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El Chaar M, Khoury Y, Douglas GM, El Kazzi S, Jisr T, Soussi S, Merhi G, Moghnieh RA, Shapiro BJ. Longitudinal genomic surveillance of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli carriage in critical care patients. Microbiol Spectr 2024; 12:e0312823. [PMID: 38171007 PMCID: PMC10846182 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.03128-23] [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: 08/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Colonization with multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli strains causes a substantial health burden in hospitalized patients. We performed a longitudinal genomics study to investigate the colonization of resistant E. coli strains in critically ill patients and to identify evolutionary changes and strain replacement events within patients. Patients were admitted to the intensive care unit and hematology wards at a major hospital in Lebanon. Perianal swabs were collected from participants on admission and during hospitalization, which were screened for extended-spectrum beta-lactamases and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales. We performed whole-genome sequencing and analysis on E. coli strains isolated from patients at multiple time points. The E. coli isolates were genetically diverse, with 11 sequence types (STs) identified among 22 isolates sequenced. Five patients were colonized by E. coli sequence type 131 (ST131)-encoding CTX-M-27, an emerging clone not previously observed in clinical samples from Lebanon. Among the eight patients whose resident E. coli strains were tracked over time, five harbored the same E. coli strain with relatively few mutations over the 5 to 10 days of hospitalization. The other three patients were colonized by different E. coli strains over time. Our study provides evidence of strain diversity within patients during their hospitalization. While strains varied in their antimicrobial resistance profiles, the number of resistance genes did not increase over time. We also show that ST131-encoding CTX-M-27, which appears to be emerging as a globally important multidrug-resistant E. coli strain, is also prevalent among critical care patients and deserves further monitoring.IMPORTANCEUnderstanding the evolution of bacteria over time in hospitalized patients is of utmost significance in the field of infectious diseases. While numerous studies have surveyed genetic diversity and resistance mechanisms in nosocomial infections, time series of within-patient dynamics are rare, and high-income countries are over-represented, leaving low- and middle-income countries understudied. Our study aims to bridge these research gaps by conducting a longitudinal survey of critically ill patients in Lebanon. This allowed us to track Escherichia coli evolution and strain replacements within individual patients over extended periods. Through whole-genome sequencing, we found extensive strain diversity, including the first evidence of the emerging E. coli sequence type 131 clone encoding the CTX-M-27 beta-lactamase in a clinical sample from Lebanon, as well as likely strain replacement events during hospitalization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mira El Chaar
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Balamand, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Yaralynn Khoury
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Balamand, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Gavin M. Douglas
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Samir El Kazzi
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Balamand, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Tamima Jisr
- Clinical Laboratory Department, Makassed General Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Shatha Soussi
- Clinical Laboratory Department, Makassed General Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Georgi Merhi
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Rima A. Moghnieh
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Lebanese American University Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - B. Jesse Shapiro
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
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Yorki S, Shea T, Cuomo CA, Walker BJ, LaRocque RC, Manson AL, Earl AM, Worby CJ. Comparison of long- and short-read metagenomic assembly for low-abundance species and resistance genes. Brief Bioinform 2023; 24:bbad050. [PMID: 36804804 PMCID: PMC10025444 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbad050] [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: 11/28/2022] [Revised: 01/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/26/2023] [Indexed: 02/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent technological and computational advances have made metagenomic assembly a viable approach to achieving high-resolution views of complex microbial communities. In previous benchmarking, short-read (SR) metagenomic assemblers had the highest accuracy, long-read (LR) assemblers generated the most contiguous sequences and hybrid (HY) assemblers balanced length and accuracy. However, no assessments have specifically compared the performance of these assemblers on low-abundance species, which include clinically relevant organisms in the gut. We generated semi-synthetic LR and SR datasets by spiking small and increasing amounts of Escherichia coli isolate reads into fecal metagenomes and, using different assemblers, examined E. coli contigs and the presence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). For ARG assembly, although SR assemblers recovered more ARGs with high accuracy, even at low coverages, LR assemblies allowed for the placement of ARGs within longer, E. coli-specific contigs, thus pinpointing their taxonomic origin. HY assemblies identified resistance genes with high accuracy and had lower contiguity than LR assemblies. Each assembler type's strengths were maintained even when our isolate was spiked in with a competing strain, which fragmented and reduced the accuracy of all assemblies. For strain characterization and determining gene context, LR assembly is optimal, while for base-accurate gene identification, SR assemblers outperform other options. HY assembly offers contiguity and base accuracy, but requires generating data on multiple platforms, and may suffer high misassembly rates when strain diversity exists. Our results highlight the trade-offs associated with each approach for recovering low-abundance taxa, and that the optimal approach is goal-dependent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sosie Yorki
- Infectious Disease and Microbiome Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Terrance Shea
- Infectious Disease and Microbiome Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Christina A Cuomo
- Infectious Disease and Microbiome Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Bruce J Walker
- Infectious Disease and Microbiome Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Applied Invention, LLC, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Regina C LaRocque
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Abigail L Manson
- Infectious Disease and Microbiome Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Ashlee M Earl
- Infectious Disease and Microbiome Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Colin J Worby
- Infectious Disease and Microbiome Program, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
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Genomic diversity of non-diarrheagenic fecal Escherichia coli from children in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia and their relatedness to diarrheagenic E. coli. Nat Commun 2023; 14:1400. [PMID: 36918537 PMCID: PMC10011798 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36337-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Escherichia coli is a frequent member of the healthy human gastrointestinal microbiota, as well as an important human pathogen. Previous studies have focused on the genomic diversity of the pathogenic E. coli and much remains unknown about the non-diarrheagenic E. coli residing in the human gut, particularly among young children in low and middle income countries. Also, gaining additional insight into non-diarrheagenic E. coli is important for understanding gut health as non-diarrheagenic E. coli can prevent infection by diarrheagenic bacteria. In this study we examine the genomic diversity of non-diarrheagenic fecal E. coli from male and female children with or without diarrhea from countries in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia as part of the Global Enteric Multicenter Study (GEMS). We find that these E. coli exhibit considerable genetic diversity as they were identified in all E. coli phylogroups and an Escherichia cryptic clade. Although these fecal E. coli lack the characteristic virulence factors of diarrheagenic E. coli pathotypes, many exhibit remarkable genomic similarity to previously described diarrheagenic isolates with differences attributed to mobile elements. This raises an important question of whether these non-diarrheagenic fecal E. coli may have at one time possessed the mobile element-encoded virulence factors of diarrheagenic pathotypes or may have the potential to acquire these virulence factors.
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Virulence Profile, Antibiotic Resistance, and Phylogenetic Relationships among Escherichia coli Strains Isolated from the Feces and Urine of Hospitalized Patients. Pathogens 2022; 11:pathogens11121528. [PMID: 36558862 PMCID: PMC9782660 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens11121528] [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: 11/16/2022] [Revised: 12/04/2022] [Accepted: 12/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) may inhabit the human gut microbiota without causing disease. However, if they reach extra-intestinal sites, common cystitis to bloodstream infections may occur, putting patients at risk. To examine the human gut as a source of endogenous infections, we evaluated the E. coli clonal diversity of 18 inpatients' guts and their relationship with strains isolated from urinary tract infection (UTI) in the same hospital. Random amplified polymorphic DNA evaluated the clonal diversity, and the antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by disk diffusion. One isolate of each clone detected was sequenced, and their virulome and resistome were determined. Overall, 177 isolates were screened, among which 32 clones were identified (mean of two clones per patient), with ExPEC strains found in over 75% of the inpatients' guts. Endogenous infection was confirmed in 75% of the cases. ST10, ST59, ST69, ST131, and ST1193 clones and critical mobile drug-resistance encoding genes (blaCTX-M-15, blaOXA-1, blaDHA-1, aac(6')-lb-cr, mcr-1.26, qnrB4, and qnrB19) were identified in the gut of inpatients. The genomic analysis highlighted the diversity of the fecal strains, colonization by lactose-negative E. coli, the high frequency of ExPEC in the gut of inpatients without infections, and the presence of β-lactamase producing E. coli in the gut of inpatients regardless of the previous antibiotics' usage. Considering that we found more than one ExPEC clone in the gut of several inpatients, surveillance of inpatients' fecal pathogens may prevent UTI caused by E. coli in the hospital and dissemination of risk clones.
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Chuprikova L, Mateo-Cáceres V, de Toro M, Redrejo-Rodríguez M. ExplorePipolin: reconstruction and annotation of piPolB-encoding bacterial mobile elements from draft genomes. BIOINFORMATICS ADVANCES 2022; 2:vbac056. [PMID: 36699382 PMCID: PMC9710591 DOI: 10.1093/bioadv/vbac056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2022] [Revised: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/06/2022] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Motivation Detailed and accurate analysis of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in bacteria is essential to deal with the current threat of multiresistant microbes. The overwhelming use of draft, contig-based genomes hinder the delineation of the genetic structure of these plastic and variable genomic stretches, as in the case of pipolins, a superfamily of MGEs that spans diverse integrative and plasmidic elements, characterized by the presence of a primer-independent DNA polymerase. Results ExplorePipolin is a Python-based pipeline that screens for the presence of the element and performs its reconstruction and annotation. The pipeline can be used on virtually any genome from diverse organisms and of diverse quality, obtaining the highest-scored possible structure and reconstructed out of different contigs if necessary. Then, predicted pipolin boundaries and pipolin encoded genes are subsequently annotated using a custom database, returning the standard file formats suitable for comparative genomics of this mobile element. Availability and implementation All code is available and can be accessed here: github.com/pipolinlab/ExplorePipolin. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics Advances online.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - V Mateo-Cáceres
- Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas ‘Alberto Sols’ (UAM-CSIC), Madrid, Spain
| | - M de Toro
- Plataforma de Genómica y Bioinformática, CIBIR (Centro de Investigación Biomédica de La Rioja), Logroño, La Rioja 26006, Spain
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Foster-Nyarko E, Pallen MJ. OUP accepted manuscript. FEMS Microbiol Rev 2022; 46:6522174. [PMID: 35134909 PMCID: PMC9075585 DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fuac008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2021] [Revised: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 02/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Escherichia coli has a rich history as biology's ‘rock star’, driving advances across many fields. In the wild, E. coli resides innocuously in the gut of humans and animals but is also a versatile pathogen commonly associated with intestinal and extraintestinal infections and antimicrobial resistance—including large foodborne outbreaks such as the one that swept across Europe in 2011, killing 54 individuals and causing approximately 4000 infections and 900 cases of haemolytic uraemic syndrome. Given that most E. coli are harmless gut colonizers, an important ecological question plaguing microbiologists is what makes E. coli an occasionally devastating pathogen? To address this question requires an enhanced understanding of the ecology of the organism as a commensal. Here, we review how our knowledge of the ecology and within-host diversity of this organism in the vertebrate gut has progressed in the 137 years since E. coli was first described. We also review current approaches to the study of within-host bacterial diversity. In closing, we discuss some of the outstanding questions yet to be addressed and prospects for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko
- Corresponding author: Department of Infection Biology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, United Kingdom. E-mail:
| | - Mark J Pallen
- Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7UQ, United Kingdom
- School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 7AL, United Kingdom
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7TU, United Kingdom
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Baquero F, Martínez JL, F. Lanza V, Rodríguez-Beltrán J, Galán JC, San Millán A, Cantón R, Coque TM. Evolutionary Pathways and Trajectories in Antibiotic Resistance. Clin Microbiol Rev 2021; 34:e0005019. [PMID: 34190572 PMCID: PMC8404696 DOI: 10.1128/cmr.00050-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Evolution is the hallmark of life. Descriptions of the evolution of microorganisms have provided a wealth of information, but knowledge regarding "what happened" has precluded a deeper understanding of "how" evolution has proceeded, as in the case of antimicrobial resistance. The difficulty in answering the "how" question lies in the multihierarchical dimensions of evolutionary processes, nested in complex networks, encompassing all units of selection, from genes to communities and ecosystems. At the simplest ontological level (as resistance genes), evolution proceeds by random (mutation and drift) and directional (natural selection) processes; however, sequential pathways of adaptive variation can occasionally be observed, and under fixed circumstances (particular fitness landscapes), evolution is predictable. At the highest level (such as that of plasmids, clones, species, microbiotas), the systems' degrees of freedom increase dramatically, related to the variable dispersal, fragmentation, relatedness, or coalescence of bacterial populations, depending on heterogeneous and changing niches and selective gradients in complex environments. Evolutionary trajectories of antibiotic resistance find their way in these changing landscapes subjected to random variations, becoming highly entropic and therefore unpredictable. However, experimental, phylogenetic, and ecogenetic analyses reveal preferential frequented paths (highways) where antibiotic resistance flows and propagates, allowing some understanding of evolutionary dynamics, modeling and designing interventions. Studies on antibiotic resistance have an applied aspect in improving individual health, One Health, and Global Health, as well as an academic value for understanding evolution. Most importantly, they have a heuristic significance as a model to reduce the negative influence of anthropogenic effects on the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- F. Baquero
- Department of Microbiology, Ramón y Cajal University Hospital, Ramón y Cajal Institute for Health Research (IRYCIS), Network Center for Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - J. L. Martínez
- National Center for Biotechnology (CNB-CSIC), Madrid, Spain
| | - V. F. Lanza
- Department of Microbiology, Ramón y Cajal University Hospital, Ramón y Cajal Institute for Health Research (IRYCIS), Network Center for Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
- Central Bioinformatics Unit, Ramón y Cajal Institute for Health Research (IRYCIS), Madrid, Spain
| | - J. Rodríguez-Beltrán
- Department of Microbiology, Ramón y Cajal University Hospital, Ramón y Cajal Institute for Health Research (IRYCIS), Network Center for Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - J. C. Galán
- Department of Microbiology, Ramón y Cajal University Hospital, Ramón y Cajal Institute for Health Research (IRYCIS), Network Center for Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - A. San Millán
- National Center for Biotechnology (CNB-CSIC), Madrid, Spain
| | - R. Cantón
- Department of Microbiology, Ramón y Cajal University Hospital, Ramón y Cajal Institute for Health Research (IRYCIS), Network Center for Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
| | - T. M. Coque
- Department of Microbiology, Ramón y Cajal University Hospital, Ramón y Cajal Institute for Health Research (IRYCIS), Network Center for Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain
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Shawa M, Furuta Y, Mulenga G, Mubanga M, Mulenga E, Zorigt T, Kaile C, Simbotwe M, Paudel A, Hang'ombe B, Higashi H. Novel chromosomal insertions of ISEcp1-bla CTX-M-15 and diverse antimicrobial resistance genes in Zambian clinical isolates of Enterobacter cloacae and Escherichia coli. Antimicrob Resist Infect Control 2021; 10:79. [PMID: 33971966 PMCID: PMC8111917 DOI: 10.1186/s13756-021-00941-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Accepted: 04/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The epidemiology of extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) has undergone dramatic changes, with CTX-M-type enzymes prevailing over other types. blaCTX-M genes, encoding CTX-M-type ESBLs, are usually found on plasmids, but chromosomal location is becoming common. Given that blaCTX-M-harboring strains often exhibit multidrug resistance (MDR), it is important to investigate the association between chromosomally integrated blaCTX-M and the presence of additional antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes, and to identify other relevant genetic elements. Methods A total of 46 clinical isolates of cefotaxime-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (1 Enterobacter cloacae, 9 Klebsiella pneumoniae, and 36 Escherichia coli) from Zambia were subjected to whole-genome sequencing (WGS) using MiSeq and MinION. By reconstructing nearly complete genomes, blaCTX-M genes were categorized as either chromosomal or plasmid-borne. Results WGS-based genotyping identified 58 AMR genes, including four blaCTX-M alleles (i.e., blaCTX-M-14, blaCTX-M-15, blaCTX-M-27, and blaCTX-M-55). Hierarchical clustering using selected phenotypic and genotypic characteristics suggested clonal dissemination of blaCTX-M genes. Out of 45 blaCTX-M gene-carrying strains, 7 harbored the gene in their chromosome. In one E. cloacae and three E. coli strains, chromosomal blaCTX-M-15 was located on insertions longer than 10 kb. These insertions were bounded by ISEcp1 at one end, exhibited a high degree of nucleotide sequence homology with previously reported plasmids, and carried multiple AMR genes that corresponded with phenotypic AMR profiles. Conclusion Our study revealed the co-occurrence of ISEcp1-blaCTX-M-15 and multiple AMR genes on chromosomal insertions in E. cloacae and E. coli, suggesting that ISEcp1 may be responsible for the transposition of diverse AMR genes from plasmids to chromosomes. Stable retention of such insertions in chromosomes may facilitate the successful propagation of MDR clones among these Enterobacteriaceae species. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13756-021-00941-8.
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Affiliation(s)
- Misheck Shawa
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Research Center for Zoonosis Control, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Yoshikazu Furuta
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Research Center for Zoonosis Control, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Gillan Mulenga
- Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia
| | - Maron Mubanga
- Department of Para-Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
| | - Evans Mulenga
- Department of Para-Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
| | - Tuvshinzaya Zorigt
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Research Center for Zoonosis Control, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Christone Kaile
- Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia
| | - Manyando Simbotwe
- Department of Disease Control, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
| | - Atmika Paudel
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Research Center for Zoonosis Control, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Bernard Hang'ombe
- Department of Para-Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
| | - Hideaki Higashi
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Research Center for Zoonosis Control, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
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Wawire SA, Reva ON, O'Brien TJ, Figueroa W, Dinda V, Shivoga WA, Welch M. Virulence and antimicrobial resistance genes are enriched in the plasmidome of clinical Escherichia coli isolates compared with wastewater isolates from western Kenya. INFECTION GENETICS AND EVOLUTION 2021; 91:104784. [PMID: 33652115 DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2021.104784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2020] [Revised: 02/23/2021] [Accepted: 02/24/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Many low-middle income countries in Africa have poorly-developed infectious disease monitoring systems. Here, we employed whole genome sequencing (WGS) to investigate the presence/absence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and virulence-associated (VA) genes in a collection of clinical and municipal wastewater Escherichia coli isolates from Kakamega, west Kenya. We were particularly interested to see whether, given the association between infection and water quality, the isolates from these geographically-linked environments might display similar genomic signatures. Phylogenetic analysis based on the core genes common to all of the isolates revealed two broad divisions, corresponding to the commensal/enterotoxigenic E. coli on the one hand, and uropathogenic E. coli on the other. Although the clinical and wastewater isolates each contained a very similar mean number of antibiotic resistance-encoding genes, the clinical isolates were enriched in genes required for in-host survival. Furthermore, and although the chromosomally encoded repertoire of these genes was similar in all sequenced isolates, the genetic composition of the plasmids from clinical and wastewater E. coli was more habitat-specific, with the clinical isolate plasmidome enriched in AMR and VA genes. Intriguingly, the plasmid-borne VA genes were often duplicates of genes already present on the chromosome, whereas the plasmid-borne AMR determinants were more specific. This reinforces the notion that plasmids are a primary means by which infection-related AMR and VA-associated genes are acquired and disseminated among these strains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sifuna Anthony Wawire
- Department of Biochemistry, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 190, 50100 Kakamega, Kenya
| | - Oleg N Reva
- Centre for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Dep. of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Pretoria, Lynnwood Rd, Hillcrest, Pretoria 0002, South Africa
| | - Thomas J O'Brien
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Hopkins Building, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB21QW, United Kingdom
| | - Wendy Figueroa
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Hopkins Building, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB21QW, United Kingdom
| | - Victor Dinda
- Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 190, 50100 Kakamega, Kenya
| | - William A Shivoga
- Department of Biological Sciences, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 190, 50100 Kakamega, Kenya
| | - Martin Welch
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Hopkins Building, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB21QW, United Kingdom.
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Haubold B, Klötzl F, Hellberg L, Thompson D, Cavalar M. Fur: Find Unique Genomic Regions for Diagnostic PCR. Bioinformatics 2021; 37:2081-2087. [PMID: 33515232 PMCID: PMC8352509 DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btab059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2020] [Revised: 12/04/2020] [Accepted: 01/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Motivation Unique marker sequences are highly sought after in molecular diagnostics. Nevertheless, there are only few programs available to search for marker sequences, compared to the many programs for similarity search. We therefore wrote the program Fur for Finding Unique genomic Regions. Results Fur takes as input a sample of target sequences and a sample of closely related neighbors. It returns the regions present in all targets and absent from all neighbors. The recently published program genmap can also be used for this purpose and we compared it to fur. When analyzing a sample of 33 genomes representing the major phylogroups of E.coli, fur was 40 times faster than genmap but used three times more memory. On the other hand, genmap yielded three times more markers, but they were less accurate when tested in silico on a sample of 237 E.coli genomes. We also designed phylogroup-specific PCR primers based on the markers proposed by genmap and fur, and tested them by analyzing their virtual amplicons in GenBank. Finally, we used fur to design primers specific to a Lactobacillus species, and found excellent sensitivity and specificity in vitro. Availability and implementation Fur sources and documentation are available from https://github.com/evolbioinf/fur. The compiled software is posted as a docker container at https://hub.docker.com/r/haubold/fox. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernhard Haubold
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Pl öon, Germany
| | - Fabian Klötzl
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Pl öon, Germany
| | - Lars Hellberg
- Molecular Infection Diagnostics, Euroimmun Medizinische Labordiagnostika, Lüubeck, Germany
| | - Daniel Thompson
- Molecular Infection Diagnostics, Euroimmun Medizinische Labordiagnostika, Lüubeck, Germany
| | - Markus Cavalar
- Molecular Infection Diagnostics, Euroimmun Medizinische Labordiagnostika, Lüubeck, Germany
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11
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Foster-Nyarko E, Alikhan NF, Ikumapayi UN, Sarwar G, Okoi C, Tientcheu PEM, Defernez M, O'Grady J, Antonio M, Pallen MJ. Genomic diversity of Escherichia coli from healthy children in rural Gambia. PeerJ 2021; 9:e10572. [PMID: 33505796 PMCID: PMC7796664 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.10572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2020] [Accepted: 11/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Little is known about the genomic diversity of Escherichia coli in healthy children from sub-Saharan Africa, even though this is pertinent to understanding bacterial evolution and ecology and their role in infection. We isolated and whole-genome sequenced up to five colonies of faecal E. coli from 66 asymptomatic children aged three-to-five years in rural Gambia (n = 88 isolates from 21 positive stools). We identified 56 genotypes, with an average of 2.7 genotypes per host. These were spread over 37 seven-allele sequence types and the E. coli phylogroups A, B1, B2, C, D, E, F and Escherichia cryptic clade I. Immigration events accounted for three-quarters of the diversity within our study population, while one-quarter of variants appeared to have arisen from within-host evolution. Several isolates encode putative virulence factors commonly found in Enteropathogenic and Enteroaggregative E. coli, and 53% of the isolates encode resistance to three or more classes of antimicrobials. Thus, resident E. coli in these children may constitute reservoirs of virulence- and resistance-associated genes. Moreover, several study strains were closely related to isolates that caused disease in humans or originated from livestock. Our results suggest that within-host evolution plays a minor role in the generation of diversity compared to independent immigration and the establishment of strains among our study population. Also, this study adds significantly to the number of commensal E. coli genomes, a group that has been traditionally underrepresented in the sequencing of this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko
- Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich Research Park, Norfolk, United Kingdom.,Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Fajara, The Gambia
| | | | - Usman N Ikumapayi
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Fajara, The Gambia
| | - Golam Sarwar
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Fajara, The Gambia
| | - Catherine Okoi
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Fajara, The Gambia
| | | | - Marianne Defernez
- Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich Research Park, Norfolk, United Kingdom
| | - Justin O'Grady
- Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich Research Park, Norfolk, United Kingdom
| | - Martin Antonio
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Fajara, The Gambia.,Microbiology and Infection Unit, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom
| | - Mark J Pallen
- Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich Research Park, Norfolk, United Kingdom.,School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Surrey, Surrey, United Kingdom
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12
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Kamal SM, Cimdins-Ahne A, Lee C, Li F, Martín-Rodríguez AJ, Seferbekova Z, Afasizhev R, Wami HT, Katikaridis P, Meins L, Lünsdorf H, Dobrindt U, Mogk A, Römling U. A recently isolated human commensal Escherichia coli ST10 clone member mediates enhanced thermotolerance and tetrathionate respiration on a P1 phage-derived IncY plasmid. Mol Microbiol 2020; 115:255-271. [PMID: 32985020 PMCID: PMC7984374 DOI: 10.1111/mmi.14614] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2020] [Revised: 09/16/2020] [Accepted: 09/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
The ubiquitous human commensal Escherichia coli has been well investigated through its model representative E. coli K‐12. In this work, we initially characterized E. coli Fec10, a recently isolated human commensal strain of phylogroup A/sequence type ST10. Compared to E. coli K‐12, the 4.88 Mbp Fec10 genome is characterized by distinct single‐nucleotide polymorphisms and acquisition of genomic islands. In addition, E. coli Fec10 possesses a 155.86 kbp IncY plasmid, a composite element based on phage P1. pFec10 harbours multiple cargo genes such as coding for a tetrathionate reductase and its corresponding regulatory two‐component system. Among the cargo genes is also the Transmissible Locus of Protein Quality Control (TLPQC), which mediates tolerance to lethal temperatures in bacteria. The disaggregase ClpGGI of TLPQC constitutes a major determinant of the thermotolerance of E. coli Fec10. We confirmed stand‐alone disaggregation activity, but observed distinct biochemical characteristics of ClpGGI‐Fec10 compared to the nearly identical Pseudomonas aeruginosa ClpGGI‐SG17M. Furthermore, we noted a unique contribution of ClpGGI‐Fec10 to the exquisite thermotolerance of E. coli Fec10, suggesting functional differences between both disaggregases in vivo. Detection of thermotolerance in 10% of human commensal E. coli isolates hints to the successful establishment of food‐borne heat‐resistant strains in the human gut.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shady Mansour Kamal
- Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Pharmaceutical Industries, Future University in Egypt, Cairo, Egypt
| | | | - Changhan Lee
- Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Fengyang Li
- Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Zaira Seferbekova
- Kharkevich Institute for Information Transmission Problems, RAS, Moscow, Russia.,Faculty of Bioengineering and Bioinformatics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Robert Afasizhev
- Kharkevich Institute for Information Transmission Problems, RAS, Moscow, Russia
| | | | - Panagiotis Katikaridis
- Center for Molecular Biology, University of Heidelberg (ZMBH), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Lena Meins
- Center for Molecular Biology, University of Heidelberg (ZMBH), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, Heidelberg, Germany
| | | | - Ulrich Dobrindt
- Institute of Hygiene, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Axel Mogk
- Center for Molecular Biology, University of Heidelberg (ZMBH), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ute Römling
- Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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13
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Foster-Nyarko E, Alikhan NF, Ravi A, Thilliez G, Thomson NM, Baker D, Kay G, Cramer JD, O’Grady J, Antonio M, Pallen MJ. Genomic diversity of Escherichia coli isolates from non-human primates in the Gambia. Microb Genom 2020; 6:mgen000428. [PMID: 32924917 PMCID: PMC7643976 DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.000428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [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: 02/29/2020] [Accepted: 08/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Increasing contact between humans and non-human primates provides an opportunity for the transfer of potential pathogens or antimicrobial resistance between host species. We have investigated genomic diversity and antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli isolates from four species of non-human primates in the Gambia: Papio papio (n=22), Chlorocebus sabaeus (n=14), Piliocolobus badius (n=6) and Erythrocebus patas (n=1). We performed Illumina whole-genome sequencing on 101 isolates from 43 stools, followed by nanopore long-read sequencing on 11 isolates. We identified 43 sequence types (STs) by the Achtman scheme (ten of which are novel), spanning five of the eight known phylogroups of E. coli. The majority of simian isolates belong to phylogroup B2 - characterized by strains that cause human extraintestinal infections - and encode factors associated with extraintestinal disease. A subset of the B2 strains (ST73, ST681 and ST127) carry the pks genomic island, which encodes colibactin, a genotoxin associated with colorectal cancer. We found little antimicrobial resistance and only one example of multi-drug resistance among the simian isolates. Hierarchical clustering showed that simian isolates from ST442 and ST349 are closely related to isolates recovered from human clinical cases (differences in 50 and 7 alleles, respectively), suggesting recent exchange between the two host species. Conversely, simian isolates from ST73, ST681 and ST127 were distinct from human isolates, while five simian isolates belong to unique core-genome ST complexes - indicating novel diversity specific to the primate niche. Our results are of planetary health importance, considering the increasing contact between humans and wild non-human primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko
- Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, UK
- Medical Research Council Unit the Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Atlantic Boulevard Road, Fajara, Gambia
| | | | - Anuradha Ravi
- Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, UK
| | - Gaëtan Thilliez
- Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, UK
| | | | - David Baker
- Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, UK
| | - Gemma Kay
- Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, UK
| | | | - Justin O’Grady
- Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, UK
| | - Martin Antonio
- Medical Research Council Unit the Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Atlantic Boulevard Road, Fajara, Gambia
- Microbiology and Infection Unit, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - Mark J. Pallen
- Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, Norfolk, UK
- School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, UK
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14
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Flament-Simon SC, de Toro M, Chuprikova L, Blanco M, Moreno-González J, Salas M, Blanco J, Redrejo-Rodríguez M. High diversity and variability of pipolins among a wide range of pathogenic Escherichia coli strains. Sci Rep 2020; 10:12452. [PMID: 32719405 PMCID: PMC7385651 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-69356-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2020] [Accepted: 07/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Self-synthesizing transposons are integrative mobile genetic elements (MGEs) that encode their own B-family DNA polymerase (PolB). Discovered a few years ago, they are proposed as key players in the evolution of several groups of DNA viruses and virus–host interaction machinery. Pipolins are the most recent addition to the group, are integrated in the genomes of bacteria from diverse phyla and also present as circular plasmids in mitochondria. Remarkably, pipolins-encoded PolBs are proficient DNA polymerases endowed with DNA priming capacity, hence the name, primer-independent PolB (piPolB). We have now surveyed the presence of pipolins in a collection of 2,238 human and animal pathogenic Escherichia coli strains and found that, although detected in only 25 positive isolates (1.1%), they are present in E. coli strains from a wide variety of pathotypes, serotypes, phylogenetic groups and sequence types. Overall, the pangenome of strains carrying pipolins is highly diverse, despite the fact that a considerable number of strains belong to only three clonal complexes (CC10, CC23 and CC32). Comparative analysis with a set of 67 additional pipolin-harboring genomes from GenBank database spanning strains from diverse origin, further confirmed these results. The genetic structure of pipolins shows great flexibility and variability, with the piPolB gene and the attachment sites being the only common features. Most pipolins contain one or more recombinases that would be involved in excision/integration of the element in the same conserved tRNA gene. This mobilization mechanism might explain the apparent incompatibility of pipolins with other integrative MGEs such as integrons. In addition, analysis of cophylogeny between pipolins and pipolin-harboring strains showed a lack of congruence between several pipolins and their host strains, in agreement with horizontal transfer between hosts. Overall, these results indicate that pipolins can serve as a vehicle for genetic transfer among circulating E. coli and possibly also among other pathogenic bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saskia-Camille Flament-Simon
- Laboratorio de Referencia de E. Coli (LREC), Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (USC), 27002, Lugo, Spain
| | - María de Toro
- Plataforma de Genómica y Bioinformática, CIBIR (Centro de Investigación Biomédica de La Rioja), La Rioja, 26006, Logroño, Spain
| | - Liubov Chuprikova
- Departamento de Bioquímica & Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas "Alberto Sols" CSIC-UAM, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), 28029, Madrid, Spain
| | - Miguel Blanco
- Laboratorio de Referencia de E. Coli (LREC), Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (USC), 27002, Lugo, Spain
| | - Juan Moreno-González
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain
| | - Margarita Salas
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain
| | - Jorge Blanco
- Laboratorio de Referencia de E. Coli (LREC), Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (USC), 27002, Lugo, Spain
| | - Modesto Redrejo-Rodríguez
- Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain. .,Departamento de Bioquímica & Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas "Alberto Sols" CSIC-UAM, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), 28029, Madrid, Spain.
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15
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Montealegre MC, Talavera Rodríguez A, Roy S, Hossain MI, Islam MA, Lanza VF, Julian TR. High Genomic Diversity and Heterogenous Origins of Pathogenic and Antibiotic-Resistant Escherichia coli in Household Settings Represent a Challenge to Reducing Transmission in Low-Income Settings. mSphere 2020; 5:e00704-19. [PMID: 31941809 PMCID: PMC6968650 DOI: 10.1128/msphere.00704-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2019] [Accepted: 12/14/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Escherichia coli is present in multiple hosts and environmental compartments as a normal inhabitant, temporary or persistent colonizer, and as a pathogen. Transmission of E. coli between hosts and with the environment is considered to occur more often in areas with poor sanitation. We performed whole-genome comparative analyses on 60 E. coli isolates from soils and fecal sources (cattle, chickens, and humans) in households in rural Bangladesh. Isolates from household soils were in multiple branches of the reconstructed phylogeny, intermixed with isolates from fecal sources. Pairwise differences between all strain pairs were large (minimum, 189 single nucleotide polymorphisms [SNPs]), suggesting high diversity and heterogeneous origins of the isolates. The presence of multiple virulence and antibiotic resistance genes is indicative of the risk that E. coli from soil and feces represent for the transmission of variants that pose potential harm to people. Analysis of the accessory genomes of the Bangladeshi E. coli relative to E. coli genomes available in NCBI identified a common pool of accessory genes shared among E. coli isolates in this geographic area. Together, these findings indicate that in rural Bangladesh, a high level of E. coli in soil is likely driven by contributions from multiple and diverse E. coli sources (human and animal) that share an accessory gene pool relatively unique to previously published E. coli genomes. Thus, interventions to reduce environmental pathogen or antimicrobial resistance transmission should adopt integrated One Health approaches that consider heterogeneous origins and high diversity to improve effectiveness and reduce prevalence and transmission.IMPORTANCEEscherichia coli is reported in high levels in household soil in low-income settings. When E. coli reaches a soil environment, different mechanisms, including survival, clonal expansion, and genetic exchange, have the potential to either maintain or generate E. coli variants with capabilities of causing harm to people. In this study, we used whole-genome sequencing to identify that E. coli isolates collected from rural Bangladeshi household soils, including pathogenic and antibiotic-resistant variants, are diverse and likely originated from multiple diverse sources. In addition, we observed specialization of the accessory genome of this Bangladeshi E. coli compared to E. coli genomes available in current sequence databases. Thus, to address the high level of pathogenic and antibiotic-resistant E. coli transmission in low-income settings, interventions should focus on addressing the heterogeneous origins and high diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Subarna Roy
- Food Microbiology Laboratory, Laboratory Sciences and Services Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Muhammed Iqbal Hossain
- Food Microbiology Laboratory, Laboratory Sciences and Services Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Mohammad Aminul Islam
- Food Microbiology Laboratory, Laboratory Sciences and Services Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA
| | - Val F Lanza
- Servicio de Microbiología, Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal (IRYCIS), Madrid, Spain
| | - Timothy R Julian
- Eawag, Swiss Federal Institute of Science and Technology, Dübendorf, Switzerland
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland
- University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
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16
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Escherichia coli Clonobiome: Assessing the Strain Diversity in Feces and Urine by Deep Amplicon Sequencing. Appl Environ Microbiol 2019; 85:AEM.01866-19. [PMID: 31540992 DOI: 10.1128/aem.01866-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2019] [Accepted: 09/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
While microbiome studies have focused on diversity at the species level or higher, bacterial species in microbiomes are represented by different, often multiple, strains. These strains could be clonally and phenotypically very different, making assessment of strain content vital to a full understanding of microbiome function. This is especially important with respect to antibiotic-resistant strains, the clonal spread of which may be dependent on competition between them and susceptible strains from the same species. The pandemic, multidrug-resistant, and highly pathogenic Escherichia coli subclone ST131-H30 (H30) is of special interest, as it has already been found persisting in the gut and bladder in healthy people. In order to rapidly assess E. coli clonal diversity, we developed a novel method based on deep sequencing of two loci used for sequence typing, along with an algorithm for analysis of the resulting data. Using this method, we assessed fecal and urinary samples from healthy women carrying H30 and were able to uncover considerable diversity, including strains with frequencies at <1% of the E. coli population. We also found that, even in the absence of antibiotic use, H30 could completely dominate the gut and, especially, urine of healthy carriers. Our study offers a novel tool for assessing a species' clonal diversity (clonobiome) within the microbiome, which could be useful in studying the population structure and dynamics of multidrug-resistant and/or highly pathogenic strains in their natural environments.IMPORTANCE Bacterial species in the microbiome are often represented by multiple genetically and phenotypically different strains, making insight into subspecies diversity critical to a full understanding of the microbiome, especially with respect to opportunistic pathogens. However, methods allowing efficient high-throughput clonal typing are not currently available. This study combines a conventional E. coli typing method with deep amplicon sequencing to allow analysis of many samples concurrently. While our method was developed for E. coli, it may be adapted for other species, allowing microbiome researchers to assess clonal strain diversity in natural samples. Since assessment of subspecies diversity is particularly important for understanding the spread of antibiotic resistance, we applied our method to the study of a pandemic multidrug-resistant E. coli clone. The results we present suggest that this clone could be highly competitive in healthy carriers and that the mechanisms of colonization by such clones need to be studied.
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17
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Arimizu Y, Kirino Y, Sato MP, Uno K, Sato T, Gotoh Y, Auvray F, Brugere H, Oswald E, Mainil JG, Anklam KS, Döpfer D, Yoshino S, Ooka T, Tanizawa Y, Nakamura Y, Iguchi A, Morita-Ishihara T, Ohnishi M, Akashi K, Hayashi T, Ogura Y. Large-scale genome analysis of bovine commensal Escherichia coli reveals that bovine-adapted E. coli lineages are serving as evolutionary sources of the emergence of human intestinal pathogenic strains. Genome Res 2019; 29:1495-1505. [PMID: 31439690 PMCID: PMC6724679 DOI: 10.1101/gr.249268.119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2019] [Accepted: 07/03/2019] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
How pathogens evolve their virulence to humans in nature is a scientific issue of great medical and biological importance. Shiga toxin (Stx)–producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) are the major foodborne pathogens that can cause hemolytic uremic syndrome and infantile diarrhea, respectively. The locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE)–encoded type 3 secretion system (T3SS) is the major virulence determinant of EPEC and is also possessed by major STEC lineages. Cattle are thought to be the primary reservoir of STEC and EPEC. However, genome sequences of bovine commensal E. coli are limited, and the emerging process of STEC and EPEC is largely unknown. Here, we performed a large-scale genomic comparison of bovine commensal E. coli with human commensal and clinical strains, including EPEC and STEC, at a global level. The analyses identified two distinct lineages, in which bovine and human commensal strains are enriched, respectively, and revealed that STEC and EPEC strains have emerged in multiple sublineages of the bovine-associated lineage. In addition to the bovine-associated lineage-specific genes, including fimbriae, capsule, and nutrition utilization genes, specific virulence gene communities have been accumulated in stx- and LEE-positive strains, respectively, with notable overlaps of community members. Functional associations of these genes probably confer benefits to these E. coli strains in inhabiting and/or adapting to the bovine intestinal environment and drive their evolution to highly virulent human pathogens under the bovine-adapted genetic background. Our data highlight the importance of large-scale genome sequencing of animal strains in the studies of zoonotic pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoko Arimizu
- Department of Bacteriology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan.,Department of Medicine and Biosystemic Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan
| | - Yumi Kirino
- Laboratory of Veterinary Radiology, Department of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki 889-2192, Japan
| | - Mitsuhiko P Sato
- Department of Bacteriology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan
| | - Koichi Uno
- Japan Microbiological Laboratory, Sendai, Miyagi 983-0034, Japan
| | - Toshio Sato
- Japan Microbiological Laboratory, Sendai, Miyagi 983-0034, Japan
| | - Yasuhiro Gotoh
- Department of Bacteriology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan
| | - Frédéric Auvray
- IRSD, Université de Toulouse, INSERM, INRA, ENVT, UPS, 31300 Toulouse, France
| | - Hubert Brugere
- IRSD, Université de Toulouse, INSERM, INRA, ENVT, UPS, 31300 Toulouse, France
| | - Eric Oswald
- IRSD, Université de Toulouse, INSERM, INRA, ENVT, UPS, 31300 Toulouse, France.,CHU de Toulouse, Hôpital Purpan, 31300 Toulouse, France
| | - Jacques G Mainil
- Bacteriology, Department of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Institute for Fundamental and Applied Research in Animal Health (FARAH), University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium
| | - Kelly S Anklam
- Department of Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53705, USA
| | - Dörte Döpfer
- Department of Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53705, USA
| | - Shuji Yoshino
- Department of Microbiology, Miyazaki Prefectural Institute for Public Health and Environment, Miyazaki 889-2155, Japan
| | - Tadasuke Ooka
- Department of Microbiology, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima 890-8520, Japan
| | - Yasuhiro Tanizawa
- Center for Information Biology, National Institute of Genetics, Research Organization of Information and Systems, Mishima, Shizuoka 411-8540, Japan
| | - Yasukazu Nakamura
- Center for Information Biology, National Institute of Genetics, Research Organization of Information and Systems, Mishima, Shizuoka 411-8540, Japan
| | - Atsushi Iguchi
- Department of Animal and Grassland Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki 889-2192, Japan
| | - Tomoko Morita-Ishihara
- Department of Bacteriology I, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan
| | - Makoto Ohnishi
- Department of Bacteriology I, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan
| | - Koichi Akashi
- Department of Medicine and Biosystemic Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan
| | - Tetsuya Hayashi
- Department of Bacteriology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan
| | - Yoshitoshi Ogura
- Department of Bacteriology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan
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