Genomic characterization of Haemophilus influenzae: a focus on the capsule locus

Details

• Alternative Title:
  BMC Genomics
• Personal Author:
  Potts, Caelin C. ; Topaz, Nadav ; Rodriguez-Rivera, Lorraine D. ; Hu, Fang ; Chang, How-Yi ; Whaley, Melissa J. ; Schmink, Susanna ; Retchless, Adam C. ; Chen, Alexander ; Ramos, Edward ; Doho, Gregory H. ; Wang, Xin
• Description:
  Background
  
  Haemophilus influenzae (Hi) can cause invasive diseases such as meningitis, pneumonia, or sepsis. Typeable Hi includes six serotypes (a through f), each expressing a unique capsular polysaccharide. The capsule, encoded by the genes within the capsule locus, is a major virulence factor of typeable Hi. Non-typeable (NTHi) does not express capsule and is associated with invasive and non-invasive diseases.
  
  Methods
  
  A total of 395 typeable and 293 NTHi isolates were characterized by whole genome sequencing (WGS). Phylogenetic analysis and multilocus sequence typing were used to characterize the overall genetic diversity. Pair-wise comparisons were used to evaluate the capsule loci. A WGS serotyping method was developed to predict the Hi serotype. WGS serotyping results were compared to slide agglutination (SAST) or real-time PCR (rt-PCR) serotyping.
  
  Results
  
  Isolates of each Hi serotype clustered into one or two subclades, with each subclade being associated with a distinct sequence type (ST). NTHi isolates were genetically diverse, with seven subclades and 125 STs being detected. Regions I and III of the capsule locus were conserved among the six serotypes (≥82% nucleotide identity). In contrast, genes in Region II were less conserved, with only six gene pairs from all serotypes showing ≥56% nucleotide identity. The WGS serotyping method was 99.9% concordant with SAST and 100% concordant with rt-PCR in determining the Hi serotype.
  
  Conclusions
  
  Genomic analysis revealed a higher degree of genetic diversity among NTHi compared to typeable Hi. The WGS serotyping method accurately predicted the Hi capsule type and can serve as an alternative method for Hi serotyping.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Bacterial Capsules Bacterial Typing Techniques Genetic Variation Genomics Humans Multilocus Sequence Typing Phylogeny Polysaccharides, Bacterial Serotyping Virulence Factors Whole Genome Sequencing

  More +
• Source:
  BMC Genomics. 20
• Pubmed ID:
  31606037
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC6790013
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Volume:
  20
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6357ced25686215b580295224cb8833e018666474ce0b2024fe483fd8b5de27ec52c0d71989f2549c289336c446d4a501d2cd491faf4d641806604e5679d53f3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/93284/cdc_93284_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.01 MB ]