ecological features, such as host preference. Gene loss was identified as the primary driver of these changes, which can vary even among different strains of the same ecotype. Our study also revealed that the gene content relatedness of these bacteria does not always mirror their evolutionary relationships. In addition, some genes of virulence can be variably lost among strains of the same MTBC ecotype, likely helping them to evade the immune system. Overall, our study highlights the importance of understanding how gene loss can lead to new adaptations in these bacteria and how different selective pressures may influence their genetic makeup.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taiana Tainá Silva-Pereira
- Laboratory of Applied Research in Mycobacteria, Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Naila Cristina Soler-Camargo
- Laboratory of Applied Research in Mycobacteria, Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health, School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Ana Marcia Sá Guimarães
- Laboratory of Applied Research in Mycobacteria, Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
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9
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Coenye T. Biofilm antimicrobial susceptibility testing: where are we and where could we be going? Clin Microbiol Rev 2023; 36:e0002423. [PMID: 37812003 PMCID: PMC10732061 DOI: 10.1128/cmr.00024-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 07/27/2023] [Indexed: 10/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Our knowledge about the fundamental aspects of biofilm biology, including the mechanisms behind the reduced antimicrobial susceptibility of biofilms, has increased drastically over the last decades. However, this knowledge has so far not been translated into major changes in clinical practice. While the biofilm concept is increasingly on the radar of clinical microbiologists, physicians, and healthcare professionals in general, the standardized tools to study biofilms in the clinical microbiology laboratory are still lacking; one area in which this is particularly obvious is that of antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). It is generally accepted that the biofilm lifestyle has a tremendous impact on antibiotic susceptibility, yet AST is typically still carried out with planktonic cells. On top of that, the microenvironment at the site of infection is an important driver for microbial physiology and hence susceptibility; but this is poorly reflected in current AST methods. The goal of this review is to provide an overview of the state of the art concerning biofilm AST and highlight the knowledge gaps in this area. Subsequently, potential ways to improve biofilm-based AST will be discussed. Finally, bottlenecks currently preventing the use of biofilm AST in clinical practice, as well as the steps needed to get past these bottlenecks, will be discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tom Coenye
- Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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Li T, Huang J, Yang S, Chen J, Yao Z, Zhong M, Zhong X, Ye X. Pan-Genome-Wide Association Study of Serotype 19A Pneumococci Identifies Disease-Associated Genes. Microbiol Spectr 2023; 11:e0407322. [PMID: 37358412 PMCID: PMC10433855 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.04073-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 06/04/2023] [Indexed: 06/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite the widespread implementation of pneumococcal vaccines, hypervirulent Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 19A is endemic worldwide. It is still unclear whether specific genetic elements contribute to complex pathogenicity of serotype 19A isolates. We performed a large-scale pan-genome-wide association study (pan-GWAS) of 1,292 serotype 19A isolates sampled from patients with invasive disease and asymptomatic carriers. To address the underlying disease-associated genotypes, a comprehensive analysis using three methods (Scoary, a linear mixed model, and random forest) was performed to compare disease and carriage isolates to identify genes consistently associated with disease phenotype. By using three pan-GWAS methods, we found consensus on statistically significant associations between genotypes and disease phenotypes (disease or carriage), with a subset of 30 consistently significant disease-associated genes. The results of functional annotation revealed that these disease-associated genes had diverse predicted functions, including those that participated in mobile genetic elements, antibiotic resistance, virulence, and cellular metabolism. Our findings suggest the multifactorial pathogenicity nature of this hypervirulent serotype and provide important evidence for the design of novel protein-based vaccines to prevent and control pneumococcal disease. IMPORTANCE It is important to understand the genetic and pathogenic characteristics of S. pneumoniae serotype 19A, which may provide important information for the prevention and treatment of pneumococcal disease. This global large-sample pan-GWAS study has identified a subset of 30 consistently significant disease-associated genes that are involved in mobile genetic elements, antibiotic resistance, virulence, and cellular metabolism. These findings suggest the multifactorial pathogenicity nature of hypervirulent S. pneumoniae serotype 19A isolates and provide implications for the design of novel protein-based vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ting Li
- School of Public Health, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jiayin Huang
- School of Public Health, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Shimin Yang
- School of Public Health, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jianyu Chen
- School of Public Health, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Zhenjiang Yao
- School of Public Health, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Minghao Zhong
- Department of Prevention and Health Care, The Sixth People’s Hospital of Dongguan City, Guangdong, China
| | - Xinguang Zhong
- Department of Prevention and Health Care, The Sixth People’s Hospital of Dongguan City, Guangdong, China
| | - Xiaohua Ye
- School of Public Health, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China
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11
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Yang Z, Guarracino A, Biggs PJ, Black MA, Ismail N, Wold JR, Merriman TR, Prins P, Garrison E, de Ligt J. Pangenome graphs in infectious disease: a comprehensive genetic variation analysis of Neisseria meningitidis leveraging Oxford Nanopore long reads. Front Genet 2023; 14:1225248. [PMID: 37636268 PMCID: PMC10448961 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2023.1225248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Whole genome sequencing has revolutionized infectious disease surveillance for tracking and monitoring the spread and evolution of pathogens. However, using a linear reference genome for genomic analyses may introduce biases, especially when studies are conducted on highly variable bacterial genomes of the same species. Pangenome graphs provide an efficient model for representing and analyzing multiple genomes and their variants as a graph structure that includes all types of variations. In this study, we present a practical bioinformatics pipeline that employs the PanGenome Graph Builder and the Variation Graph toolkit to build pangenomes from assembled genomes, align whole genome sequencing data and call variants against a graph reference. The pangenome graph enables the identification of structural variants, rearrangements, and small variants (e.g., single nucleotide polymorphisms and insertions/deletions) simultaneously. We demonstrate that using a pangenome graph, instead of a single linear reference genome, improves mapping rates and variant calling for both simulated and real datasets of the pathogen Neisseria meningitidis. Overall, pangenome graphs offer a promising approach for comparative genomics and comprehensive genetic variation analysis in infectious disease. Moreover, this innovative pipeline, leveraging pangenome graphs, can bridge variant analysis, genome assembly, population genetics, and evolutionary biology, expanding the reach of genomic understanding and applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zuyu Yang
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research, Porirua, New Zealand
| | - Andrea Guarracino
- Department of Genetics, Genomics and Informatics, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, United States
- Genomics Research Centre, Human Technopole, Milan, Italy
| | - Patrick J. Biggs
- Molecular Biosciences Group, School of Natural Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
- Molecular Epidemiology and Public Health Laboratory, School of Veterinary Science, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
| | - Michael A. Black
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Nuzla Ismail
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Jana Renee Wold
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
| | - Tony R. Merriman
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
| | - Pjotr Prins
- Department of Genetics, Genomics and Informatics, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Erik Garrison
- Department of Genetics, Genomics and Informatics, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Joep de Ligt
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research, Porirua, New Zealand
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12
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Baker M, Zhang X, Maciel-Guerra A, Dong Y, Wang W, Hu Y, Renney D, Hu Y, Liu L, Li H, Tong Z, Zhang M, Geng Y, Zhao L, Hao Z, Senin N, Chen J, Peng Z, Li F, Dottorini T. Machine learning and metagenomics reveal shared antimicrobial resistance profiles across multiple chicken farms and abattoirs in China. NATURE FOOD 2023; 4:707-720. [PMID: 37563495 PMCID: PMC10444626 DOI: 10.1038/s43016-023-00814-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Accepted: 07/07/2023] [Indexed: 08/12/2023]
Abstract
China is the largest global consumer of antimicrobials and improving surveillance methods could help to reduce antimicrobial resistance (AMR) spread. Here we report the surveillance of ten large-scale chicken farms and four connected abattoirs in three Chinese provinces over 2.5 years. Using a data mining approach based on machine learning, we analysed 461 microbiomes from birds, carcasses and environments, identifying 145 potentially mobile antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) shared between chickens and environments across all farms. A core set of 233 ARGs and 186 microbial species extracted from the chicken gut microbiome correlated with the AMR profiles of Escherichia coli colonizing the same gut, including Arcobacter, Acinetobacter and Sphingobacterium, clinically relevant for humans, and 38 clinically relevant ARGs. Temperature and humidity in the barns were also correlated with ARG presence. We reveal an intricate network of correlations between environments, microbial communities and AMR, suggesting multiple routes to improving AMR surveillance in livestock production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle Baker
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, UK
| | - Xibin Zhang
- Shandong New Hope Liuhe Group Co. Ltd and Qingdao Key Laboratory of Animal Feed Safety, Qingdao, People's Republic of China
| | | | - Yinping Dong
- NHC Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Wei Wang
- NHC Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Yujie Hu
- NHC Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - David Renney
- Nimrod Veterinary Products Ltd., Moreton-in-Marsh, UK
| | - Yue Hu
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, UK
| | - Longhai Liu
- Shandong Kaijia Food Co., Weifang, People's Republic of China
| | - Hui Li
- Luoyang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Luoyang City, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhiqin Tong
- Luoyang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Luoyang City, People's Republic of China
| | - Meimei Zhang
- Liaoning Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenyang City, People's Republic of China
| | - Yingzhi Geng
- Liaoning Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenyang City, People's Republic of China
| | - Li Zhao
- Agricultural Biopharmaceutical Laboratory, College of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao City, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhihui Hao
- Chinese Veterinary Medicine Innovation Center, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing City, People's Republic of China
| | - Nicola Senin
- Department of Engineering, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
| | - Junshi Chen
- NHC Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Zixin Peng
- NHC Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
| | - Fengqin Li
- NHC Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
| | - Tania Dottorini
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, UK.
- Centre for Smart Food Research, Nottingham Ningbo China Beacons of Excellence Research and Innovation Institute, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Ningbo, People's Republic of China.
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13
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Perea-Jacobo R, Paredes-Gutiérrez GR, Guerrero-Chevannier MÁ, Flores DL, Muñiz-Salazar R. Machine Learning of the Whole Genome Sequence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: A Scoping PRISMA-Based Review. Microorganisms 2023; 11:1872. [PMID: 37630431 PMCID: PMC10456961 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11081872] [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: 06/16/2023] [Revised: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the most significant global health problems, posing a significant challenge to public health systems worldwide. However, diagnosing drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) has become increasingly challenging due to the rising number of multidrug-resistant (MDR-TB) cases, despite the development of new TB diagnostic tools. Even the World Health Organization-recommended methods such as Xpert MTB/XDR or Truenat are unable to detect all the Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome mutations associated with drug resistance. While Whole Genome Sequencing offers a more precise DR profile, the lack of user-friendly bioinformatics analysis applications hinders its widespread use. This review focuses on exploring various artificial intelligence models for predicting DR-TB profiles, analyzing relevant English-language articles using the PRISMA methodology through the Covidence platform. Our findings indicate that an Artificial Neural Network is the most commonly employed method, with non-statistical dimensionality reduction techniques preferred over traditional statistical approaches such as Principal Component Analysis or t-distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ricardo Perea-Jacobo
- Facultad de Ingeniería Arquitectura y Diseño, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Campus Ensenada, Ensenada 22860, Mexico; (R.P.-J.); (G.R.P.-G.); (M.Á.G.-C.)
- Escuela de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Campus Ensenada, Ensenada 22890, Mexico
| | - Guillermo René Paredes-Gutiérrez
- Facultad de Ingeniería Arquitectura y Diseño, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Campus Ensenada, Ensenada 22860, Mexico; (R.P.-J.); (G.R.P.-G.); (M.Á.G.-C.)
| | - Miguel Ángel Guerrero-Chevannier
- Facultad de Ingeniería Arquitectura y Diseño, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Campus Ensenada, Ensenada 22860, Mexico; (R.P.-J.); (G.R.P.-G.); (M.Á.G.-C.)
| | - Dora-Luz Flores
- Facultad de Ingeniería Arquitectura y Diseño, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Campus Ensenada, Ensenada 22860, Mexico; (R.P.-J.); (G.R.P.-G.); (M.Á.G.-C.)
| | - Raquel Muñiz-Salazar
- Escuela de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Campus Ensenada, Ensenada 22890, Mexico
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14
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Wong F, de la Fuente-Nunez C, Collins JJ. Leveraging artificial intelligence in the fight against infectious diseases. Science 2023; 381:164-170. [PMID: 37440620 PMCID: PMC10663167 DOI: 10.1126/science.adh1114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023]
Abstract
Despite advances in molecular biology, genetics, computation, and medicinal chemistry, infectious disease remains an ominous threat to public health. Addressing the challenges posed by pathogen outbreaks, pandemics, and antimicrobial resistance will require concerted interdisciplinary efforts. In conjunction with systems and synthetic biology, artificial intelligence (AI) is now leading to rapid progress, expanding anti-infective drug discovery, enhancing our understanding of infection biology, and accelerating the development of diagnostics. In this Review, we discuss approaches for detecting, treating, and understanding infectious diseases, underscoring the progress supported by AI in each case. We suggest future applications of AI and how it might be harnessed to help control infectious disease outbreaks and pandemics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix Wong
- Infectious Disease and Microbiome Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
- Institute for Medical Engineering & Science and Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Cesar de la Fuente-Nunez
- Machine Biology Group, Departments of Psychiatry and Microbiology, Institute for Biomedical Informatics, Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Departments of Bioengineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Penn Institute for Computational Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - James J. Collins
- Infectious Disease and Microbiome Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
- Institute for Medical Engineering & Science and Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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15
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Karlsen ST, Rau MH, Sánchez BJ, Jensen K, Zeidan AA. From genotype to phenotype: computational approaches for inferring microbial traits relevant to the food industry. FEMS Microbiol Rev 2023; 47:fuad030. [PMID: 37286882 PMCID: PMC10337747 DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fuad030] [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: 02/28/2023] [Revised: 05/31/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/09/2023] Open
Abstract
When selecting microbial strains for the production of fermented foods, various microbial phenotypes need to be taken into account to achieve target product characteristics, such as biosafety, flavor, texture, and health-promoting effects. Through continuous advances in sequencing technologies, microbial whole-genome sequences of increasing quality can now be obtained both cheaper and faster, which increases the relevance of genome-based characterization of microbial phenotypes. Prediction of microbial phenotypes from genome sequences makes it possible to quickly screen large strain collections in silico to identify candidates with desirable traits. Several microbial phenotypes relevant to the production of fermented foods can be predicted using knowledge-based approaches, leveraging our existing understanding of the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying those phenotypes. In the absence of this knowledge, data-driven approaches can be applied to estimate genotype-phenotype relationships based on large experimental datasets. Here, we review computational methods that implement knowledge- and data-driven approaches for phenotype prediction, as well as methods that combine elements from both approaches. Furthermore, we provide examples of how these methods have been applied in industrial biotechnology, with special focus on the fermented food industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Signe T Karlsen
- Bioinformatics & Modeling, R&D Digital Innovation, Chr. Hansen A/S, Bøge Allé 10-12, 2970 Hørsholm, Denmark
| | - Martin H Rau
- Bioinformatics & Modeling, R&D Digital Innovation, Chr. Hansen A/S, Bøge Allé 10-12, 2970 Hørsholm, Denmark
| | - Benjamín J Sánchez
- Bioinformatics & Modeling, R&D Digital Innovation, Chr. Hansen A/S, Bøge Allé 10-12, 2970 Hørsholm, Denmark
| | - Kristian Jensen
- Bioinformatics & Modeling, R&D Digital Innovation, Chr. Hansen A/S, Bøge Allé 10-12, 2970 Hørsholm, Denmark
| | - Ahmad A Zeidan
- Bioinformatics & Modeling, R&D Digital Innovation, Chr. Hansen A/S, Bøge Allé 10-12, 2970 Hørsholm, Denmark
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16
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Negrete-Paz AM, Vázquez-Marrufo G, Gutiérrez-Moraga A, Vázquez-Garcidueñas MS. Pangenome Reconstruction of Mycobacterium tuberculosis as a Guide to Reveal Genomic Features Associated with Strain Clinical Phenotype. Microorganisms 2023; 11:1495. [PMID: 37374997 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11061495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2023] [Revised: 05/31/2023] [Accepted: 06/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the leading causes of human deaths worldwide caused by infectious diseases. TB infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis can occur in the lungs, causing pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), or in any other organ of the body, resulting in extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB). There is no consensus on the genetic determinants of this pathogen that may contribute to EPTB. In this study, we constructed the M. tuberculosis pangenome and used it as a tool to seek genomic signatures associated with the clinical presentation of TB based on its accessory genome differences. The analysis carried out in the present study includes the raw reads of 490 M. tuberculosis genomes (PTB n = 245, EPTB n = 245) retrieved from public databases that were assembled, as well as ten genomes from Mexican strains (PTB n = 5, EPTB n = 5) that were sequenced and assembled. All genomes were annotated and then used to construct the pangenome with Roary and Panaroo. The pangenome obtained using Roary consisted of 2231 core genes and 3729 accessory genes. On the other hand, the pangenome resulting from Panaroo consisted of 2130 core genes and 5598 accessory genes. Associations between the distribution of accessory genes and the PTB/EPTB phenotypes were examined using the Scoary and Pyseer tools. Both tools found a significant association between the hspR, plcD, Rv2550c, pe_pgrs5, pe_pgrs25, and pe_pgrs57 genes and the PTB genotype. In contrast, the deletion of the aceA, esxR, plcA, and ppe50 genes was significantly associated with the EPTB phenotype. Rv1759c and Rv3740 were found to be associated with the PTB phenotype according to Scoary; however, these associations were not observed when using Pyseer. The robustness of the constructed pangenome and the gene-phenotype associations is supported by several factors, including the analysis of a large number of genomes, the inclusion of the same number of PTB/EPTB genomes, and the reproducibility of results thanks to the different bioinformatic tools used. Such characteristics surpass most of previous M. tuberculosis pangenomes. Thus, it can be inferred that the deletion of these genes can lead to changes in the processes involved in stress response and fatty acid metabolism, conferring phenotypic advantages associated with pulmonary or extrapulmonary presentation of TB. This study represents the first attempt to use the pangenome to seek gene-phenotype associations in M. tuberculosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Monserrat Negrete-Paz
- División de Estudios de Posgrado, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas y Biológicas "Dr. Ignacio Chávez", Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia 58020, Michoacán, Mexico
- Centro Multidisciplinario de Estudios en Biotecnología, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Tarímbaro 58893, Michoacán, Mexico
| | - Gerardo Vázquez-Marrufo
- Centro Multidisciplinario de Estudios en Biotecnología, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Tarímbaro 58893, Michoacán, Mexico
| | - Ana Gutiérrez-Moraga
- Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Vicerrectoría de Investigación y Doctorados, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Santiago 7500912, Chile
| | - Ma Soledad Vázquez-Garcidueñas
- División de Estudios de Posgrado, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas y Biológicas "Dr. Ignacio Chávez", Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia 58020, Michoacán, Mexico
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17
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Yang MR, Su SF, Wu YW. Using bacterial pan-genome-based feature selection approach to improve the prediction of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Front Genet 2023; 14:1054032. [PMID: 37323667 PMCID: PMC10267731 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2023.1054032] [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: 09/26/2022] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Predicting the resistance profiles of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) pathogens is becoming more and more important in treating infectious diseases. Various attempts have been made to build machine learning models to classify resistant or susceptible pathogens based on either known antimicrobial resistance genes or the entire gene set. However, the phenotypic annotations are translated from minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), which is the lowest concentration of antibiotic drugs in inhibiting certain pathogenic strains. Since the MIC breakpoints that classify a strain to be resistant or susceptible to specific antibiotic drug may be revised by governing institutes, we refrained from translating these MIC values into the categories "susceptible" or "resistant" but instead attempted to predict the MIC values using machine learning approaches. Results: By applying a machine learning feature selection approach on a Salmonella enterica pan-genome, in which the protein sequences were clustered to identify highly similar gene families, we showed that the selected features (genes) performed better than known AMR genes, and that models built on the selected genes achieved very accurate MIC prediction. Functional analysis revealed that about half of the selected genes were annotated as hypothetical proteins (i.e., with unknown functional roles), and that only a small portion of known AMR genes were among the selected genes, indicating that applying feature selection on the entire gene set has the potential of uncovering novel genes that may be associated with and may contribute to pathogenic antimicrobial resistances. Conclusion: The application of the pan-genome-based machine learning approach was indeed capable of predicting MIC values with very high accuracy. The feature selection process may also identify novel AMR genes for inferring bacterial antimicrobial resistance phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming-Ren Yang
- Graduate Institute of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
- Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Shun-Feng Su
- Department of Electrical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yu-Wei Wu
- Graduate Institute of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medical Science and Technology, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
- Clinical Big Data Research Center, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
- TMU Research Center for Digestive Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
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18
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19
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Tharmakulasingam M, Gardner B, La Ragione R, Fernando A. Rectified Classifier Chains for Prediction of Antibiotic Resistance From Multi-Labelled Data With Missing Labels. IEEE/ACM TRANSACTIONS ON COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY AND BIOINFORMATICS 2023; 20:625-636. [PMID: 35130168 DOI: 10.1109/tcbb.2022.3148577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Predicting Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) from genomic data has important implications for human and animal healthcare, and especially given its potential for more rapid diagnostics and informed treatment choices. With the recent advances in sequencing technologies, applying machine learning techniques for AMR prediction have indicated promising results. Despite this, there are shortcomings in the literature concerning methodologies suitable for multi-drug AMR prediction and especially where samples with missing labels exist. To address this shortcoming, we introduce a Rectified Classifier Chain (RCC) method for predicting multi-drug resistance. This RCC method was tested using annotated features of genomics sequences and compared with similar multi-label classification methodologies. We found that applying the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) base model to our RCC model outperformed the second-best model, XGBoost based binary relevance model, by 3.3% in Hamming accuracy and 7.8% in F1-score. Additionally, we note that in the literature machine learning models applied to AMR prediction typically are unsuitable for identifying biomarkers informative of their decisions; in this study, we show that biomarkers contributing to AMR prediction can also be identified using the proposed RCC method. We expect this can facilitate genome annotation and pave the path towards identifying new biomarkers indicative of AMR.
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20
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Maciel-Guerra A, Baker M, Hu Y, Wang W, Zhang X, Rong J, Zhang Y, Zhang J, Kaler J, Renney D, Loose M, Emes RD, Liu L, Chen J, Peng Z, Li F, Dottorini T. Dissecting microbial communities and resistomes for interconnected humans, soil, and livestock. THE ISME JOURNAL 2023; 17:21-35. [PMID: 36151458 PMCID: PMC9751072 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-022-01315-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2021] [Revised: 08/26/2022] [Accepted: 09/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
A debate is currently ongoing as to whether intensive livestock farms may constitute reservoirs of clinically relevant antimicrobial resistance (AMR), thus posing a threat to surrounding communities. Here, combining shotgun metagenome sequencing, machine learning (ML), and culture-based methods, we focused on a poultry farm and connected slaughterhouse in China, investigating the gut microbiome of livestock, workers and their households, and microbial communities in carcasses and soil. For both the microbiome and resistomes in this study, differences are observed across environments and hosts. However, at a finer scale, several similar clinically relevant antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) and similar associated mobile genetic elements were found in both human and broiler chicken samples. Next, we focused on Escherichia coli, an important indicator for the surveillance of AMR on the farm. Strains of E. coli were found intermixed between humans and chickens. We observed that several ARGs present in the chicken faecal resistome showed correlation to resistance/susceptibility profiles of E. coli isolates cultured from the same samples. Finally, by using environmental sensing these ARGs were found to be correlated to variations in environmental temperature and humidity. Our results show the importance of adopting a multi-domain and multi-scale approach when studying microbial communities and AMR in complex, interconnected environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandre Maciel-Guerra
- grid.4563.40000 0004 1936 8868School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, College Road, Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD UK
| | - Michelle Baker
- grid.4563.40000 0004 1936 8868School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, College Road, Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD UK
| | - Yue Hu
- grid.4563.40000 0004 1936 8868School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, College Road, Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD UK
| | - Wei Wang
- grid.464207.30000 0004 4914 5614NHC Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing, 100021 People’s Republic of China
| | - Xibin Zhang
- grid.508175.eNew Hope Liuhe Co., Ltd., Laboratory of Feed and Livestock and Poultry Products Quality & Safety Control, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100102 and Weifang Heshengyuan Food Co. Ltd., Weifang, 262167 People’s Republic of China
| | - Jia Rong
- grid.508175.eNew Hope Liuhe Co., Ltd., Laboratory of Feed and Livestock and Poultry Products Quality & Safety Control, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100102 and Weifang Heshengyuan Food Co. Ltd., Weifang, 262167 People’s Republic of China
| | - Yimin Zhang
- grid.440622.60000 0000 9482 4676College of Food Science and Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, Shandong 271018 People’s Republic of China
| | - Jing Zhang
- grid.464207.30000 0004 4914 5614NHC Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing, 100021 People’s Republic of China
| | - Jasmeet Kaler
- grid.4563.40000 0004 1936 8868School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, College Road, Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD UK
| | - David Renney
- Nimrod Veterinary Products Limited, 2, Wychwood Court, Cotswold Business Village, Moreton-in-Marsh, GL56 0JQ UK
| | - Matthew Loose
- grid.4563.40000 0004 1936 8868DeepSeq, School of Life Sciences, Queens Medical Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2UH UK
| | - Richard D. Emes
- grid.4563.40000 0004 1936 8868School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, College Road, Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD UK
| | - Longhai Liu
- grid.508175.eNew Hope Liuhe Co., Ltd., Laboratory of Feed and Livestock and Poultry Products Quality & Safety Control, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100102 and Weifang Heshengyuan Food Co. Ltd., Weifang, 262167 People’s Republic of China
| | - Junshi Chen
- grid.464207.30000 0004 4914 5614NHC Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing, 100021 People’s Republic of China
| | - Zixin Peng
- NHC Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing, 100021, People's Republic of China.
| | - Fengqin Li
- NHC Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing, 100021, People's Republic of China.
| | - Tania Dottorini
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, College Road, Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD, UK.
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21
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Khan MA, Amin A, Farid A, Ullah A, Waris A, Shinwari K, Hussain Y, Alsharif KF, Alzahrani KJ, Khan H. Recent Advances in Genomics-Based Approaches for the Development of Intracellular Bacterial Pathogen Vaccines. Pharmaceutics 2022; 15:pharmaceutics15010152. [PMID: 36678781 PMCID: PMC9863128 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15010152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Revised: 12/12/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Infectious diseases continue to be a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The majority of infectious diseases are caused by intracellular pathogenic bacteria (IPB). Historically, conventional vaccination drives have helped control the pathogenesis of intracellular bacteria and the emergence of antimicrobial resistance, saving millions of lives. However, in light of various limitations, many diseases that involve IPB still do not have adequate vaccines. In response to increasing demand for novel vaccine development strategies, a new area of vaccine research emerged following the advent of genomics technology, which changed the paradigm of vaccine development by utilizing the complete genomic data of microorganisms against them. It became possible to identify genes related to disease virulence, genetic patterns linked to disease virulence, as well as the genetic components that supported immunity and favorable vaccine responses. Complete genomic databases, and advancements in transcriptomics, metabolomics, structural genomics, proteomics, immunomics, pan-genomics, synthetic genomics, and population biology have allowed researchers to identify potential vaccine candidates and predict their effects in patients. New vaccines have been created against diseases for which previously there were no vaccines available, and existing vaccines have been improved. This review highlights the key issues and explores the evolution of vaccines. The increasing volume of IPB genomic data, and their application in novel genome-based techniques for vaccine development, were also examined, along with their characteristics, and the opportunities and obstacles involved. Critically, the application of genomics technology has helped researchers rapidly select and evaluate candidate antigens. Novel vaccines capable of addressing the limitations associated with conventional vaccines have been developed and pressing healthcare issues are being addressed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Ajmal Khan
- Division of Life Science, Center for Cancer Research, and State Key Lab of Molecular Neuroscience, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China
- Correspondence: (M.A.K.); or (H.K.)
| | - Aftab Amin
- Division of Life Science, Center for Cancer Research, and State Key Lab of Molecular Neuroscience, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China
| | - Awais Farid
- Division of Environment and Sustainability, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China
| | - Amin Ullah
- Molecular Virology Laboratory, Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Abasyn University, Peshawar 25000, Pakistan
| | - Abdul Waris
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Khyber Shinwari
- Institute of Chemical Engineering, Department Immuno-Chemistry, Ural Federal University, Yekaterinbiurg 620002, Russia
| | - Yaseen Hussain
- Department of Pharmacy, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Mardan 23200, Pakistan
| | - Khalaf F. Alsharif
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, College of Applied Medical Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
| | - Khalid J. Alzahrani
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, College of Applied Medical Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
| | - Haroon Khan
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, College of Applied Medical Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
- Correspondence: (M.A.K.); or (H.K.)
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22
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Romano GE, Silva-Pereira TT, de Melo FM, Sisco MC, Banari AC, Zimpel CK, Soler-Camargo NC, Guimarães AMDS. Unraveling the metabolism of Mycobacterium caprae using comparative genomics. Tuberculosis (Edinb) 2022; 136:102254. [PMID: 36126496 DOI: 10.1016/j.tube.2022.102254] [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: 02/27/2022] [Revised: 08/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
In our laboratory, Mycobacterium caprae has poor growth in standard medium (SM) 7H9-OADC supplemented with pyruvate and Tween-80. Our objectives were to identify mutations affecting M. caprae metabolism and use this information to design a culture medium to improve its growth. We selected 77 M. caprae genomes and sequenced M. caprae NLA000201913 used in our experiments. Mutations present in >95% of the strains compared to Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv were analyzed in silico for their deleterious effects on proteins of metabolic pathways. Apart from the known defect in the pyruvate kinase, M. caprae has important lesions in enzymes of the TCA cycle, methylmalonyl cycle, B12 metabolism, and electron-transport chain. We provide evidence of enzymatic redundancy elimination and epistatic mutations, and possible production of toxic metabolites hindering M. caprae growth in vitro. A newly designed SM supplemented with l-glutamate allowed faster growth and increased final microbial mass of M. caprae. However, possible accumulation of metabolic waste-products and/or nutritional limitations halted M. caprae growth prior to a M. tuberculosis-like stationary phase. Our findings suggest that M. caprae relies on GABA and/or glyoxylate shunts for in vitro growth in routine media. The newly developed medium will improve experiments with this bacterium by allowing faster growth in vitro.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Emiddio Romano
- Laboratory of Applied Research in Mycobacteria (LaPAM), Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, 1374 Prof Lineu Prestes Avenue, Room 229, São Paulo, SP, 05508-000, Brazil.
| | - Taiana Tainá Silva-Pereira
- Laboratory of Applied Research in Mycobacteria (LaPAM), Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, 1374 Prof Lineu Prestes Avenue, Room 229, São Paulo, SP, 05508-000, Brazil.
| | - Filipe Menegatti de Melo
- Laboratory of Applied Research in Mycobacteria (LaPAM), Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, 1374 Prof Lineu Prestes Avenue, Room 229, São Paulo, SP, 05508-000, Brazil.
| | - Maria Carolina Sisco
- Laboratory of Applied Research in Mycobacteria (LaPAM), Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, 1374 Prof Lineu Prestes Avenue, Room 229, São Paulo, SP, 05508-000, Brazil.
| | - Alexandre Campos Banari
- Laboratory of Applied Research in Mycobacteria (LaPAM), Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, 1374 Prof Lineu Prestes Avenue, Room 229, São Paulo, SP, 05508-000, Brazil; Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of São Paulo, 87 Prof Dr Orlando Marques de Paiva Avenue, São Paulo, SP, 05508-270, Brazil.
| | - Cristina Kraemer Zimpel
- Laboratory of Applied Research in Mycobacteria (LaPAM), Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, 1374 Prof Lineu Prestes Avenue, Room 229, São Paulo, SP, 05508-000, Brazil; Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of São Paulo, 87 Prof Dr Orlando Marques de Paiva Avenue, São Paulo, SP, 05508-270, Brazil.
| | - Naila Cristina Soler-Camargo
- Laboratory of Applied Research in Mycobacteria (LaPAM), Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, 1374 Prof Lineu Prestes Avenue, Room 229, São Paulo, SP, 05508-000, Brazil; Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of São Paulo, 87 Prof Dr Orlando Marques de Paiva Avenue, São Paulo, SP, 05508-270, Brazil.
| | - Ana Marcia de Sá Guimarães
- Laboratory of Applied Research in Mycobacteria (LaPAM), Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, 1374 Prof Lineu Prestes Avenue, Room 229, São Paulo, SP, 05508-000, Brazil; Department of Comparative Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Purdue University. 625 Harrison Street, West Lafayette, IN, 47907, USA.
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23
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Aljeldah MM. Antimicrobial Resistance and Its Spread Is a Global Threat. Antibiotics (Basel) 2022; 11:antibiotics11081082. [PMID: 36009948 PMCID: PMC9405321 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics11081082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2022] [Revised: 07/20/2022] [Accepted: 07/27/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a challenge to human wellbeing the world over and is one of the more serious public health concerns. AMR has the potential to emerge as a serious healthcare threat if left unchecked, and could put into motion another pandemic. This establishes the need for the establishment of global health solutions around AMR, taking into account microdata from different parts of the world. The positive influences in this regard could be establishing conducive social norms, charting individual and group behavior practices that favor global human health, and lastly, increasing collective awareness around the need for such action. Apart from being an emerging threat in the clinical space, AMR also increases treatment complexity, posing a real challenge to the existing guidelines around the management of antibiotic resistance. The attribute of resistance development has been linked to many genetic elements, some of which have complex transmission pathways between microbes. Beyond this, new mechanisms underlying the development of AMR are being discovered, making this field an important aspect of medical microbiology. Apart from the genetic aspects of AMR, other practices, including misdiagnosis, exposure to broad-spectrum antibiotics, and lack of rapid diagnosis, add to the creation of resistance. However, upgrades and innovations in DNA sequencing technologies with bioinformatics have revolutionized the diagnostic industry, aiding the real-time detection of causes of AMR and its elements, which are important to delineating control and prevention approaches to fight the threat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammed M Aljeldah
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Hafr Al Batin, Hafar al-Batin 31991, Saudi Arabia
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24
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Li J, Zhu Y, Ma Z, Yang F. Genome sequence and pathogenicity of Vibrio vulnificus strain MCCC 1A08743 isolated from contaminated prawns. Biol Open 2022; 11:275848. [PMID: 35766638 PMCID: PMC9253834 DOI: 10.1242/bio.059299] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Vibrio vulnificus is an opportunistic pathogen that naturally inhabits sea water globally and is responsible for most vibriosis-related deaths. The consumption of V. vulnificus contaminated seafood and exposure of wounds to Vibrio can result in systemic infection, with increased risks of amputation and extremely high rates of mortality. However, the pathogenicity and virulence factors of V. vulnificus are not fully understood. The genomic characterization of V. vulnificus will be helpful to extend our understanding on V. vulnificus at a genomic level. In this manuscript, the genome of V. vulnificus strain MCCC 1A08743 isolated from contaminated prawns from Zhanjiang, China, was sequenced using Illumina HiSeq X Ten system and annotated through multiple databases. The strain MCCC 1A08743 genome included 4371 protein-coding genes and 117 RNA genes. Average nucleotide identity analysis and core genome phylogenetic analysis revealed that MCCC 1A08743 was most closely related to strains from clinical samples from the United States. Pathogenicity annotation of the MCCC 1A08743 genome, using Virulence Factor Database and Pathogen-Host Interactions database, predicted the pathogenicity of the strain, and this was confirmed using mice infection experiments, which indicated that V. vulnificus strain MCCC 1A08743 could infect C57BL/6J mice and cause liver lesions. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper. Summary:Vibrio vulnificus strain MCCC 1A08743 was newly isolated, sequenced and tested for its pathogenicity in mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Li
- Department of Medical Genetics, Naval Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Yiqing Zhu
- Department of Medical Genetics, Naval Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Zhenxia Ma
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, 200433, China
| | - Fu Yang
- Department of Medical Genetics, Naval Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China
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25
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Ceres KM, Stanhope MJ, Gröhn YT. A critical evaluation of Mycobacterium bovis pangenomics, with reference to its utility in outbreak investigation. Microb Genom 2022; 8. [PMID: 35763423 PMCID: PMC9455707 DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.000839] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The increased accessibility of next generation sequencing has allowed enough genomes from a given bacterial species to be sequenced to describe the distribution of genes in the pangenome, without limiting analyses to genes present in reference strains. Although some taxa have thousands of whole genome sequences available on public databases, most genomes were sequenced with short read technology, resulting in incomplete assemblies. Studying pangenomes could lead to important insights into adaptation, pathogenicity, or molecular epidemiology, however given the known information loss inherent in analyzing contig-level assemblies, these inferences may be biased or inaccurate. In this study we describe the pangenome of a clonally evolving pathogen,
Mycobacterium bovis
, and examine the utility of gene content variation in
M. bovis
outbreak investigation. We constructed the
M. bovis
pangenome using 1463 de novo assembled genomes. We tested the assumption of strict clonal evolution by studying evidence of recombination in core genes and analyzing the distribution of accessory genes among core monophyletic groups. To determine if gene content variation could be utilized in outbreak investigation, we carefully examined accessory genes detected in a well described
M. bovis
outbreak in Minnesota. We found significant errors in accessory gene classification. After accounting for these errors, we show that
M. bovis
has a much smaller accessory genome than previously described and provide evidence supporting ongoing clonal evolution and a closed pangenome, with little gene content variation generated over outbreaks. We also identified frameshift mutations in multiple genes, including a mutation in glpK, which has recently been associated with antibiotic tolerance in
Mycobacterium tuberculosis
. A pangenomic approach enables a more comprehensive analysis of genome dynamics than is possible with reference-based approaches; however, without critical evaluation of accessory gene content, inferences of transmission patterns employing these loci could be misguided.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristina M Ceres
- Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.,Population and Ecosystem Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Michael J Stanhope
- Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.,Population and Ecosystem Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
| | - Yrjö T Gröhn
- Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.,Population and Ecosystem Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
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26
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Posada-Reyes AB, Balderas-Martínez YI, Ávila-Ríos S, Vinuesa P, Fonseca-Coronado S. An Epistatic Network Describes oppA and glgB as Relevant Genes for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Front Mol Biosci 2022; 9:856212. [PMID: 35712352 PMCID: PMC9194097 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.856212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2022] [Accepted: 03/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an acid-fast bacterium that causes tuberculosis worldwide. The role of epistatic interactions among different loci of the M. tuberculosis genome under selective pressure may be crucial for understanding the disease and the molecular basis of antibiotic resistance acquisition. Here, we analyzed polymorphic loci interactions by applying a model-free method for epistasis detection, SpydrPick, on a pan–genome-wide alignment created from a set of 254 complete reference genomes. By means of the analysis of an epistatic network created with the detected epistatic interactions, we found that glgB (α-1,4-glucan branching enzyme) and oppA (oligopeptide-binding protein) are putative targets of co-selection in M. tuberculosis as they were associated in the network with M. tuberculosis genes related to virulence, pathogenesis, transport system modulators of the immune response, and antibiotic resistance. In addition, our work unveiled potential pharmacological applications for genotypic antibiotic resistance inherent to the mutations of glgB and oppA as they epistatically interact with fprA and embC, two genes recently included as antibiotic-resistant genes in the catalog of the World Health Organization. Our findings showed that this approach allows the identification of relevant epistatic interactions that may lead to a better understanding of M. tuberculosis by deciphering the complex interactions of molecules involved in its metabolism, virulence, and pathogenesis and that may be applied to different bacterial populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali-Berenice Posada-Reyes
- Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, UNAM, Mexico, Mexico
- Facultad de Estudios Superiores Cuautitlán, UNAM, Estado de Mexico, Mexico
- *Correspondence: Ali-Berenice Posada-Reyes, ; Salvador Fonseca-Coronado,
| | | | - Santiago Ávila-Ríos
- Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias “Ismael Cosio Villegas”, Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico
| | - Pablo Vinuesa
- Centro de Ciencias Genómicas, UNAM, Cuernavaca, Mexico
| | - Salvador Fonseca-Coronado
- Facultad de Estudios Superiores Cuautitlán, UNAM, Estado de Mexico, Mexico
- *Correspondence: Ali-Berenice Posada-Reyes, ; Salvador Fonseca-Coronado,
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27
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Machine Learning for Antimicrobial Resistance Prediction: Current Practice, Limitations, and Clinical Perspective. Clin Microbiol Rev 2022; 35:e0017921. [PMID: 35612324 DOI: 10.1128/cmr.00179-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health crisis that poses a great threat to modern medicine. Effective prevention strategies are urgently required to slow the emergence and further dissemination of AMR. Given the availability of data sets encompassing hundreds or thousands of pathogen genomes, machine learning (ML) is increasingly being used to predict resistance to different antibiotics in pathogens based on gene content and genome composition. A key objective of this work is to advocate for the incorporation of ML into front-line settings but also highlight the further refinements that are necessary to safely and confidently incorporate these methods. The question of what to predict is not trivial given the existence of different quantitative and qualitative laboratory measures of AMR. ML models typically treat genes as independent predictors, with no consideration of structural and functional linkages; they also may not be accurate when new mutational variants of known AMR genes emerge. Finally, to have the technology trusted by end users in public health settings, ML models need to be transparent and explainable to ensure that the basis for prediction is clear. We strongly advocate that the next set of AMR-ML studies should focus on the refinement of these limitations to be able to bridge the gap to diagnostic implementation.
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28
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Marini S, Oliva M, Slizovskiy IB, Das RA, Noyes NR, Kahveci T, Boucher C, Prosperi M. AMR-meta: a k-mer and metafeature approach to classify antimicrobial resistance from high-throughput short-read metagenomics data. Gigascience 2022; 11:6588116. [PMID: 35583675 PMCID: PMC9116207 DOI: 10.1093/gigascience/giac029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Revised: 01/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health concern. High-throughput metagenomic sequencing of microbial samples enables profiling of AMR genes through comparison with curated AMR databases. However, the performance of current methods is often hampered by database incompleteness and the presence of homology/homoplasy with other non-AMR genes in sequenced samples. RESULTS We present AMR-meta, a database-free and alignment-free approach, based on k-mers, which combines algebraic matrix factorization into metafeatures with regularized regression. Metafeatures capture multi-level gene diversity across the main antibiotic classes. AMR-meta takes in reads from metagenomic shotgun sequencing and outputs predictions about whether those reads contribute to resistance against specific classes of antibiotics. In addition, AMR-meta uses an augmented training strategy that joins an AMR gene database with non-AMR genes (used as negative examples). We compare AMR-meta with AMRPlusPlus, DeepARG, and Meta-MARC, further testing their ensemble via a voting system. In cross-validation, AMR-meta has a median f-score of 0.7 (interquartile range, 0.2-0.9). On semi-synthetic metagenomic data-external test-on average AMR-meta yields a 1.3-fold hit rate increase over existing methods. In terms of run-time, AMR-meta is 3 times faster than DeepARG, 30 times faster than Meta-MARC, and as fast as AMRPlusPlus. Finally, we note that differences in AMR ontologies and observed variance of all tools in classification outputs call for further development on standardization of benchmarking data and protocols. CONCLUSIONS AMR-meta is a fast, accurate classifier that exploits non-AMR negative sets to improve sensitivity and specificity. The differences in AMR ontologies and the high variance of all tools in classification outputs call for the deployment of standard benchmarking data and protocols, to fairly compare AMR prediction tools.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simone Marini
- Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, University of Florida, 2004 Mowry Road Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Marco Oliva
- Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, University of Florida, 432 Newell Dr, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Ilya B Slizovskiy
- Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota, 1365 Gortner Avenue 225, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Rishabh A Das
- Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, University of Florida, 2004 Mowry Road Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
| | - Noelle Robertson Noyes
- Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota, 1365 Gortner Avenue 225, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Tamer Kahveci
- Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, University of Florida, 432 Newell Dr, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Christina Boucher
- Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, University of Florida, 432 Newell Dr, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Mattia Prosperi
- Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, University of Florida, 2004 Mowry Road Gainesville, FL 32610, USA
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29
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Distribution of Common and Rare Genetic Markers of Second-Line-Injectable-Drug Resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis Revealed by a Genome-Wide Association Study. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2022; 66:e0207521. [PMID: 35532237 DOI: 10.1128/aac.02075-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Point mutations in the rrs gene and the eis promoter are known to confer resistance to the second-line injectable drugs (SLIDs) amikacin (AMK), capreomycin (CAP), and kanamycin (KAN). While mutations in these canonical genes confer the majority of SLID resistance, alternative mechanisms of resistance are not uncommon and threaten effective treatment decisions when using conventional molecular diagnostics. In total, 1,184 clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from 7 countries were studied for genomic markers associated with phenotypic resistance. The markers rrs:A1401G and rrs:G1484T were associated with resistance to all three SLIDs, and three known markers in the eis promoter (eis:G-10A, eis:C-12T, and eis:C-14T) were similarly associated with kanamycin resistance (KAN-R). Among 325, 324, and 270 AMK-R, CAP-R, and KAN-R isolates, 274 (84.3%), 250 (77.2%), and 249 (92.3%) harbored canonical mutations, respectively. Thirteen isolates harbored more than one canonical mutation. Canonical mutations did not account for 103 of the phenotypically resistant isolates. A genome-wide association study identified three genes and promoters with mutations that, on aggregate, were associated with unexplained resistance to at least one SLID. Our analysis associated whiB7 5'-untranslated-region mutations with KAN resistance, supporting clinical relevance for this previously demonstrated mechanism of KAN resistance. We also provide evidence for the novel association of CAP resistance with the promoter of the Rv2680-Rv2681 operon, which encodes an exoribonuclease that may influence the binding of CAP to the ribosome. Aggregating mutations by gene can provide additional insight and therefore is recommended for identifying rare mechanisms of resistance when individual mutations carry insufficient statistical power.
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30
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Systems biology approach to functionally assess the Clostridioides difficile pangenome reveals genetic diversity with discriminatory power. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2119396119. [PMID: 35476524 PMCID: PMC9170149 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2119396119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
SignificanceClostridioides difficile infections are the most common source of hospital-acquired infections and are responsible for an extensive burden on the health care system. Strains of the C. difficile species comprise diverse lineages and demonstrate genome variability, with advantageous trait acquisition driving the emergence of endemic lineages. Here, we present a systems biology analysis of C. difficile that evaluates strain-specific genotypes and phenotypes to investigate the overall diversity of the species. We develop a strain typing method based on similarity of accessory genomes to identify and contextualize genetic loci capable of discriminating between strain groups.
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31
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Aytan-Aktug D, Clausen PTLC, Szarvas J, Munk P, Otani S, Nguyen M, Davis JJ, Lund O, Aarestrup FM. PlasmidHostFinder: Prediction of Plasmid Hosts Using Random Forest. mSystems 2022; 7:e0118021. [PMID: 35382558 PMCID: PMC9040769 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.01180-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2021] [Accepted: 03/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Plasmids play a major role facilitating the spread of antimicrobial resistance between bacteria. Understanding the host range and dissemination trajectories of plasmids is critical for surveillance and prevention of antimicrobial resistance. Identification of plasmid host ranges could be improved using automated pattern detection methods compared to homology-based methods due to the diversity and genetic plasticity of plasmids. In this study, we developed a method for predicting the host range of plasmids using machine learning-specifically, random forests. We trained the models with 8,519 plasmids from 359 different bacterial species per taxonomic level; the models achieved Matthews correlation coefficients of 0.662 and 0.867 at the species and order levels, respectively. Our results suggest that despite the diverse nature and genetic plasticity of plasmids, our random forest model can accurately distinguish between plasmid hosts. This tool is available online through the Center for Genomic Epidemiology (https://cge.cbs.dtu.dk/services/PlasmidHostFinder/). IMPORTANCE Antimicrobial resistance is a global health threat to humans and animals, causing high mortality and morbidity while effectively ending decades of success in fighting against bacterial infections. Plasmids confer extra genetic capabilities to the host organisms through accessory genes that can encode antimicrobial resistance and virulence. In addition to lateral inheritance, plasmids can be transferred horizontally between bacterial taxa. Therefore, detection of the host range of plasmids is crucial for understanding and predicting the dissemination trajectories of extrachromosomal genes and bacterial evolution as well as taking effective countermeasures against antimicrobial resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Derya Aytan-Aktug
- National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | | | - Judit Szarvas
- National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Patrick Munk
- National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Saria Otani
- National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Marcus Nguyen
- Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Data Science and Learning Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, USA
| | - James J. Davis
- Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Data Science and Learning Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, USA
- Northwestern Argonne Institute for Science and Engineering, Evanston, Illinois, USA
| | - Ole Lund
- National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Frank M. Aarestrup
- National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
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32
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Zhang Z, Cheng S, Solis-Lemus C. Towards a robust out-of-the-box neural network model for genomic data. BMC Bioinformatics 2022; 23:125. [PMID: 35397517 PMCID: PMC8994362 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-022-04660-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2021] [Accepted: 03/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Background
The accurate prediction of biological features from genomic data is paramount for precision medicine and sustainable agriculture. For decades, neural network models have been widely popular in fields like computer vision, astrophysics and targeted marketing given their prediction accuracy and their robust performance under big data settings. Yet neural network models have not made a successful transition into the medical and biological world due to the ubiquitous characteristics of biological data such as modest sample sizes, sparsity, and extreme heterogeneity.
Results
Here, we investigate the robustness, generalization potential and prediction accuracy of widely used convolutional neural network and natural language processing models with a variety of heterogeneous genomic datasets. Mainly, recurrent neural network models outperform convolutional neural network models in terms of prediction accuracy, overfitting and transferability across the datasets under study.
Conclusions
While the perspective of a robust out-of-the-box neural network model is out of reach, we identify certain model characteristics that translate well across datasets and could serve as a baseline model for translational researchers.
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33
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Li J, Li X, Li M, Qiu H, Saad C, Zhao B, Li F, Wu X, Kuang D, Tang F, Chen Y, Shu H, Zhang J, Wang Q, Huang H, Qi S, Ye C, Bryant A, Yuan X, Kurts C, Hu G, Cheng W, Mei Q. Differential early diagnosis of benign versus malignant lung cancer using systematic pathway flux analysis of peripheral blood leukocytes. Sci Rep 2022; 12:5070. [PMID: 35332177 PMCID: PMC8948197 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-08890-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2021] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Early diagnosis of lung cancer is critically important to reduce disease severity and improve overall survival. Newer, minimally invasive biopsy procedures often fail to provide adequate specimens for accurate tumor subtyping or staging which is necessary to inform appropriate use of molecular targeted therapies and immune checkpoint inhibitors. Thus newer approaches to diagnosis and staging in early lung cancer are needed. This exploratory pilot study obtained peripheral blood samples from 139 individuals with clinically evident pulmonary nodules (benign and malignant), as well as ten healthy persons. They were divided into three cohorts: original cohort (n = 99), control cohort (n = 10), and validation cohort (n = 40). Average RNAseq sequencing of leukocytes in these samples were conducted. Subsequently, data was integrated into artificial intelligence (AI)-based computational approach with system-wide gene expression technology to develop a rapid, effective, non-invasive immune index for early diagnosis of lung cancer. An immune-related index system, IM-Index, was defined and validated for the diagnostic application. IM-Index was applied to assess the malignancies of pulmonary nodules of 109 participants (original + control cohorts) with high accuracy (AUC: 0.822 [95% CI: 0.75-0.91, p < 0.001]), and to differentiate between phases of cancer immunoediting concept (odds ratio: 1.17 [95% CI: 1.1-1.25, p < 0.001]). The predictive ability of IM-Index was validated in a validation cohort with a AUC: 0.883 (95% CI: 0.73-1.00, p < 0.001). The difference between molecular mechanisms of adenocarcinoma and squamous carcinoma histology was also determined via the IM-Index (OR: 1.2 [95% CI 1.14-1.35, p = 0.019]). In addition, a structural metabolic behavior pattern and signaling property in host immunity were found (bonferroni correction, p = 1.32e - 16). Taken together our findings indicate that this AI-based approach may be used for "Super Early" cancer diagnosis and amend the current immunotherpay for lung cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jian Li
- Institute of Molecular Medicine and Experimental Immunology, University Clinic of Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University, Bonn, Germany
| | - Xiaoyu Li
- Department of Oncology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Ming Li
- Department of Oncology, Wuhan Pulmonary Hospital, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Hong Qiu
- Department of Oncology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Christian Saad
- Department of Computer Science, University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany
| | - Bo Zhao
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Fan Li
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiaowei Wu
- Department of Thoracic Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Dong Kuang
- Institute of Pathology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
- Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Fengjuan Tang
- Institute of Pathology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
- Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Yaobing Chen
- Institute of Pathology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
- Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medicine, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Hongge Shu
- Radiology Department, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Jing Zhang
- Radiology Department, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Qiuxia Wang
- Radiology Department, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - He Huang
- Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Shankang Qi
- Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Changkun Ye
- Medical Research Center of Yu Huang Hospital, Yu Huang, Zhejiang, People's Republic of China
| | - Amy Bryant
- Department of Biochemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Idaho State University, Pocatello, USA
| | - Xianglin Yuan
- Department of Oncology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Christian Kurts
- Institute of Molecular Medicine and Experimental Immunology, University Clinic of Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University, Bonn, Germany
| | - Guangyuan Hu
- Department of Oncology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China.
| | - Weiting Cheng
- Department of Oncology, Wuhan No. 1 Hospital, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China.
| | - Qi Mei
- Department of Oncology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China.
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Zhao W, Luo S, Wu H, Jiang X, He T, Hu X. A multi-label learning framework for predicting antibiotic resistance genes via dual-view modeling. Brief Bioinform 2022; 23:6546259. [PMID: 35272349 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbac052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2021] [Revised: 01/27/2022] [Accepted: 01/31/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The increasing prevalence of antibiotic resistance has become a global health crisis. For the purpose of safety regulation, it is of high importance to identify antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in bacteria. Although culture-based methods can identify ARGs relatively more accurately, the identifying process is time-consuming and specialized knowledge is required. With the rapid development of whole genome sequencing technology, researchers attempt to identify ARGs by computing sequence similarity from public databases. However, these computational methods might fail to detect ARGs due to the low sequence identity to known ARGs. Moreover, existing methods cannot effectively address the issue of multidrug resistance prediction for ARGs, which is a great challenge to clinical treatments. To address the challenges, we propose an end-to-end multi-label learning framework for predicting ARGs. More specifically, the task of ARGs prediction is modeled as a problem of multi-label learning, and a deep neural network-based end-to-end framework is proposed, in which a specific loss function is introduced to employ the advantage of multi-label learning for ARGs prediction. In addition, a dual-view modeling mechanism is employed to make full use of the semantic associations among two views of ARGs, i.e. sequence-based information and structure-based information. Extensive experiments are conducted on publicly available data, and experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework on the task of ARGs prediction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weizhong Zhao
- School of Computer, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430079, PR China
| | - Shujie Luo
- School of Computer, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430079, PR China
| | - Haifang Wu
- School of Computer, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430079, PR China
| | - Xingpeng Jiang
- School of Computer, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430079, PR China
| | - Tingting He
- School of Computer, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430079, PR China
| | - Xiaohua Hu
- College of Computing & Informatics, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
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35
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Peng Z, Maciel-Guerra A, Baker M, Zhang X, Hu Y, Wang W, Rong J, Zhang J, Xue N, Barrow P, Renney D, Stekel D, Williams P, Liu L, Chen J, Li F, Dottorini T. Whole-genome sequencing and gene sharing network analysis powered by machine learning identifies antibiotic resistance sharing between animals, humans and environment in livestock farming. PLoS Comput Biol 2022; 18:e1010018. [PMID: 35333870 PMCID: PMC8986120 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Revised: 04/06/2022] [Accepted: 03/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Anthropogenic environments such as those created by intensive farming of livestock, have been proposed to provide ideal selection pressure for the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli bacteria and antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) and spread to humans. Here, we performed a longitudinal study in a large-scale commercial poultry farm in China, collecting E. coli isolates from both farm and slaughterhouse; targeting animals, carcasses, workers and their households and environment. By using whole-genome phylogenetic analysis and network analysis based on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), we found highly interrelated non-pathogenic and pathogenic E. coli strains with phylogenetic intermixing, and a high prevalence of shared multidrug resistance profiles amongst livestock, human and environment. Through an original data processing pipeline which combines omics, machine learning, gene sharing network and mobile genetic elements analysis, we investigated the resistance to 26 different antimicrobials and identified 361 genes associated to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) phenotypes; 58 of these were known AMR-associated genes and 35 were associated to multidrug resistance. We uncovered an extensive network of genes, correlated to AMR phenotypes, shared among livestock, humans, farm and slaughterhouse environments. We also found several human, livestock and environmental isolates sharing closely related mobile genetic elements carrying ARGs across host species and environments. In a scenario where no consensus exists on how antibiotic use in the livestock may affect antibiotic resistance in the human population, our findings provide novel insights into the broader epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance in livestock farming. Moreover, our original data analysis method has the potential to uncover AMR transmission pathways when applied to the study of other pathogens active in other anthropogenic environments characterised by complex interconnections between host species. Livestock have been suggested as an important source of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) Escherichia coli, capable of infecting humans and carrying resistance to drugs used in human medicine. China has a large intensive livestock farming industry, poultry being the second most important source of meat in the country, and is the largest user of antibiotics for food production in the world. Here we studied antimicrobial resistance gene overlap between E. coli isolates collected from humans, livestock and their shared environments in a large-scale Chinese poultry farm and associated slaughterhouse. By using a computational approach that integrates machine learning, whole-genome sequencing, gene sharing network and mobile genetic elements analysis we characterized the E. coli community structure, antimicrobial resistance phenotypes and the genetic relatedness of non-pathogenic and pathogenic E. coli strains. We uncovered the network of genes, associated with AMR, shared across host species (animals and workers) and environments (farm and slaughterhouse). Our approach opens up new avenues for the development of a fast, affordable and effective computational solutions that provide novel insights into the broader epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance in livestock farming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zixin Peng
- NHC Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment, Chinese Academy of Medical Science Research Unit (2019RU014), China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
| | - Alexandre Maciel-Guerra
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, United Kingdom
| | - Michelle Baker
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, United Kingdom
| | - Xibin Zhang
- Qingdao Tian run Food Co., Ltd, New Hope, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
| | - Yue Hu
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, United Kingdom
| | - Wei Wang
- NHC Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment, Chinese Academy of Medical Science Research Unit (2019RU014), China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
| | - Jia Rong
- Qingdao Tian run Food Co., Ltd, New Hope, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
| | - Jing Zhang
- NHC Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment, Chinese Academy of Medical Science Research Unit (2019RU014), China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
| | - Ning Xue
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, United Kingdom
| | - Paul Barrow
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, United Kingdom
- School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom
| | - David Renney
- Nimrod Veterinary Products Limited, Moreton-in-Marsh, United Kingdom
| | - Dov Stekel
- School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, United Kingdom
| | - Paul Williams
- Biodiscovery Institute and School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Longhai Liu
- Qingdao Tian run Food Co., Ltd, New Hope, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
| | - Junshi Chen
- NHC Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment, Chinese Academy of Medical Science Research Unit (2019RU014), China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
| | - Fengqin Li
- NHC Key Laboratory of Food Safety Risk Assessment, Chinese Academy of Medical Science Research Unit (2019RU014), China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
- * E-mail: (FL); (TD)
| | - Tania Dottorini
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, United Kingdom
- * E-mail: (FL); (TD)
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36
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Li WX, Tong X, Yang PP, Zheng Y, Liang JH, Li GH, Liu D, Guan DG, Dai SX. Screening of antibacterial compounds with novel structure from the FDA approved drugs using machine learning methods. Aging (Albany NY) 2022; 14:1448-1472. [PMID: 35150482 PMCID: PMC8876917 DOI: 10.18632/aging.203887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2021] [Accepted: 01/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Bacterial infection is one of the most important factors affecting the human life span. Elderly people are more harmed by bacterial infections due to their deficits in immunity. Because of the lack of new antibiotics in recent years, bacterial resistance has increasingly become a serious problem globally. In this study, an antibacterial compound predictor was constructed using the support vector machines and random forest methods and the data of the active and inactive antibacterial compounds from the ChEMBL database. The results showed that both models have excellent prediction performance (mean accuracy >0.9 and mean AUC >0.9 for the two models). We used the predictor to screen potential antibacterial compounds from FDA-approved drugs in the DrugBank database. The screening results showed that 1087 small-molecule drugs have potential antibacterial activity and 154 of them are FDA-approved antibacterial drugs, which accounts for 76.2% of the approved antibacterial drugs collected in this study. Through molecular fingerprint similarity analysis and common substructure analysis, we screened 8 predicted antibacterial small-molecule compounds with novel structures compared with known antibacterial drugs, and 5 of them are widely used in the treatment of various tumors. This study provides a new insight for predicting antibacterial compounds by using approved drugs, the predicted compounds might be used to treat bacterial infections and extend lifespan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wen-Xing Li
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong, China.,Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Single Cell Technology and Application, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong, China
| | - Xin Tong
- State Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research, Institute of Primate Translational Medicine, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, Yunnan, China
| | - Peng-Peng Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research, Institute of Primate Translational Medicine, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, Yunnan, China
| | - Yang Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research, Institute of Primate Translational Medicine, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, Yunnan, China
| | - Ji-Hao Liang
- State Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research, Institute of Primate Translational Medicine, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, Yunnan, China
| | - Gong-Hua Li
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, Yunnan, China
| | - Dahai Liu
- School of Medicine, Foshan University, Foshan 528000, Guangdong, China
| | - Dao-Gang Guan
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong, China.,Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Single Cell Technology and Application, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong, China
| | - Shao-Xing Dai
- State Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research, Institute of Primate Translational Medicine, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, Yunnan, China
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Naz K, Ullah N, Naz A, Irum S, Dar HA, Zaheer T, Shahid F, Ali A. The Epidemiological and Pangenome Landscape of Staphylococcus aureus and Identification of Conserved Novel Candidate Vaccine Antigens. CURR PROTEOMICS 2022. [DOI: 10.2174/1570164618666210212122847] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Background and Objective:
Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a gram-positive bacterium and one of the major nosocomial pathogen. It has the ability to acquire resistance against almost all available classes of antibiotics; Methicillin-Resistant S. aureus (MRSA) is a well-known antibiotic resistance. S. aureus is a globally distributed pathogen that need in-depth epidemiological and genomic level investigation for proper treatment and prevention.
Methods:
To explore the genomic epidemiology of S. aureus in-silico Multi Locus Sequence Typing (MLST) was carried out for 355 complete genomes. Diversity within the species was investigated through pan-genome analysis and subtractive genomic approach was employed for identification of core immunogenic targets.
Results:
Epidemiological study identified 62 different sequence types (STs) of S. aureus distributed worldwide, in which ST-8, ST-5, ST-398, ST-239, and ST-30 are the most dominant STs comprising more than 50% of the isolates. The pan-genome of S. aureus is still open with 7,199 genes and there is a major contribution (80%) of MRSA strains in the S. aureus species pangenome. The core genome (2,025 genes) of S. aureus is almost stable (comprises of 72% of S. aureus genome size) while accessory and unique genes (28% of S. aureus genome size) are gradually increasing. Screening of 2,025 core genes identified putative vaccine candidates. The best scoring and dominant B-cell and T-cell epitopes were predicted out of the selected potential vaccine candidate proteins with the help of a multi-step screening procedure.
Conclusion:
We believe that the current study will provide insight into the genetic epidemiology and diversity of S. aureus and the predicted epitopes against the pathogen can be tested further for its immunological responses within the host and may provide both humoral and cellular immunity against the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kanwal Naz
- Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad
44000, Pakistan
| | - Nimat Ullah
- Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad
44000, Pakistan
| | - Anam Naz
- Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB), The University of Lahore (UOL), Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Sidra Irum
- Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad
44000, Pakistan
| | - Hamza Arshad Dar
- Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad
44000, Pakistan
| | - Tahreem Zaheer
- Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad
44000, Pakistan
| | - Fatima Shahid
- Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad
44000, Pakistan
| | - Amjad Ali
- Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad
44000, Pakistan
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38
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Florensa AF, Kaas RS, Clausen PTLC, Aytan-Aktug D, Aarestrup FM. ResFinder - an open online resource for identification of antimicrobial resistance genes in next-generation sequencing data and prediction of phenotypes from genotypes. Microb Genom 2022; 8. [PMID: 35072601 PMCID: PMC8914360 DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.000748] [Citation(s) in RCA: 119] [Impact Index Per Article: 59.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the most important health threats globally. The ability to accurately identify resistant bacterial isolates and the individual antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) is essential for understanding the evolution and emergence of AMR and to provide appropriate treatment. The rapid developments in next-generation sequencing technologies have made this technology available to researchers and microbiologists at routine laboratories around the world. However, tools available for those with limited experience with bioinformatics are lacking, especially to enable researchers and microbiologists in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to perform their own studies. The CGE-tools (Center for Genomic Epidemiology) including ResFinder (https://cge.cbs.dtu.dk/services/ResFinder/) was developed to provide freely available easy to use online bioinformatic tools allowing inexperienced researchers and microbiologists to perform simple bioinformatic analyses. The main purpose was and is to provide these solutions for people involved in frontline diagnosis especially in LMICs. Since its original publication in 2012, ResFinder has undergone a number of improvements including improvement of the code and databases, inclusion of point mutations for selected bacterial species and predictions of phenotypes also for selected species. As of 28 September 2021, 820 803 analyses have been performed using ResFinder from 61 776 IP-addresses in 171 countries. ResFinder clearly fulfills a need for several people around the globe and we hope to be able to continue to provide this service free of charge in the future. We also hope and expect to provide further improvements including phenotypic predictions for additional bacterial species.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Rolf Sommer Kaas
- National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | | | - Derya Aytan-Aktug
- National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
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39
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Sharma A, Machado E, Lima KVB, Suffys PN, Conceição EC. Tuberculosis drug resistance profiling based on machine learning: A literature review. Braz J Infect Dis 2022; 26:102332. [PMID: 35176257 PMCID: PMC9387475 DOI: 10.1016/j.bjid.2022.102332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Revised: 12/18/2021] [Accepted: 01/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), is one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide. Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) poses a major threat to the World Health Organization's “End TB” strategy which has defined its target as the year 2035. In 2019, there were close to 0.5 million cases of DRTB, of which 78% were resistant to multiple TB drugs. The traditional culture-based drug susceptibility test (DST - the current gold standard) often takes multiple weeks and the necessary laboratory facilities are not readily available in low-income countries. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) technology is rapidly becoming an important tool in clinical and research applications including transmission detection or prediction of DR-TB. For the latter, many tools have recently been developed using curated database(s) of known resistance conferring mutations. However, documenting all the mutations and their effect is a time-taking and a continuous process and therefore Machine Learning (ML) techniques can be useful for predicting the presence of DR-TB based on WGS data. This can pave the way to an earlier detection of drug resistance and consequently more efficient treatment when compared to the traditional DST.
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40
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Lim AJW, Lim LJ, Ooi BNS, Koh ET, Tan JWL, Chong SS, Khor CC, Tucker-Kellogg L, Leong KP, Lee CG. Functional coding haplotypes and machine-learning feature elimination identifies predictors of Methotrexate Response in Rheumatoid Arthritis patients. EBioMedicine 2022; 75:103800. [PMID: 35022146 PMCID: PMC8808170 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2021.103800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2021] [Revised: 12/19/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Major challenges in large scale genetic association studies include not only the identification of causative single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), but also accounting for SNP-SNP interactions. This study thus proposes a novel feature engineering approach integrating potentially functional coding haplotypes (pfcHap) with machine-learning (ML) feature selection to identify biologically meaningful, possibly causative genetic factors, that take into consideration potential SNP-SNP interactions within the pfcHap, to best predict for methotrexate (MTX) response in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. METHODS Exome sequencing from 349 RA patients were analysed, of which they were split into training and unseen test set. Inferred pfcHaps were combined with 30 non-genetic features to undergo ML recursive feature elimination with cross-validation using the training set. Predictive capacity and robustness of the selected features were assessed using six popular machine learning models through a train set cross-validation and evaluated in an unseen test set. FINDINGS Significantly, 100 features (95 pfcHaps, 5 non-genetic factors) were identified to have good predictive performance (AUC: 0.776-0.828; Sensitivity: 0.656-0.813; Specificity: 0.684-0.868) across all six ML models in an unseen test dataset for the prediction of MTX response in RA patients. INTERPRETATION Majority of the predictive pfcHap SNPs were predicted to be potentially functional and some of the genes in which the pfcHap resides in were identified to be associated with previously reported MTX/RA pathways. FUNDING Singapore Ministry of Health's National Medical Research Council (NMRC) [NMRC/CBRG/0095/2015; CG12Aug17; CGAug16M012; NMRC/CG/017/2013]; National Cancer Center Research Fund and block funding Duke-NUS Medical School.; Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund Tier 2 grant MOE2019-T2-1-138.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley J W Lim
- Dept of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Lee Jin Lim
- Dept of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Brandon N S Ooi
- Dept of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Ee Tzun Koh
- Department of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore
| | - Justina Wei Lynn Tan
- Department of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore
| | - Samuel S Chong
- Dept of Pediatrics, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Chiea Chuen Khor
- Division of Human Genetics, Genome Institute of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Lisa Tucker-Kellogg
- Centre for Computational Biology, and Cancer and Stem Cell Biology, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore
| | - Khai Pang Leong
- Department of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore; Clinical Research & Innovation Office, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
| | - Caroline G Lee
- Dept of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Div of Cellular & Molecular Research, Humphrey Oei Institute of Cancer Research, National Cancer Centre Singapore, Singapore; Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore; NUS Graduate School, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
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41
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Ren Y, Chakraborty T, Doijad S, Falgenhauer L, Falgenhauer J, Goesmann A, Schwengers O, Heider D. Multi-label classification for multi-drug resistance prediction of Escherichia coli. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2022; 20:1264-1270. [PMID: 35317240 PMCID: PMC8918850 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2022.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Revised: 03/08/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022] Open
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Phaneuf PV, Zielinski DC, Yurkovich JT, Johnsen J, Szubin R, Yang L, Kim SH, Schulz S, Wu M, Dalldorf C, Ozdemir E, Lennen RM, Palsson BO, Feist AM. Escherichia coli Data-Driven Strain Design Using Aggregated Adaptive Laboratory Evolution Mutational Data. ACS Synth Biol 2021; 10:3379-3395. [PMID: 34762392 PMCID: PMC8870144 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.1c00337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
![]()
Microbes are being
engineered for an increasingly large and diverse
set of applications. However, the designing of microbial genomes remains
challenging due to the general complexity of biological systems. Adaptive
Laboratory Evolution (ALE) leverages nature’s problem-solving
processes to generate optimized genotypes currently inaccessible to
rational methods. The large amount of public ALE data now represents
a new opportunity for data-driven strain design. This study describes
how novel strain designs, or genome sequences not yet observed in
ALE experiments or published designs, can be extracted from aggregated
ALE data and demonstrates this by designing, building, and testing
three novel Escherichia coli strains with fitnesses
comparable to ALE mutants. These designs were achieved through a meta-analysis
of aggregated ALE mutations data (63 Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655 based ALE experiments, described by 93 unique environmental
conditions, 357 independent evolutions, and 13 957 observed
mutations), which additionally revealed global ALE mutation trends
that inform on ALE-derived strain design principles. Such informative
trends anticipate ALE-derived strain designs as largely gene-centric,
as opposed to noncoding, and composed of a relatively small number
of beneficial variants (approximately 6). These results demonstrate
how strain design efforts can be enhanced by the meta-analysis of
aggregated ALE data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick V. Phaneuf
- Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Program, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Daniel C. Zielinski
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Building 220, Kemitorvet, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - James T. Yurkovich
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Josefin Johnsen
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Building 220, Kemitorvet, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Richard Szubin
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Lei Yang
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Building 220, Kemitorvet, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Se Hyeuk Kim
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Building 220, Kemitorvet, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Sebastian Schulz
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Building 220, Kemitorvet, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Muyao Wu
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Christopher Dalldorf
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
| | - Emre Ozdemir
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Building 220, Kemitorvet, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Rebecca M. Lennen
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Building 220, Kemitorvet, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Bernhard O. Palsson
- Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Program, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Building 220, Kemitorvet, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Adam M. Feist
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Building 220, Kemitorvet, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
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Forde BM, De Oliveira DMP, Falconer C, Graves B, Harris PNA. Strengths and caveats of identifying resistance genes from whole genome sequencing data. Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther 2021; 20:533-547. [PMID: 34852720 DOI: 10.1080/14787210.2022.2013806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continues to present major challenges to modern healthcare. Recent advances in whole-genome sequencing (WGS) have made the rapid molecular characterization of AMR a realistic possibility for diagnostic laboratories; yet major barriers to clinical implementation exist. AREAS COVERED We describe and compare short- and long-read sequencing platforms, typical components of bioinformatics pipelines, tools for AMR gene detection and the relative merits of read- or assembly-based approaches. The challenges of characterizing mobile genetic elements from genomic data are outlined, as well as the complexities inherent to the prediction of phenotypic resistance from WGS. Practical obstacles to implementation in diagnostic laboratories, the critical role of quality control and external quality assurance, as well as standardized reporting standards are also discussed. Future directions, such as the application of machine-learning and artificial intelligence algorithms, linked to clinically meaningful outcomes, may offer a new paradigm for the clinical application of AMR prediction. EXPERT OPINION AMR prediction from WGS data presents an exciting opportunity to advance our capacity to comprehensively characterize infectious pathogens in a rapid manner, ultimately aiming to improve patient outcomes. Collaborative efforts between clinicians, scientists, regulatory bodies and healthcare administrators will be critical to achieve the full promise of this approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian M Forde
- University of Queensland, Faculty of Medicine, Uq Centre for Clinical Research, Royal Brisbane and Woman's Hospital, Herston, Australia
| | - David M P De Oliveira
- University of Queensland, Faculty of Science, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, St Lucia, Australia
| | - Caitlin Falconer
- University of Queensland, Faculty of Medicine, Uq Centre for Clinical Research, Royal Brisbane and Woman's Hospital, Herston, Australia
| | - Bianca Graves
- Herston Infectious Disease Institute, Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital, Herston, Australia
| | - Patrick N A Harris
- University of Queensland, Faculty of Medicine, Uq Centre for Clinical Research, Royal Brisbane and Woman's Hospital, Herston, Australia.,Herston Infectious Disease Institute, Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital, Herston, Australia.,Central Microbiology, Pathology Queensland, Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital, Herston, Australia
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VanOeffelen M, Nguyen M, Aytan-Aktug D, Brettin T, Dietrich EM, Kenyon RW, Machi D, Mao C, Olson R, Pusch GD, Shukla M, Stevens R, Vonstein V, Warren AS, Wattam AR, Yoo H, Davis JJ. A genomic data resource for predicting antimicrobial resistance from laboratory-derived antimicrobial susceptibility phenotypes. Brief Bioinform 2021; 22:bbab313. [PMID: 34379107 PMCID: PMC8575023 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbab313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2021] [Revised: 06/18/2021] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global health threat that affects millions of people each year. Funding agencies worldwide and the global research community have expended considerable capital and effort tracking the evolution and spread of AMR by isolating and sequencing bacterial strains and performing antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). For the last several years, we have been capturing these efforts by curating data from the literature and data resources and building a set of assembled bacterial genome sequences that are paired with laboratory-derived AST data. This collection currently contains AST data for over 67 000 genomes encompassing approximately 40 genera and over 100 species. In this paper, we describe the characteristics of this collection, highlighting areas where sampling is comparatively deep or shallow, and showing areas where attention is needed from the research community to improve sampling and tracking efforts. In addition to using the data to track the evolution and spread of AMR, it also serves as a useful starting point for building machine learning models for predicting AMR phenotypes. We demonstrate this by describing two machine learning models that are built from the entire dataset to show where the predictive power is comparatively high or low. This AMR metadata collection is freely available and maintained on the Bacterial and Viral Bioinformatics Center (BV-BRC) FTP site ftp://ftp.bvbrc.org/RELEASE_NOTES/PATRIC_genomes_AMR.txt.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Marcus Nguyen
- University of Chicago Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- Data Science and Learning Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA
| | - Derya Aytan-Aktug
- National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Thomas Brettin
- University of Chicago Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- Computing Environment and Life Sciences, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA
| | - Emily M Dietrich
- University of Chicago Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- Computing Environment and Life Sciences, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA
| | - Ronald W Kenyon
- Biocomplexity Institute and Initiative, University of Virginia, Virginia, USA
| | - Dustin Machi
- Biocomplexity Institute and Initiative, University of Virginia, Virginia, USA
| | - Chunhong Mao
- Biocomplexity Institute and Initiative, University of Virginia, Virginia, USA
| | - Robert Olson
- University of Chicago Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- Data Science and Learning Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA
| | - Gordon D Pusch
- Fellowship for Interpretation of Genomes, Burr Ridge, IL, USA
| | - Maulik Shukla
- University of Chicago Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- Data Science and Learning Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA
| | - Rick Stevens
- Computing Environment and Life Sciences, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA
- Department of Computer Science, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | | | - Andrew S Warren
- Biocomplexity Institute and Initiative, University of Virginia, Virginia, USA
| | - Alice R Wattam
- Data Science and Learning Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA
- Biocomplexity Institute and Initiative, University of Virginia, Virginia, USA
| | - Hyunseung Yoo
- University of Chicago Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- Data Science and Learning Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA
| | - James J Davis
- University of Chicago Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- Data Science and Learning Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA
- Northwestern Argonne Institute for Science and Engineering, Evanston, IL, USA
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Borah K, Xu Y, McFadden J. Dissecting Host-Pathogen Interactions in TB Using Systems-Based Omic Approaches. Front Immunol 2021; 12:762315. [PMID: 34795672 PMCID: PMC8593131 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.762315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2021] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) is a devastating infectious disease that kills over a million people every year. There is an increasing burden of multi drug resistance (MDR) and extensively drug resistance (XDR) TB. New and improved therapies are urgently needed to overcome the limitations of current treatment. The causative agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is one of the most successful pathogens that can manipulate host cell environment for adaptation, evading immune defences, virulence, and pathogenesis of TB infection. Host-pathogen interaction is important to establish infection and it involves a complex set of processes. Metabolic cross talk between the host and pathogen is a facet of TB infection and has been an important topic of research where there is growing interest in developing therapies and drugs that target these interactions and metabolism of the pathogen in the host. Mtb scavenges multiple nutrient sources from the host and has adapted its metabolism to survive in the intracellular niche. Advancements in systems-based omic technologies have been successful to unravel host-pathogen interactions in TB. In this review we discuss the application and usefulness of omics in TB research that provides promising interventions for developing anti-TB therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Khushboo Borah
- School of Biosciences and Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
| | | | - Johnjoe McFadden
- School of Biosciences and Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
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Genomic Features Associated with the Degree of Phenotypic Resistance to Carbapenems in Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. mSystems 2021; 6:e0019421. [PMID: 34519526 PMCID: PMC8547452 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00194-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strains cause severe infections that are difficult to treat. The production of carbapenemases such as the K. pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC) is a common mechanism by which these strains resist killing by the carbapenems. However, the degree of phenotypic carbapenem resistance (MIC) may differ markedly between isolates with similar carbapenemase genes, suggesting that our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of carbapenem resistance remains incomplete. To address this problem, we determined the whole-genome sequences of 166 K. pneumoniae clinical isolates resistant to meropenem, imipenem, or ertapenem. Multiple linear regression analysis of this collection of largely blaKPC-3-containing sequence type 258 (ST258) isolates indicated that blaKPC copy number and some outer membrane porin gene mutations were associated with higher MICs to carbapenems. A trend toward higher MICs was also observed with those blaKPC genes carried by the d isoform of Tn4401. In contrast, ompK37 mutations were associated with lower carbapenem MICs, and extended spectrum β-lactamase genes were not associated with higher or lower MICs in carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae. A machine learning approach based on the whole-genome sequences of these isolates did not result in a substantial improvement in prediction of isolates with high or low MICs. These results build upon previous findings suggesting that multiple factors influence the overall carbapenem resistance levels in carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae isolates. IMPORTANCEKlebsiella pneumoniae can cause severe infections in the blood, urinary tract, and lungs. Resistance to carbapenems in K. pneumoniae is an urgent public health threat, since it can make these isolates difficult to treat. While individual contributors to carbapenem resistance in K. pneumoniae have been studied, few reports explore their combined effects in clinical isolates. We sequenced 166 clinical carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae isolates to evaluate the contribution of known genes to carbapenem MICs and to try to identify novel genes associated with higher carbapenem MICs. The blaKPC copy number and some outer membrane porin gene mutations were associated with higher carbapenem MICs. In contrast, mutations in one specific porin, ompK37, were associated with lower carbapenem MICs. Machine learning did not result in a substantial improvement in the prediction of carbapenem resistance nor did it identify novel genes associated with carbapenem resistance. These findings enhance our understanding of the many contributors to carbapenem resistance in K. pneumoniae.
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da Silva TH, Hachigian TZ, Lee J, King MD. Using computers to ESKAPE the antibiotic resistance crisis. Drug Discov Today 2021; 27:456-470. [PMID: 34688913 DOI: 10.1016/j.drudis.2021.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2021] [Revised: 08/01/2021] [Accepted: 10/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Since the discovery of penicillin, the development and use of antibiotics have promoted safe and effective control of bacterial infections. However, the number of antibiotic-resistance cases has been ever increasing over time. Thus, the drug discovery process demands fast, efficient and cost-effective alternative approaches for developing lead candidates with outstanding performance. Computational approaches are appealing techniques to develop lead candidates in an in silico fashion. In this review, we provide an overview of the implementation of current in silico state-of-the-art techniques, including machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL), in drug discovery. We also discuss the development of quantum computing and its potential benefits for antibiotics research and current bottlenecks that limit computational drug discovery advancement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thiago H da Silva
- Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725, USA
| | - Timothy Z Hachigian
- Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725, USA
| | - Jeunghoon Lee
- Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725, USA; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725, USA
| | - Matthew D King
- Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725, USA; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725, USA.
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Melo MCR, Maasch JRMA, de la Fuente-Nunez C. Accelerating antibiotic discovery through artificial intelligence. Commun Biol 2021; 4:1050. [PMID: 34504303 PMCID: PMC8429579 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-021-02586-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2021] [Accepted: 07/16/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
By targeting invasive organisms, antibiotics insert themselves into the ancient struggle of the host-pathogen evolutionary arms race. As pathogens evolve tactics for evading antibiotics, therapies decline in efficacy and must be replaced, distinguishing antibiotics from most other forms of drug development. Together with a slow and expensive antibiotic development pipeline, the proliferation of drug-resistant pathogens drives urgent interest in computational methods that promise to expedite candidate discovery. Strides in artificial intelligence (AI) have encouraged its application to multiple dimensions of computer-aided drug design, with increasing application to antibiotic discovery. This review describes AI-facilitated advances in the discovery of both small molecule antibiotics and antimicrobial peptides. Beyond the essential prediction of antimicrobial activity, emphasis is also given to antimicrobial compound representation, determination of drug-likeness traits, antimicrobial resistance, and de novo molecular design. Given the urgency of the antimicrobial resistance crisis, we analyze uptake of open science best practices in AI-driven antibiotic discovery and argue for openness and reproducibility as a means of accelerating preclinical research. Finally, trends in the literature and areas for future inquiry are discussed, as artificially intelligent enhancements to drug discovery at large offer many opportunities for future applications in antibiotic development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcelo C R Melo
- Machine Biology Group, Departments of Psychiatry and Microbiology, Institute for Biomedical Informatics, Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Departments of Bioengineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Penn Institute for Computational Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Jacqueline R M A Maasch
- Machine Biology Group, Departments of Psychiatry and Microbiology, Institute for Biomedical Informatics, Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Departments of Bioengineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Penn Institute for Computational Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Computer and Information Science, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Cesar de la Fuente-Nunez
- Machine Biology Group, Departments of Psychiatry and Microbiology, Institute for Biomedical Informatics, Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
- Departments of Bioengineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
- Penn Institute for Computational Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
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Abstract
Microbes are constantly evolving. Laboratory studies of bacterial evolution increase our understanding of evolutionary dynamics, identify adaptive changes, and answer important questions that impact human health. During bacterial infections in humans, however, the evolutionary parameters acting on infecting populations are likely to be much more complex than those that can be tested in the laboratory. Nonetheless, human infections can be thought of as naturally occurring in vivo bacterial evolution experiments, which can teach us about antibiotic resistance, pathogenesis, and transmission. Here, we review recent advances in the study of within-host bacterial evolution during human infection and discuss practical considerations for conducting such studies. We focus on 2 possible outcomes for de novo adaptive mutations, which we have termed "adapt-and-live" and "adapt-and-die." In the adapt-and-live scenario, a mutation is long lived, enabling its transmission on to other individuals, or the establishment of chronic infection. In the adapt-and-die scenario, a mutation is rapidly extinguished, either because it carries a substantial fitness cost, it arises within tissues that block transmission to new hosts, it is outcompeted by more fit clones, or the infection resolves. Adapt-and-die mutations can provide rich information about selection pressures in vivo, yet they can easily elude detection because they are short lived, may be more difficult to sample, or could be maladaptive in the long term. Understanding how bacteria adapt under each of these scenarios can reveal new insights about the basic biology of pathogenic microbes and could aid in the design of new translational approaches to combat bacterial infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J. Culyba
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America
- Center for Evolutionary Biology and Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Daria Van Tyne
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America
- Center for Evolutionary Biology and Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America
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Genome-Scale Metabolic Models and Machine Learning Reveal Genetic Determinants of Antibiotic Resistance in Escherichia coli and Unravel the Underlying Metabolic Adaptation Mechanisms. mSystems 2021; 6:e0091320. [PMID: 34342537 PMCID: PMC8409726 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.00913-20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is becoming one of the largest threats to public health worldwide, with the opportunistic pathogen Escherichia coli playing a major role in the AMR global health crisis. Unravelling the complex interplay between drug resistance and metabolic rewiring is key to understand the ability of bacteria to adapt to new treatments and to the development of new effective solutions to combat resistant infections. We developed a computational pipeline that combines machine learning with genome-scale metabolic models (GSMs) to elucidate the systemic relationships between genetic determinants of resistance and metabolism beyond annotated drug resistance genes. Our approach was used to identify genetic determinants of 12 AMR profiles for the opportunistic pathogenic bacterium E. coli. Then, to interpret the large number of identified genetic determinants, we applied a constraint-based approach using the GSM to predict the effects of genetic changes on growth, metabolite yields, and reaction fluxes. Our computational platform leads to multiple results. First, our approach corroborates 225 known AMR-conferring genes, 35 of which are known for the specific antibiotic. Second, integration with the GSM predicted 20 top-ranked genetic determinants (including accA, metK, fabD, fabG, murG, lptG, mraY, folP, and glmM) essential for growth, while a further 17 top-ranked genetic determinants linked AMR to auxotrophic behavior. Third, clusters of AMR-conferring genes affecting similar metabolic processes are revealed, which strongly suggested that metabolic adaptations in cell wall, energy, iron and nucleotide metabolism are associated with AMR. The computational solution can be used to study other human and animal pathogens. IMPORTANCEEscherichia coli is a major public health concern given its increasing level of antibiotic resistance worldwide and extraordinary capacity to acquire and spread resistance via horizontal gene transfer with surrounding species and via mutations in its existing genome. E. coli also exhibits a large amount of metabolic pathway redundancy, which promotes resistance via metabolic adaptability. In this study, we developed a computational approach that integrates machine learning with metabolic modeling to understand the correlation between AMR and metabolic adaptation mechanisms in this model bacterium. Using our approach, we identified AMR genetic determinants associated with cell wall modifications for increased permeability, virulence factor manipulation of host immunity, reduction of oxidative stress toxicity, and changes to energy metabolism. Unravelling the complex interplay between antibiotic resistance and metabolic rewiring may open new opportunities to understand the ability of E. coli, and potentially of other human and animal pathogens, to adapt to new treatments.
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