6533b7d9fe1ef96bd126c30e
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Recombination drives genome evolution in outbreak-related Legionella pneumophila isolates.
Guillermo JorquesLeonor Sánchez-busóFernando González-candelasIñaki Comassubject
Genome evolutionMolecular Sequence DataLegionella pneumophilaPolymorphism Single NucleotideMicrobiologyDisease OutbreaksLegionella pneumophilaEvolution MolecularGeneticsHumansPathogenPhylogenyRecombination GeneticLikelihood FunctionsbiologyBase SequenceModels GeneticOutbreakBayes TheoremGenomicsSequence Analysis DNAbacterial infections and mycosesbiology.organism_classificationVirologyrespiratory tract diseasesSpainbacteriaLegionnaires' DiseaseGenome Bacterialdescription
Legionella pneumophila is a strictly environmental pathogen and the etiological agent of legionellosis. It is known that non-vertical processes have a major role in the short-term evolution of pathogens, but little is known about the relevance of these and other processes in environmental bacteria. We report the whole-genome sequencing of 69 L. pneumophila strains linked to recurrent outbreaks in a single location (Alcoy, Spain) over 11 years. We found some examples where the genome sequences of isolates of the same sequence type and outbreak did not cluster together and were more closely related to sequences from different outbreaks. Our analyses identify 16 recombination events responsible for almost 98% of the SNPs detected in the core genome and an apparent acceleration in the evolutionary rate. These results have profound implications for the understanding of microbial populations and for public health interventions in Legionella outbreak investigations.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-10-05 | Nature genetics |