Genetic Homogeneity of Francisella tularensis subsp. mediasiatica Strains in Kazakhstan.
Pathogens
; 13(7)2024 Jul 12.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39057808
ABSTRACT
Tularemia is an acute febrile disease caused by the Gram-negative bacillus Francisella tularensis. Based on genetic and phenotypic characteristics, three subspecies are distinguished tularensis, holarctica, and mediasiatica. F. tularensis subsp. mediasiatica remains the least studied subspecies. Over the past decade, new foci of distribution of F. tularensis subsp. mediasiatica have been discovered in Russia (Siberia), expanding the possible distribution area by thousands of kilometers. This article provides whole genome single nucleotide polymorphism (wgSNP) and polymorphic tandem repeats (MLVA) analyses of 28 mediasiatica strains isolated between 1965 and 2004 in Kazakhstan. Despite high genetic homogeneity, MLVA with eleven loci (MLVA11) demonstrates a high discriminatory ability (diversity index, 0.9497). The topological structure of the trees based on wgSNP and MLVA is not comparable; however, clustering remains congruent for most outbreaks, with the exception of two strains from one outbreak that are identical in terms of wgSNP but differ at three tandem repeat loci. Based on wgSNP, the strains are assigned to one of the three currently known mediasiatica sublineages, lineage M.I, together with other historical strains maintained in collections in Russia and Sweden. wgSNP shows limited previously unknown genetic diversity, with the M.I lineage size being only 118 SNPs. The wgSNP genotype is not strongly correlated with year and place of isolation.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
En
Journal:
Pathogens
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Kazajstán
Country of publication:
Suiza