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Genomic Analysis of Yersinia pestis Strains from Brazil: Search for Virulence Factors and Association with Epidemiological Data

Yersinia pestis, the etiological agent of the plague, is considered a genetically homogeneous species. Brazil is currently in a period of epidemiological silence but plague antibodies are still detected in sentinel animals, suggesting disease activity in the sylvatic cycle. The present study deploye...

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Autores principales: Pitta, João Luiz de Lemos Padilha, Bezerra, Matheus Filgueira, Fernandes, Diego Leandro Reis da Silva, de Block, Tessa, Novaes, Ane de Souza, de Almeida, Alzira Maria Paiva, Rezende, Antonio Mauro
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
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Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10459997/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37623951
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12080991
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author Pitta, João Luiz de Lemos Padilha
Bezerra, Matheus Filgueira
Fernandes, Diego Leandro Reis da Silva
de Block, Tessa
Novaes, Ane de Souza
de Almeida, Alzira Maria Paiva
Rezende, Antonio Mauro
author_facet Pitta, João Luiz de Lemos Padilha
Bezerra, Matheus Filgueira
Fernandes, Diego Leandro Reis da Silva
de Block, Tessa
Novaes, Ane de Souza
de Almeida, Alzira Maria Paiva
Rezende, Antonio Mauro
author_sort Pitta, João Luiz de Lemos Padilha
collection PubMed
description Yersinia pestis, the etiological agent of the plague, is considered a genetically homogeneous species. Brazil is currently in a period of epidemiological silence but plague antibodies are still detected in sentinel animals, suggesting disease activity in the sylvatic cycle. The present study deployed an in silico approach to analyze virulence factors among 407 Brazilian genomes of Y. pestis belonging to the Fiocruz Collection (1966–1997). The pangenome analysis associated several known virulence factors of Y. pestis in clades according to the presence or absence of genes. Four main strain clades (C, E, G, and H) exhibited the absence of various virulence genes. Notably, clade G displayed the highest number of absent genes, while clade E showed a significant absence of genes related to the T6SS secretion system and clade H predominantly demonstrated the absence of plasmid-related genes. These results suggest attenuation of virulence in these strains over time. The cgMLST analysis associated genomic and epidemiological data highlighting evolutionary patterns related to the isolation years and outbreaks of Y. pestis in Brazil. Thus, the results contribute to the understanding of the genetic diversity and virulence within Y. pestis and the potential for utilizing genomic data in epidemiological investigations.
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spelling pubmed-104599972023-08-27 Genomic Analysis of Yersinia pestis Strains from Brazil: Search for Virulence Factors and Association with Epidemiological Data Pitta, João Luiz de Lemos Padilha Bezerra, Matheus Filgueira Fernandes, Diego Leandro Reis da Silva de Block, Tessa Novaes, Ane de Souza de Almeida, Alzira Maria Paiva Rezende, Antonio Mauro Pathogens Article Yersinia pestis, the etiological agent of the plague, is considered a genetically homogeneous species. Brazil is currently in a period of epidemiological silence but plague antibodies are still detected in sentinel animals, suggesting disease activity in the sylvatic cycle. The present study deployed an in silico approach to analyze virulence factors among 407 Brazilian genomes of Y. pestis belonging to the Fiocruz Collection (1966–1997). The pangenome analysis associated several known virulence factors of Y. pestis in clades according to the presence or absence of genes. Four main strain clades (C, E, G, and H) exhibited the absence of various virulence genes. Notably, clade G displayed the highest number of absent genes, while clade E showed a significant absence of genes related to the T6SS secretion system and clade H predominantly demonstrated the absence of plasmid-related genes. These results suggest attenuation of virulence in these strains over time. The cgMLST analysis associated genomic and epidemiological data highlighting evolutionary patterns related to the isolation years and outbreaks of Y. pestis in Brazil. Thus, the results contribute to the understanding of the genetic diversity and virulence within Y. pestis and the potential for utilizing genomic data in epidemiological investigations. MDPI 2023-07-28 /pmc/articles/PMC10459997/ /pubmed/37623951 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12080991 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Pitta, João Luiz de Lemos Padilha
Bezerra, Matheus Filgueira
Fernandes, Diego Leandro Reis da Silva
de Block, Tessa
Novaes, Ane de Souza
de Almeida, Alzira Maria Paiva
Rezende, Antonio Mauro
Genomic Analysis of Yersinia pestis Strains from Brazil: Search for Virulence Factors and Association with Epidemiological Data
title Genomic Analysis of Yersinia pestis Strains from Brazil: Search for Virulence Factors and Association with Epidemiological Data
title_full Genomic Analysis of Yersinia pestis Strains from Brazil: Search for Virulence Factors and Association with Epidemiological Data
title_fullStr Genomic Analysis of Yersinia pestis Strains from Brazil: Search for Virulence Factors and Association with Epidemiological Data
title_full_unstemmed Genomic Analysis of Yersinia pestis Strains from Brazil: Search for Virulence Factors and Association with Epidemiological Data
title_short Genomic Analysis of Yersinia pestis Strains from Brazil: Search for Virulence Factors and Association with Epidemiological Data
title_sort genomic analysis of yersinia pestis strains from brazil: search for virulence factors and association with epidemiological data
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10459997/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37623951
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens12080991
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