14 research outputs found
Distribution and characterization of integrons in Escherichia colistrains of animal and human origin
One hundred and twenty clinical and commensal Escherichia coli strains isolated in Switzerland from humans and from companion and farm animals were analysed for the prevalence of integrons of classes 1, 2, and 3 and for the characterization of their gene cassettes. The relationships between integron carriage and host category, and between integron carriage and phylogenetic E. coli lineage were also analysed. Integrons were detected in 48 (40%) of the isolates and were thus widely disseminated in the human and animal E. coli strains considered. Moreover, the association between integron carriage and certain animal categories (farm animals) suggests that animals that are raised for economic purposes might be exposed to a major antibiotic pressure. Finally, our data confirm that E. coli commensal strains represent a significant source of antibiotic-resistant determinant
Evidence of horizontal gene transfer between human and animal commensal Escherichia coli strains identified by microarray
Bacteria exchange genetic material by horizontal gene transfer (HGT). To evaluate the impact of HGT on Escherichia coli genome plasticity, 19 commensal strains collected from the intestinal floras of humans and animals were analyzed by microarrays. Strains were hybridized against an oligoarray containing 2700 E. coli K12 chromosomal genes. A core (genes shared among compared genomes) and a flexible gene pool (genes unique for each genome) have been identified. Analysis of hybridization signals evidenced 1015 divergent genes among the 19 strains and each strain showed a specific genomic variability pattern. Four hundred and fifty-eight genes were characterized by higher rates of interstrain variation and were considered hyperdivergent. These genes are not randomly distributed onto the chromosome but are clustered in precise regions. Hyperdivergent genes belong to the flexible gene pool and show a specific GC content, differing from that of the chromosome, indicating acquisition by HGT. Among these genes, those involved in defense mechanisms and cell motility as well as intracellular trafficking and secretion were far more represented than others. The observed genome plasticity contributes to the maintenance of genetic diversity and may therefore be a source of evolutionary adaptation and survival
Evaluation of the effect of food and age on the pharmacokinetics of oral netupitant and palonosetron in healthy subjects: A randomized, open‐label, crossover phase 1 study
Long-term dominance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Uganda family in peri-urban Kampala-Uganda is not associated with cavitary disease
Previous studies have shown that Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) Uganda family, a sub-lineage of the MTB Lineage 4, is the main cause of tuberculosis (TB) in Uganda. Using a well characterized patient population, this study sought to determine whether there are clinical and patient characteristics associated with the success of the MTB Uganda family in Kampala.; A total of 1,746 MTB clinical isolates collected from1992-2009 in a household contact study were genotyped. Genotyping was performed using Single Nucleotide Polymorphic (SNP) markers specific for the MTB Uganda family, other Lineage 4 strains, and Lineage 3, respectively. Out of 1,746 isolates, 1,213 were from patients with detailed clinical data. These data were used to seek associations between MTB lineage/sub-lineage and patient phenotypes.; Three MTB lineages were found to dominate the MTB population in Kampala during the last two decades. Overall, MTB Uganda accounted for 63% (1,092/1,746) of all cases, followed by other Lineage 4 strains accounting for 22% (394/1,746), and Lineage 3 for 11% (187/1,746) of cases, respectively. Seventy-three (4 %) strains remained unclassified. Our longitudinal data showed that MTB Uganda family occurred at the highest frequency during the whole study period, followed by other Lineage 4 strains and Lineage 3. To explore whether the long-term success of MTB Uganda family was due to increased virulence, we used cavitary disease as a proxy, as this form of TB is the most transmissible. Multivariate analysis revealed that even though cavitary disease was associated with known risk factors such as smoking (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 4.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.33-6.84) and low income (aOR 2.1, 95% CI 1.47-3.01), no association was found between MTB lineage and cavitary TB.; The MTB Uganda family has been dominating in Kampala for the last 18 years, but this long-term success is not due to increased virulence as defined by cavitary disease
Genetic diversity of the obligate intracellular bacterium <it>Chlamydophila pneumoniae </it>by genome-wide analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms: evidence for highly clonal population structure
Abstract Background Chlamydophila pneumoniae is an obligate intracellular bacterium that replicates in a biphasic life cycle within eukaryotic host cells. Four published genomes revealed an identity of > 99 %. This remarkable finding raised questions about the existence of distinguishable genotypes in correlation with geographical and anatomical origin. Results We studied the genetic diversity of C. pneumoniae by analysing synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (sSNPs) that are under reduced selection pressure. We conducted an in silico analysis of the four sequenced genomes, chose 232 representative sSNPs and analysed the loci in 38 C. pneumoniae isolates. We identified 15 different genotypes that were separated in four major clusters. Clusters were not associated with anatomical or geographical origin. However, animal lineages are basal on the C. pneumomiae phylogeny, suggesting a recent transmission to humans through successive bottlenecks some 150,000 years ago. A lack of detectable variation in 17 isolates emphasizes the extraordinary genetic conservation of this species and the high clonality of the population. Moreover, the largest cluster, which encompasses 80% of all analysed strains, is an extremely young clade, that went through an important population expansion some 3,300 years ago. Conclusion sSNPs have proven useful as a sensitive marker to gain new insights into genetic diversity, population structure and evolutionary history of C. pneumoniae.</p
Population genetics of vibrio vulnificus : identification of two divisions and a distinct eel-pathogenic clone
Population Genetics of Vibrio vulnificus: Identification of Two Divisions and a Distinct Eel-Pathogenic Clone
Genetic relationships among 62 Vibrio vulnificus strains of different geographical and host origins were analyzed by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE), random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD), and sequence analyses of the recA and glnA genes. Out of 15 genetic loci analyzed by MLEE, 11 were polymorphic. Cluster analysis identified 43 distinct electrophoretic types (ETs) separating the V. vulnificus population into two divisions (divisions I and II). One ET (ET 35) included all indole-negative isolates from diseased eels worldwide (biotype 2). A second ET (ET 2) marked all of the strains from Israel isolated from patients who handled St. Peter's fish (biotype 3). RAPD analysis of the 62 V. vulnificus isolates identified 26 different profiles separated into two divisions as well. In general, this subdivision was comparable (but not identical) to that observed by MLEE. Phylogenetic analysis of 543 bp of the recA gene and of 402 bp of the glnA gene also separated the V. vulnificus population into two major divisions in a manner similar to that by MLEE and RAPD. Sequence data again indicated the overall subdivision of the V. vulnificus population into different biotypes. In particular, indole-negative eel-pathogenic isolates (biotype 2) on one hand and the Israeli isolates (biotype 3) on the other tended to cluster together in both gene trees. None of the methods showed an association between distinct clones and human clinical manifestations. Furthermore, except for the Israeli strains, only minor clusters comprising geographically related isolates were observed. In conclusion, all three approaches (MLEE, RAPD, and DNA sequencing) generated comparable but not always equivalent results. The significance of the two divisions (divisions I and II) still remains to be clarified, and a reevaluation of the definition of the biotypes is also neededgrants 31-45914.95 and 31-64976.01 from the Swiss National Science Foundatio
Comparative analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis pe and ppe genes reveals high sequence variation and an apparent absence of selective constraints.
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110619.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) genomes contain 2 large gene families termed pe and ppe. The function of pe/ppe proteins remains enigmatic but studies suggest that they are secreted or cell surface associated and are involved in bacterial virulence. Previous studies have also shown that some pe/ppe genes are polymorphic, a finding that suggests involvement in antigenic variation. Using comparative sequence analysis of 18 publicly available MTBC whole genome sequences, we have performed alignments of 33 pe (excluding pe_pgrs) and 66 ppe genes in order to detect the frequency and nature of genetic variation. This work has been supplemented by whole gene sequencing of 14 pe/ppe (including 5 pe_pgrs) genes in a cohort of 40 diverse and well defined clinical isolates covering all the main lineages of the M. tuberculosis phylogenetic tree. We show that nsSNP's in pe (excluding pgrs) and ppe genes are 3.0 and 3.3 times higher than in non-pe/ppe genes respectively and that numerous other mutation types are also present at a high frequency. It has previously been shown that non-pe/ppe M. tuberculosis genes display a remarkably low level of purifying selection. Here, we also show that compared to these genes those of the pe/ppe families show a further reduction of selection pressure that suggests neutral evolution. This is inconsistent with the positive selection pressure of "classical" antigenic variation. Finally, by analyzing such a large number of genes we were able to detect large differences in mutation type and frequency between both individual genes and gene sub-families. The high variation rates and absence of selective constraints provides valuable insights into potential pe/ppe function. Since pe/ppe proteins are highly antigenic and have been studied as potential vaccine components these results should also prove informative for aspects of M. tuberculosis vaccine design
Phylogeny of reference isolates based on different SNP types (see table 2)
<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Genetic diversity of the obligate intracellular bacterium by genome-wide analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms: evidence for highly clonal population structure"</p><p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/8/355</p><p>BMC Genomics 2007;8():355-355.</p><p>Published online 4 Oct 2007</p><p>PMCID:PMC2092436.</p><p></p> Distance calculated as number of SNPs. Analysis revealed a phylogenetic proximity between CWL-029 and TW-183, and AR-39 and J-138, respectively. The topology of the tree was not significantly altered when sSNP, nsSNP or SNP of intergenic regions were analysed separately. Only sSNPs were not able to resolve the common branch of CWL-029 and TW-183
Mismatch distribution of cluster IV strains for the concatenated sequences (sSNPs)
<p><b>Copyright information:</b></p><p>Taken from "Genetic diversity of the obligate intracellular bacterium by genome-wide analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms: evidence for highly clonal population structure"</p><p>http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/8/355</p><p>BMC Genomics 2007;8():355-355.</p><p>Published online 4 Oct 2007</p><p>PMCID:PMC2092436.</p><p></p> These curves represent the frequency distribution of pairwise differences. The dashed plot correspond to the observed data; the smoth curve corresponds to the sudden expansion model and the punctuated lines represent the upper and lower bounds of the 95% confidence interval on this model. value represents the probability that the raggedness of the simulated data set is equal to or greater than the observed data set. The major demographic extension occurred 2 mutations ago for the entire concatenated genes (70 kb). The latter translates into 0.003% sequence divergence, which suggests that the maximum population expansion occurred about 3,300 years (700 to 7,200 years) ago
