scholarly journals EnteroBase: Hierarchical clustering of 100,000s of bacterial genomes into species/sub-species and populations

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Achtman ◽  
Zhemin Zhou ◽  
Jane Charlesworth ◽  
Laura A. Baxter

The definition of bacterial species is traditionally a taxonomic issue while defining bacterial populations is done with population genetics. These assignments are species specific, and depend on the practitioner. Legacy multilocus sequence typing is commonly used to identify sequence types (STs) and clusters (ST Complexes). However, these approaches are not adequate for the millions of genomic sequences from bacterial pathogens that have been generated since 2012. EnteroBase (http://enterobase.warwick.ac.uk) automatically clusters core genome MLST alleles into hierarchical clusters (HierCC) after assembling annotated draft genomes from short read sequences. HierCC clusters span core sequence diversity from the species level down to individual transmission chains. Here we evaluate the ability of HierCC to correctly assign 100,000s of genomes to the species/subspecies and population levels for Salmonella, Clostridoides, Yersinia, Vibrio and Streptococcus. HierCC assignments were more consistent with maximum-likelihood super-trees of core SNPs or presence/absence of accessory genes than classical taxonomic assignments or 95% ANI. However, neither HierCC nor ANI were uniformly consistent with classical taxonomy of Streptococcus. HierCC was also consistent with legacy eBGs/ST Complexes in Salmonella or Escherichia and revealed differences in vertical inheritance of O serogroups. Thus, EnteroBase HierCC supports the automated identification of and assignment to species/subspecies and populations for multiple genera.

2008 ◽  
Vol 191 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Deloger ◽  
Meriem El Karoui ◽  
Marie-Agnès Petit

ABSTRACT The fundamental unit of biological diversity is the species. However, a remarkable extent of intraspecies diversity in bacteria was discovered by genome sequencing, and it reveals the need to develop clear criteria to group strains within a species. Two main types of analyses used to quantify intraspecies variation at the genome level are the average nucleotide identity (ANI), which detects the DNA conservation of the core genome, and the DNA content, which calculates the proportion of DNA shared by two genomes. Both estimates are based on BLAST alignments for the definition of DNA sequences common to the genome pair. Interestingly, however, results using these methods on intraspecies pairs are not well correlated. This prompted us to develop a genomic-distance index taking into account both criteria of diversity, which are based on DNA maximal unique matches (MUM) shared by two genomes. The values, called MUMi, for MUM index, correlate better with the ANI than with the DNA content. Moreover, the MUMi groups strains in a way that is congruent with routinely used multilocus sequence-typing trees, as well as with ANI-based trees. We used the MUMi to determine the relatedness of all available genome pairs at the species and genus levels. Our analysis reveals a certain consistency in the current notion of bacterial species, in that the bulk of intraspecies and intragenus values are clearly separable. It also confirms that some species are much more diverse than most. As the MUMi is fast to calculate, it offers the possibility of measuring genome distances on the whole database of available genomes.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio Ferrés ◽  
Gregorio Iraola

Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) is a standard tool in population genetics and bacterial epidemiology that assesses the genetic variation present in a reduced number of housekeeping genes (typically seven) along the genome. This methodology assigns arbitrary integer identifiers to genetic variations at these loci allowing to efficiently compare bacterial isolates using allele-based methods. Now, the increasing availability of whole-genome sequences for hundreds to thousands of strains from the same bacterial species has motivated to upgrade the resolution of traditional MLST schemes using larger gene sets or even the core genome (cgMLST). The PubMLST database is the most comprehensive resource of described MLST and cgMLST schemes available for a wide variety of species. Here we present MLSTar as the first R package that allows to i) connect with the PubMLST database to select a target scheme, ii) screen a desired set of genomes to assign alleles and sequence types and iii) interact with other widely used R packages to analyze and produce graphical representations of the data. We applied MLSTar to analyze a set of 400 Campylobacter coli genomes, showing great accuracy and comparable performance with previously published command-line tools. MLSTar can be freely downloaded from http://github.com/iferres/MLSTar.


2011 ◽  
Vol 77 (20) ◽  
pp. 7261-7270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelle C. Freel ◽  
Sang-Jip Nam ◽  
William Fenical ◽  
Paul R. Jensen

ABSTRACTThe marine actinomycete genusSalinisporais composed of three closely related species. These bacteria are a rich source of secondary metabolites, which are produced in species-specific patterns. This study examines the distribution and phylogenetic relationships of genes involved in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites in the salinosporamide and staurosporine classes, which have been reported forS. tropicaandS. arenicola, respectively. The focus is on “Salinispora pacifica,” the most recently discovered and phylogenetically diverse member of the genus. Of 61S. pacificastrains examined, 15 tested positive for a ketosynthase (KS) domain linked to the biosynthesis of salinosporamide K, a new compound in the salinosporamide series. Compound production was confirmed in two strains, and the domain phylogeny supports vertical inheritance from a common ancestor shared withS. tropica, which produces related compounds in the salinosporamide series. There was no evidence for interspecies recombination amongsalAKS sequences, providing further support for the geographic isolation of these two salinosporamide-producing lineages. In addition, staurosporine production is reported for the first time forS. pacifica, with 24 of 61 strains testing positive forstaD, a key gene involved in the biosynthesis of this compound. High levels of recombination were observed betweenstaDalleles inS. pacificaand the cooccurring yet more distantly relatedS. arenicola, which produces a similar series of staurosporines. The distributions and phylogenies of the biosynthetic genes examined provide insight into the complex processes driving the evolution of secondary metabolism among closely related bacterial species.


PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5098 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio Ferrés ◽  
Gregorio Iraola

Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) is a standard tool in population genetics and bacterial epidemiology that assesses the genetic variation present in a reduced number of housekeeping genes (typically seven) along the genome. This methodology assigns arbitrary integer identifiers to genetic variations at these loci which allows us to efficiently compare bacterial isolates using allele-based methods. Now, the increasing availability of whole-genome sequences for hundreds to thousands of strains from the same bacterial species has allowed us to apply and extend MLST schemes by automatic extraction of allele information from the genomes. The PubMLST database is the most comprehensive resource of described schemes available for a wide variety of species. Here we present MLSTar as the first R package that allows us to (i) connect with the PubMLST database to select a target scheme, (ii) screen a desired set of genomes to assign alleles and sequence types, and (iii) interact with other widely used R packages to analyze and produce graphical representations of the data. We applied MLSTar to analyze more than 2,500 bacterial genomes from different species, showing great accuracy, and comparable performance with previously published command-line tools. MLSTar can be freely downloaded from http://github.com/iferres/MLSTar.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio Ferrés ◽  
Gregorio Iraola

Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) is a standard tool in population genetics and bacterial epidemiology that assesses the genetic variation present in a reduced number of housekeeping genes (typically seven) along the genome. This methodology assigns arbitrary integer identifiers to genetic variations at these loci allowing to efficiently compare bacterial isolates using allele-based methods. Now, the increasing availability of whole-genome sequences for hundreds to thousands of strains from the same bacterial species has motivated to upgrade the resolution of traditional MLST schemes using larger gene sets or even the core genome (cgMLST). The PubMLST database is the most comprehensive resource of described MLST and cgMLST schemes available for a wide variety of species. Here we present MLSTar as the first R package that allows to i) connect with the PubMLST database to select a target scheme, ii) screen a desired set of genomes to assign alleles and sequence types and iii) interact with other widely used R packages to analyze and produce graphical representations of the data. We applied MLSTar to analyze a set of 400 Campylobacter coli genomes, showing great accuracy and comparable performance with previously published command-line tools. MLSTar can be freely downloaded from http://github.com/iferres/MLSTar.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Sakoparnig ◽  
Chris Field ◽  
Erik van Nimwegen

AbstractAlthough homologous recombination is accepted to be common in bacteria, so far it has been challenging to accurately quantify its impact on genome evolution within bacterial species. We here introduce methods that use the statistics of single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) splits in the core genome alignment of a set of strains to show that, for many bacterial species, recombination dominates genome evolution. Each genomic locus has been overwritten so many times by recombination that it is impossible to reconstruct the clonal phylogeny and, instead of a consensus phylogeny, the phylogeny typically changes many thousands of times along the core genome alignment.We also show how SNP splits can be used to quantify the relative rates with which different subsets of strains have recombined in the past. We find that virtually every strain has a unique pattern of frequencies with which its lineages have recombined with those of other strains, and that the relative rates with which different subsets of strains share SNPs follow long-tailed distributions. Our findings show that bacterial populations are neither clonal nor freely recombining, but structured such that recombination rates between different lineages vary along a continuum spanning several orders of magnitude, with a unique pattern of rates for each lineage. Thus, rather than reflecting clonal ancestry, whole genome phylogenies reflect these long-tailed distributions of recombination rates.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio Ferrés ◽  
Gregorio Iraola

Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) is a standard tool in population genetics and bacterial epidemiology that assesses the genetic variation present in a reduced number of housekeeping genes (typically seven) along the genome. This methodology assigns arbitrary integer identifiers to genetic variations at these loci allowing to efficiently compare bacterial isolates using allele-based methods. Now, the increasing availability of whole-genome sequences for hundreds to thousands of strains from the same bacterial species has motivated to upgrade the resolution of traditional MLST schemes using larger gene sets or even the core genome (cgMLST). The PubMLST database is the most comprehensive resource of described MLST and cgMLST schemes available for a wide variety of species. Here we present MLSTar as the first R package that allows to i) connect with the PubMLST database to select a target scheme, ii) screen a desired set of genomes to assign alleles and sequence types and iii) interact with other widely used R packages to analyze and produce graphical representations of the data. We applied MLSTar to analyze a set of 400 Campylobacter coli genomes, showing great accuracy and comparable performance with previously published command-line tools. MLSTar can be freely downloaded from http://github.org/iferres/MLSTar.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruklanthi de Alwis ◽  
Li Liang ◽  
Omid Taghavian ◽  
Emma Werner ◽  
Hao Chung The ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Shigella is a major diarrheal pathogen for which there is presently no vaccine. Whole genome sequencing provides the ability to predict and derive novel antigens for use as vaccines. Here, we aimed to identify novel immunogenic Shigella antigens that could serve as Shigella vaccine candidates, either alone, or when conjugated to Shigella O-antigen. Methods Using a reverse vaccinology approach, where genomic analysis informed the Shigella immunome via an antigen microarray, we aimed to identify novel immunogenic Shigella antigens. A core genome analysis of Shigella species, pathogenic and non-pathogenic Escherichia coli, led to the selection of 234 predicted immunogenic Shigella antigens. These antigens were expressed and probed with acute and convalescent serum from microbiologically confirmed Shigella infections. Results Several Shigella antigens displayed IgG and IgA seroconversion, with no difference in sero-reactivity across by sex or age. IgG sero-reactivity to key Shigella antigens was observed at birth, indicating transplacental antibody transfer. Six antigens (FepA, EmrK, FhuA, MdtA, NlpB, and CjrA) were identified in in vivo testing as capable of producing binding IgG and complement-mediated bactericidal antibody. Conclusions These findings provide six novel immunogenic Shigella proteins that could serve as candidate vaccine antigens, species-specific carrier proteins, or targeted adjuvants.


Author(s):  
Anna Lavecchia ◽  
Matteo Chiara ◽  
Caterina De Virgilio ◽  
Caterina Manzari ◽  
Carlo Pazzani ◽  
...  

Abstract Staphylococcus cohnii (SC), a coagulase-negative bacterium, was first isolated in 1975 from human skin. Early phenotypic analyses led to the delineation of two subspecies (subsp.), Staphylococcus cohnii subsp. cohnii (SCC) and Staphylococcus cohnii subsp. urealyticus (SCU). SCC was considered to be specific to humans whereas SCU apparently demonstrated a wider host range, from lower primates to humans. The type strains ATCC 29974 and ATCC 49330 have been designated for SCC and SCU, respectively. Comparative analysis of 66 complete genome sequences—including a novel SC isolate—revealed unexpected patterns within the SC complex, both in terms of genomic sequence identity and gene content, highlighting the presence of 3 phylogenetically distinct groups. Based on our observations, and on the current guidelines for taxonomic classification for bacterial species, we propose a revision of the SC species complex. We suggest that SCC and SCU should be regarded as two distinct species: SC and SU (Staphylococcus urealyticus), and that two distinct subspecies, SCC and SCB (SC subsp. barensis, represented by the novel strain isolated in Bari) should be recognized within SC. Furthermore, since large scale comparative genomics studies recurrently suggest inconsistencies or conflicts in taxonomic assignments of bacterial species, we believe that the approach proposed here might be considered for more general application.


mSystems ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew R. Olm ◽  
Alexander Crits-Christoph ◽  
Spencer Diamond ◽  
Adi Lavy ◽  
Paula B. Matheus Carnevali ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Longstanding questions relate to the existence of naturally distinct bacterial species and genetic approaches to distinguish them. Bacterial genomes in public databases form distinct groups, but these databases are subject to isolation and deposition biases. To avoid these biases, we compared 5,203 bacterial genomes from 1,457 environmental metagenomic samples to test for distinct clouds of diversity and evaluated metrics that could be used to define the species boundary. Bacterial genomes from the human gut, soil, and the ocean all exhibited gaps in whole-genome average nucleotide identities (ANI) near the previously suggested species threshold of 95% ANI. While genome-wide ratios of nonsynonymous and synonymous nucleotide differences (dN/dS) decrease until ANI values approach ∼98%, two methods for estimating homologous recombination approached zero at ∼95% ANI, supporting breakdown of recombination due to sequence divergence as a species-forming force. We evaluated 107 genome-based metrics for their ability to distinguish species when full genomes are not recovered. Full-length 16S rRNA genes were least useful, in part because they were underrecovered from metagenomes. However, many ribosomal proteins displayed both high metagenomic recoverability and species discrimination power. Taken together, our results verify the existence of sequence-discrete microbial species in metagenome-derived genomes and highlight the usefulness of ribosomal genes for gene-level species discrimination. IMPORTANCE There is controversy about whether bacterial diversity is clustered into distinct species groups or exists as a continuum. To address this issue, we analyzed bacterial genome databases and reports from several previous large-scale environment studies and identified clear discrete groups of species-level bacterial diversity in all cases. Genetic analysis further revealed that quasi-sexual reproduction via horizontal gene transfer is likely a key evolutionary force that maintains bacterial species integrity. We next benchmarked over 100 metrics to distinguish these bacterial species from each other and identified several genes encoding ribosomal proteins with high species discrimination power. Overall, the results from this study provide best practices for bacterial species delineation based on genome content and insight into the nature of bacterial species population genetics.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document