Comparative genomic insights into Yersinia hibernica – a commonly misidentified Yersinia enterocolitica-like organism

Food-associated outbreaks linked to enteropathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica are of concern to public health. Pigs and their meat are recognized risk factors for transmission of Y. enterocolitica . This study aimed to describe the comparative genomics of Y. enterocolitica along with a number of misclassified Yersinia isolates, now constituting the recently described Yersinia hibernica . The latter was originally cultured from an environmental sample taken at a pig slaughterhouse. Unique features were identified in the genome of Y. hibernica, including a novel integrative conjugative element (ICE), denoted as ICE(Yh-1) contained within a 255 kbp region of plasticity. In addition, a zebrafish embryo infection model was adapted and applied to assess the virulence potential among Yersinia isolates including Y. hibernica .