Heravi Fatemah Sadeghpour, Zakrzewski Martha, Vickery Karen, Malone Matthew, Hu Honghua
Surgical Infection Research Group, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Front Microbiol. 2020 Jul 22;11:1688. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.01688. eCollection 2020.
Despite the extended view of the composition of diabetic foot infections (DFIs), little is known about which transcriptionally active bacterial communities are pertinent to infection, and if any differences are associated with increased infection severity. We applied a RNA sequencing approach to analyze the composition, function, and pathogenicity of the active bacterial communities in DFIs. Taxonomic profiling of bacterial transcripts revealed the presence of 14 bacterial phyla in DFIs. The abundance of the , , and were significantly different in different infection severities ( < 0.05). Mild and severe stages of infections were dominated by and , respectively. A total of 132 metabolic pathways were identified of which ribosome and thiamin being among the most highly transcribed pathways. Moreover, a total of 131 antibiotic resistance genes, primarily involved in the multidrug efflux pumps/exporters, were identified. Furthermore, iron acquisition systems (synthesize and regulation of siderophores) and pathways involved in the synthesis and regulation of cell-surface components associated with adhesion, colonization, and movement of bacterial cells were the most common virulence factors. These virulence factors may help bacteria compete for scares resources and survive the host wound proteases. Characterization of transcriptionally active bacterial communities can help to provide an understanding of the role of key pathogens in the development of DFIs. Such information can be clinically useful allowing replacement of DFIs empirical therapy with targeted treatment.
尽管对糖尿病足感染（DFIs）的组成有了更广泛的认识，但对于哪些转录活跃的细菌群落与感染相关，以及是否有任何差异与感染严重程度增加有关，我们知之甚少。我们应用RNA测序方法来分析DFIs中活跃细菌群落的组成、功能和致病性。细菌转录本的分类分析显示DFIs中存在14个细菌门。在不同感染严重程度下， 、 和 的丰度有显著差异（<0.05）。感染的轻度和重度阶段分别以 和 为主。共鉴定出132条代谢途径，其中核糖体和硫胺素是转录最高的途径之一。此外，共鉴定出131个抗生素抗性基因，主要参与多药外排泵/转运体。此外，铁获取系统（铁载体的合成和调节）以及参与细菌细胞黏附、定植和移动相关的细胞表面成分合成和调节的途径是最常见的毒力因子。这些毒力因子可能有助于细菌争夺稀缺资源并在宿主伤口蛋白酶中存活。转录活跃细菌群落的特征有助于理解关键病原体在DFIs发展中的作用。这些信息在临床上可能有用，可使DFIs的经验性治疗被靶向治疗所取代。
