Burkholderia gladioli is a bacterium with a broad ecology spanning disease in humans, animals and plants, but also encompassing multiple beneficial interactions. It is a plant pathogen, a toxin-producing food-poisoning agent, and causes lung infections in people with cystic fibrosis (CF). Contrasting beneficial traits include antifungal production exploited by insects to protect their eggs, plant protective

Diagnosing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the clinic is based on empirical evidence and current gold standard laboratory phenotypic methods. Genotypic methods have the potential advantages of being faster and cheaper, and having improved mechanistic resolution over phenotypic methods. We generated and applied rule-based and logistic regression models to predict the AMR phenotype from Escherichia

Actinobacteria is a large and diverse phylum of bacteria that contains medically and ecologically relevant organisms. Many members are valuable sources of bioactive natural products and chemical precursors that are exploited in the clinic and made using the enzyme pathways encoded in their complex genomes. Whilst the number of sequenced genomes has increased rapidly in the last 20 years, the large

Mycobacterium kubicae is 1 of nearly 200 species of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), environmental micro-organisms that in some situations can infect humans and cause severe lung, skin and soft tissue infections. Although numerous studies have investigated the genetic variation among prevalent clinical NTM species, including Mycobacterium abscessus and Mycobacterium avium , many of the less common

Serotyping of Streptococcus pneumoniae is a critical tool in the surveillance of the pathogen and in the development and evaluation of vaccines. Whole-genome DNA sequencing and analysis is becoming increasingly common and is an effective method for pneumococcal serotype identification of pure isolates. However, because of the complexities of the pneumococcal capsular loci, current analysis software

Cryptosporidiosis is a major cause of diarrhoeal illness among African children, and is associated with childhood mortality, malnutrition, cognitive development and growth retardation. Cryptosporidium hominis is the dominant pathogen in Africa, and genotyping at the glycoprotein 60 (gp60) gene has revealed a complex distribution of different subtypes across this continent. However, a comprehensive

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major human pathogen that causes liver diseases. The main HBV RNAs are unspliced transcripts that encode the key viral proteins. Recent studies have shown that some of the HBV spliced transcript isoforms are predictive of liver cancer, yet the roles of these spliced transcripts remain elusive. Furthermore, there are nine major HBV genotypes common in different regions of

Where classical epidemiology has proven to be inadequate for surveillance and control of foodborne pathogens, molecular epidemiology, using genomic typing methods, can add value. However, the analysis of whole genome sequencing (WGS) data varies widely and is not yet fully harmonised. We used genomic data on 494 Listeria monocytogenes isolates from ready-to-eat food products and food processing environments

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global threat, including in sub-Saharan Africa. However, little is known about the genetics of resistant bacteria in the region. In Malawi, there is growing concern about increasing rates of antimicrobial resistance to most empirically used antimicrobials. The highly drug resistant Escherichia coli sequence type (ST) 131, which is associated with the extended spectrum

Chickens and guinea fowl are commonly reared in Gambian homes as affordable sources of protein. Using standard microbiological techniques, we obtained 68 caecal isolates of Escherichia coli from 10 chickens and 9 guinea fowl in rural Gambia. After Illumina whole-genome sequencing, 28 sequence types were detected in the isolates (4 of them novel), of which ST155 was the most common (22/68, 32 %). These

The major human pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes shares an intimate evolutionary history with mobile genetic elements, which in many cases carry genes encoding bacterial virulence factors. During recent whole-genome sequencing of a longitudinal sample of S. pyogenes isolates in England, we identified a lineage within emm4 that clustered with the reference genome MEW427. Like MEW427, this lineage was

The identification of genes essential for a bacterium’s growth reveals much about its basic physiology under different conditions. Bordetella pertussis , the causative agent of whooping cough, adopts both virulent and avirulent states through the activity of the two-component system, Bvg. The genes essential for B. pertussis growth in vitro were defined using transposon sequencing, for different Bvg-determined

Mycobacteroides immunogenum is an emerging opportunistic pathogen implicated in nosocomial infections. Comparative genome analyses may provide better insights into its genomic structure, functions and evolution. The present analysis showed that M. immunogenum has an open pan-genome. Approximately 36.8% of putative virulence genes were identified in the accessory regions of M. immunogenum . Phylogenetic

Enterococcus faecium is a gut commensal of the gastro-digestive tract, but also known as nosocomial pathogen among hospitalized patients. Population genetics based on whole-genome sequencing has revealed that E. faecium strains from hospitalized patients form a distinct clade, designated clade A1, and that plasmids are major contributors to the emergence of nosocomial E. faecium . Here we further explored

Wolbachia are alpha-proteobacteria symbionts infecting a large range of arthropod species and two different families of nematodes. Interestingly, these endosymbionts are able to induce diverse phenotypes in their hosts: they are reproductive parasites within many arthropods, nutritional mutualists within some insects and obligate mutualists within their filarial nematode hosts. Defining Wolbachia ‘species’

In 2010, Burkina Faso completed the first nationwide mass-vaccination campaign of a meningococcal A conjugate vaccine, drastically reducing the incidence of disease caused by serogroup A meningococci. Since then, other strains, such as those belonging to serogroups W, X and C, have continued to cause outbreaks within the region. A carriage study was conducted in 2016 and 2017 in the country to characterize

Environmental factors, such as cigarette smoking or lung infections, may influence chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) progression by modifying the respiratory tract microbiome. However, whether the disease itself induces or maintains dysbiosis remains undefined. In this longitudinal study, we investigated the oropharyngeal microbiota composition and disease progression of mice (in cages of

Non-classically secreted proteins (NCSPs) are proteins that are located in the extracellular environment, although there is a lack of known signal peptides or secretion motifs. They usually perform different biological functions in intracellular and extracellular environments, and several of their biological functions are linked to bacterial virulence and cell defence. Accurate protein localization

Neisseria gonorrhoeae multilocus sequence type (ST)-7827 emerged in a dramatic fashion in Norway in the period 2016–2018. Here, we aim to shed light on the provenance and expansion of this ST. ST-7827 was found to be polyphyletic, but the majority of members belonged to a monophyletic clade we termed PopPUNK cluster 7827 (PC-7827). In Norway, both PC-7827 and ST-7827 isolates were almost exclusively

Sellimonas intestinalis is a Gram-positive and anaerobic bacterial species previously considered as uncultivable. Although little is known about this Lachnospiraceae family member, its increased abundance has been reported in patients who have recovered from intestinal homeostasis after dysbiosis events. In this context, the aim of the present study was to take advantage of a massive in vitro culture

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common bacterial infections requiring medical attention and a leading justification for antibiotic prescription. Trimethoprim is prescribed empirically for uncomplicated cases. UTIs are primarily caused by extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) and ExPEC strains play a central role in disseminating antimicrobial-resistance genes worldwide. Here

Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) remains a major clinical pathogen and public health threat with few therapeutic options. The mobilome, resistome, methylome, virulome and phylogeography of CRKP in South Africa and globally were characterized. CRKP collected in 2018 were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing, screening by multiplex PCR, genotyping by repetitive element palindromic

Mucormycoses are invasive infections by Rhizopus species and other Mucorales. Over 10 months, four solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients at our centre developed mucormycosis due to Rhizopus microsporus (n=2), R. arrhizus (n=1) or Lichtheimia corymbifera (n=1), at a median 31.5 days (range: 13–34) post-admission. We performed whole genome sequencing (WGS) on 72 Mucorales isolates (45 R. arrhizus,

Complete genomes of microbial pathogens are essential for the phylogenomic analyses that increasingly underpin core public health laboratory activities. Here, we announce a BioProject (PRJNA556438) dedicated to sharing complete genomes chosen to represent a range of pathogenic bacteria with regional importance to Australia and the Southwest Pacific; enriching the catalogue of globally available complete

The enteric, pathogenic spirochaete Brachyspira pilosicoli colonizes and infects a variety of birds and mammals, including humans. However, there is a paucity of genomic data available for this organism. This study introduces 12 newly sequenced draft genome assemblies, boosting the cohort of examined isolates by fourfold and cataloguing the intraspecific genomic diversity of the organism more comprehensively

Bacillus thuringiensis serovar israelensis is the most widely used natural biopesticide against mosquito larvae worldwide. Its lineage has been actively studied and a plasmid-free strain, B . thuringiensis serovar israelensis BGSC 4Q7 (4Q7), has been produced. Previous sequencing of the genome of this strain has revealed the persistent presence of a 235 kb extrachromosomal element, pBtic235, which

Between July 2018 and May 2019, Corynebacterium diphtheriae was isolated from eight patients with non-respiratory infections, seven of whom experienced homelessness and had stayed at shelters in King County, WA, USA. All isolates were microbiologically identified as nontoxigenic C. diphtheriae biovar mitis. Whole-genome sequencing confirmed that all case isolates were genetically related, associated

Deinococcus metallilatus MA1002 was exposed to ultraviolet radiation to generate mutants with enhanced biofilm production. Two strains (nos 5 and 6) were then selected based on their high biofilm formation, as well as their possession of higher concentrations of extracellular matrix components (eDNA, protein and saccharides) than the wild-type (WT). Genomic sequencing revealed the presence of large

Read alignment is the central step of many analytic pipelines that perform variant calling. To reduce error, it is common practice to pre-process raw sequencing reads to remove low-quality bases and residual adapter contamination, a procedure collectively known as ‘trimming’. Trimming is widely assumed to increase the accuracy of variant calling, although there are relatively few systematic evaluations

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is an important cause of foodborne gastroenteritis globally. Thermostable direct haemolysin (TDH) and the TDH-related haemolysin are the two key virulence factors in V. parahaemolyticus. Vibrio pathogenicity islands harbour the genes encoding these two haemolysins. The serotyping of V. parahaemolyticus is based on the combination of O and K antigens. Frequent recombination has

Bacterial genome-wide association studies (bGWAS) capture associations between genomic variation and phenotypic variation. Convergence-based bGWAS methods identify genomic mutations that occur independently multiple times on the phylogenetic tree in the presence of phenotypic variation more often than is expected by chance. This work introduces hogwash, an open source R package that implements three

Accumulating evidence suggests that humans could be considered as holobionts in which the gut microbiota play essential functions. Initial metagenomic studies reported a pattern of shared genes in the gut microbiome of different individuals, leading to the definition of the minimal gut metagenome as the set of microbial genes necessary for homeostasis and present in all healthy individuals. This study

Many non-human primate species in sub-Saharan Africa are infected with Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue , the bacterium causing yaws in humans. In humans, yaws is often characterized by lesions of the extremities and face, while T. pallidum subsp. pallidum causes venereal syphilis and is typically characterized by primary lesions on the genital, anal or oral mucosae. It remains unclear whether other

The plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium Delftia acidovorans RAY209 is capable of establishing strong root attachment during early plant development at 7 days post-inoculation. The transcriptional response of RAY209 was measured using RNA-seq during early (day 2) and sustained (day 7) root colonization of canola plants, capturing RAY209 differentiation from a medium-suspended cell state to a strongly

Bacterial wilt caused by the Ralstonia solanacearum species complex (RSSC) threatens the cultivation of important crops worldwide. We sequenced 30 RSSC phylotype I ( R. pseudosolanacearum ) strains isolated from pepper (Capsicum annuum) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) across the Republic of Korea. These isolates span the diversity of phylotype I, have extensive effector repertoires and are subject

Agrobacterium tumefaciens is an efficient tool for creating transgenic host plants. The first step in the genetic transformation process involves A. tumefaciens chemotaxis, which is crucial to the survival of A. tumefaciens in changeable, harsh and even contaminated soil environments. However, a systematic study of its chemotactic signalling pathway is still lacking. In this study, the distribution

Plasmids are the key element in horizontal gene transfer in the microbial community. Recently, a large number of experimental and computational methods have been developed to obtain the plasmidomes of microbial communities. Distinguishing transmissible plasmid sequences, which are derived from conjugative or at least mobilizable plasmids, from non-transmissible plasmid sequences in the plasmidome is

Bacteriophage defences are divided into innate and adaptive systems. Serratia sp. ATCC 39006 has three CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune systems, but its innate immune repertoire is unknown. Here, we re-sequenced and annotated the Serratia genome and predicted its toxin–antitoxin (TA) systems. TA systems can provide innate phage defence through abortive infection by causing infected cells to ‘shut down’,

Campylobacter concisus is an emerging enteric pathogen that is associated with several gastrointestinal diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Currently, only three complete C. concisus genomes are available and more complete C. concisus genomes are needed in order to better understand the genomic features and pathogenicity

Epidemic and pandemic clones of bacterial pathogens with distinct characteristics continually emerge, replacing those previously dominant through mechanisms that remain poorly characterized. Here, whole-genome-sequencing-powered epidemiology linked horizontal transfer of a virulence gene, sopE, to the emergence and clonal expansion of a new epidemic Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium)

Tetracyclines are broad-spectrum antibiotics used to prevent or treat a variety of bacterial infections. Resistance is often mediated through mobile resistance genes, which encode one of the three main mechanisms: active efflux, ribosomal target protection or enzymatic degradation. In the last few decades, a large number of new tetracycline-resistance genes have been discovered in clinical settings

We report on the combination of chemical mutagenesis, azithromycin selection and next-generation sequencing (Mut-Seq) for the identification of small nucleotide variants that decrease the susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae to the macrolide antibiotic azithromycin. Mutations in the 23S ribosomal RNA or in ribosomal proteins can confer resistance to macrolides and these were detected by Mut-Seq

Hybrid assemblies are highly valuable for studies of Enterobacteriaceae due to their ability to fully resolve the structure of mobile genetic elements, such as plasmids, which are involved in the carriage of clinically important genes (e.g. those involved in antimicrobial resistance/virulence). The widespread application of this technique is currently primarily limited by cost. Recent data have suggested

Several monosaccharides constitute naturally occurring glycans, but it is uncertain whether they constitute a universal set like the alphabets of proteins and DNA. Based on the available experimental observations, it is hypothesized herein that the glycan alphabet is not universal. Data on the presence/absence of pathways for the biosynthesis of 55 monosaccharides in 12 939 completely sequenced archaeal

Among members of the Bacillales order, there are several species capable of forming a structure called an endospore. Endospores enable bacteria to survive under unfavourable growth conditions and germinate when environmental conditions are favourable again. Spore-coat proteins are found in a multilayered proteinaceous structure encasing the spore core and the cortex. They are involved in coat assembly

Outbreaks of tuberculosis (TB) – such as the large isoniazid-resistant outbreak centred on London, UK, which originated in 1995 – provide excellent opportunities to model transmission of this devastating disease. Transmission chains for TB are notoriously difficult to ascertain, but mathematical modelling approaches, combined with whole-genome sequencing data, have strong potential to contribute to

Ovine and caprine brucellosis, caused by Brucella melitensis , is one of the world’s most widespread zoonoses and is a major cause of economic losses in domestic ruminant production. In Italy, the disease remains endemic in several southern provinces, despite an ongoing brucellosis eradication programme. In this study, we used whole-genome sequencing to detail the genetic diversity of circulating strains

Trimethoprim is a synthetic antibacterial agent that targets folate biosynthesis by competitively binding to the di-hydrofolate reductase enzyme (DHFR). Trimethoprim is often administered synergistically with sulfonamide, another chemotherapeutic agent targeting the di-hydropteroate synthase (DHPS) enzyme in the same pathway. Clinical resistance to both drugs is widespread and mediated by enzyme variants

As genome sequencing efforts are unveiling the genetic diversity of the biosphere with an unprecedented speed, there is a need to accurately describe the structural and functional properties of groups of extant species whose genomes have been sequenced, as well as their inferred ancestors, at any given taxonomic level of their phylogeny. Elaborate approaches for the reconstruction of ancestral states

Clostridioides difficile is a common cause of nosocomial diarrhoea. Toxins TcdA and TcdB are considered to be the main virulence factors and are encoded by the PaLoc region, while the binary toxin encoded in the CdtLoc region also contributes to pathogenicity. Variant toxinotypes reflect the genetic diversity of a key toxin-encoding 19 kb genetic element (the PaLoc). Here, we present analysis of a

Ancient events of polyploidy have been linked to huge evolutionary leaps in the tree of life, while increasing evidence shows that newly established polyploids have adaptive advantages in certain stress conditions compared to their relatives with a lower ploidy. The genus Saccharomyces is a good model for studying such events, as it contains an ancient whole-genome duplication event and many sequenced

Thiomonas bacteria are ubiquitous at acid mine drainage sites and play key roles in the remediation of water at these locations by oxidizing arsenite to arsenate, favouring the sorption of arsenic by iron oxides and their coprecipitation. Understanding the adaptive capacities of these bacteria is crucial to revealing how they persist and remain active in such extreme conditions. Interestingly, it was

Sporothrix schenckii is a dimorphic fungus existing as mould in the environment and as yeast in the host. The morphological shift between mycelial/yeast phases is crucial for its virulence, but the transcriptional networks implicated in dimorphic transition are still not fully understood. Here, we report the global transcriptomic differences occurring between mould and yeast phases of S. schenckii

Although several studies have investigated genetic diversity of Leishmania infantum in North Africa, genome-wide analyses are lacking. Here, we conducted comparative analyses of nuclear and mitochondrial genomes of seven L. infantum isolates from Tunisia with the aim to gain insight into factors that drive genomic and phenotypic adaptation. Isolates were from cured (n=4) and recurrent (n=3) visceral

The transcription factor PdhR has been recognized as the master regulator of the pyruvate catabolism pathway in Escherichia coli , including both NAD-linked oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate to acetyl-CoA by PDHc (pyruvate dehydrogenase complex) and respiratory electron transport of NADH to oxygen by Ndh-CyoABCD enzymes. To identify the whole set of regulatory targets under the control of pyruvate-sensing

Clostridium perfringens is associated with a variety of diseases in both humans and animals. Recent advances in genomic sequencing make it timely to re-visit this important pathogen. Although the genome sequence of C. perfringens was first determined in 2002, large-scale comparative genomics with isolates of different origins is still lacking. In this study, we used whole-genome sequencing of 45 C