Complete genome analysis of clinical Shigella strains reveals plasmid pSS1653 with resistance determinants: a triumph of hybrid approach

AbstractShigella is ranked as the second leading cause of diarrheal disease worldwide. Though infection occurs in people of all ages, most of the disease burden constitutes among the children less than 5  years in low and middle income countries. Recent increasing incidence of drug resistant strains make this as a priority pathogen under the antimicrobial resistance surveillance by WHO. Despite this, only limited genomic studies on drug resistantShigella exists. Here we report the first complete genome of clinicalS. flexneri serotype 2a andS. sonnei strains using a hybrid approach of both long-read MinION (Oxford Nanopore Technologies) and short-read Ion Torrent 400  bp sequencing platforms. The utilization of this novel approach in the present study helped to identify the complete plasmid sequence of pSS1653 with structural genetic information of AMR genes such assulII,tetA,tetR,aph(6)-Id andaph(3 ′’)-Ib. Identification of AMR genes in mobile elements in this human-restricted enteric pathogen is a potential threat for dissemination to other gut pathogens. The information onShigella at genome level could help us to understand the genome dynamics of existing and emerging resistant clones.
Source: Gut Pathogens - Category: Microbiology Source Type: research