Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Centro de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Biotecnología-UR (CIMBIUR), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad del Rosariogrid.412191.e, Bogotá, Colombia.
Microbiol Spectr. 2022 Dec 21;10(6):e0157922. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.01579-22. Epub 2022 Oct 31.
Ruminants are a well-known reservoir for Listeria monocytogenes. In addition to asymptomatic carriage of the pathogen, ruminants can also acquire listeriosis and develop clinical manifestations in the form of neurologic or fetal infections, similar to those occurring in humans. Genomic characterization of ruminant listeriosis cases in Europe have identified lineage 1 and 2 strains associated with infection, as well as clonal complexes (CCs) that are commonly isolated from human cases of listeriosis; however, there is little information on the diversity of L. monocytogenes from ruminant listeriosis in the United States. In this study, we characterized and compared 73 L. monocytogenes isolates from ruminant listeriosis cases from the Midwest and the Upper Great Plains collected from 2015 to 2020. Using whole-genome sequence data, we classified the isolates and identified key virulence factors, stress-associated genes, and mobile genetic elements within our data set. Our isolates belonged to three different lineages: 31% to lineage 1, 53% to lineage 2, and 15% to lineage 3. Lineage 1 and 3 isolates were associated with neurologic infections, while lineage 2 showed a greater frequency of fetal infections. Additionally, the presence of mobile elements, virulence-associated genes, and stress and antimicrobial resistance genes was evaluated. These genetic elements are responsible for most of the subgroup-specific features and may play a key role in the spread of hypervirulent clones, including the spread of hypervirulent CC1 clone commonly associated with disease in humans, and may explain the increased frequency of certain clones in the area. Listeria monocytogenes affects humans and animals, causing encephalitis, septicemia, and abortions, among other clinical outcomes. Ruminants such as cattle, goats, and sheep are the main carriers contributing to the maintenance and dispersal of this pathogen in the farm environment. Contamination of food products from farms is of concern not only because many L. monocytogenes genotypes found there are associated with human listeriosis but also as a cause of significant economic losses when livestock and food products are affected. Ruminant listeriosis has been characterized extensively in Europe; however, there is limited information about the genetic diversity of these cases in the United States. Identification of subgroups with a greater ability to spread may facilitate surveillance and management of listeriosis and contribute to a better understanding of the genome diversity of this pathogen, providing insights into the molecular epidemiology of ruminant listeriosis in the region.
反刍动物是李斯特菌的已知宿主。除了无症状携带病原体外,反刍动物也可能感染李斯特菌病并出现神经感染或胎儿感染等临床症状,与人类发生的感染相似。对欧洲反刍动物李斯特菌病病例的基因组特征分析表明,1 型和 2 型菌株与感染有关,以及通常从人类李斯特菌病病例中分离出的克隆复合物(CC);然而,关于美国反刍动物李斯特菌病的李斯特菌多样性的信息很少。在这项研究中,我们对 2015 年至 2020 年期间从中西部和上大平原采集的 73 株反刍动物李斯特菌病病例中的李斯特菌进行了特征描述和比较。使用全基因组序列数据,我们对分离株进行了分类,并确定了我们数据集中关键的毒力因子、应激相关基因和可移动遗传元件。我们的分离株属于三个不同的谱系:31%属于 1 型,53%属于 2 型,15%属于 3 型。1 型和 3 型分离株与神经感染有关,而 2 型则与胎儿感染的频率更高。此外,还评估了可移动元件、毒力相关基因、应激和抗微生物耐药基因的存在。这些遗传元件是大多数亚群特异性特征的原因,可能在包括与人类疾病相关的高毒力 CC1 克隆在内的高毒力克隆的传播中发挥关键作用,并可能解释该地区某些克隆的频率增加。李斯特菌感染人类和动物,引起脑炎、败血症和流产等临床后果。牛、山羊和绵羊等反刍动物是主要的携带者,导致这种病原体在农场环境中的维持和传播。来自农场的食品污染不仅令人担忧,因为那里发现的许多李斯特菌基因型与人类李斯特菌病有关,而且还因为当牲畜和食品受到影响时,会造成重大的经济损失。欧洲对反刍动物李斯特菌病进行了广泛的特征描述;然而,关于美国这些病例的遗传多样性的信息有限。确定具有更强传播能力的亚群可能有助于李斯特菌病的监测和管理,并有助于更好地了解该病原体的基因组多样性,为该地区反刍动物李斯特菌病的分子流行病学提供深入了解。