Genetic Separation of Listeria monocytogenes Causing Central Nervous System Infections in Animals.

Aguilar-Bultet, Lisandra; Nicholson, Pamela; Rychener, Lorenz; Dreyer, Margaux; Gözel, Bulent; Origgi, Francesco C; Oevermann, Anna; Frey, Joachim; Falquet, Laurent (2018). Genetic Separation of Listeria monocytogenes Causing Central Nervous System Infections in Animals. Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology, 8(20), p. 20. Frontiers 10.3389/fcimb.2018.00020

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Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen that causes abortion, septicemia, gastroenteritis and central nervous system (CNS) infections in ruminants and humans. strains mainly belong to two distinct phylogenetic groups, named lineages I and II. In general, clinical cases in humans and animals, in particular CNS infections, are caused by lineage I strains, while most of the environmental and food strains belong to lineage II. Little is known about why lineage I is more virulent than lineage II, even though various molecular factors and mechanisms associated with pathogenesis are known. In this study, we have used a variety of whole genome sequence analyses and comparative genomic tools in order to find characteristics that distinguish lineage I from lineage II strains and CNS infection strains from non-CNS strains. We analyzed 225 strains and identified single nucleotide variants between lineages I and II, as well as differences in the gene content. Using a novel approach based on Reads Per Kilobase per Million Mapped (RPKM), we identified 167 genes predominantly absent in lineage II but present in lineage I. These genes are mostly encoding for membrane-associated proteins. Additionally, we found 77 genes that are largely absent in the non-CNS associated strains, while 39 genes are especially lacking in our defined "non-clinical" group. Based on the RPKM analysis and the metadata linked to the strains, we identified 6 genes potentially associated with CNS cases, which include a transcriptional regulator, an ABC transporter and a non-coding RNA. Although there is not a clear separation between pathogenic and non-pathogenic strains based on phylogenetic lineages, the presence of the genes identified in our study reveals potential pathogenesis traits in ruminant strains. Ultimately, the differences that we have found in our study will help steer future studies in understanding the virulence mechanisms of the most pathogenic strains.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Clinical Research and Veterinary Public Health (DCR-VPH) > Experimental Clinical Research
05 Veterinary Medicine > Research Foci > NeuroCenter
05 Veterinary Medicine > Research Foci > Host-Pathogen Interaction
05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology (DIP)
05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Clinical Research and Veterinary Public Health (DCR-VPH)
05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology (DIP) > Institute of Veterinary Bacteriology

Graduate School:

Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences (GCB)

UniBE Contributor:

Oevermann, Anna

Subjects:

500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology
600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health
600 Technology > 630 Agriculture

ISSN:

2235-2988

Publisher:

Frontiers

Language:

English

Submitter:

Anna Oevermann

Date Deposited:

07 Jun 2018 07:29

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:14

Publisher DOI:

10.3389/fcimb.2018.00020

PubMed ID:

29459888

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Listeria monocytogenes Reads Per Kilobase per Million Mapped Single Nucleotide Variants central nervous system infections comparative genomics lineages I and II listeriosis virulence

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.117020

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/117020

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