Comparative Genomic Analyses of Flavobacterium psychrophilum Isolates Reveals New Putative Genetic Determinants of Virulence Traits

The fish pathogen Flavobacterium psychrophilum is currently one of the main pathogenic bacteria hampering the productivity of salmonid farming worldwide. Although putative virulence determinants have been identified, the genetic basis for variation in virulence of F. psychrophilum is not fully under...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microorganisms (Basel) 2021-08, Vol.9 (8), p.1658
Main Authors: Castillo, Daniel, Donati, Valentina L., Jørgensen, Jóhanna, Sundell, Krister, Dalsgaard, Inger, Madsen, Lone, Wiklund, Tom, Middelboe, Mathias
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino acids
Aquaculture
evolution
Flavobacterium
Flavobacterium psychrophilum
Gene distribution
Gene sequencing
Genes
Genetic diversity
Genetic variance
Genomes
Genomic analysis
Genomics
Gliding
Insertion
Leucine
Localization
Motility
Oncorhynchus mykiss
pan-genome
pathogen
pathogenicity
Pathogens
Phenotypes
Phylogenetics
Plasmids
Proteins
Trout
Virulence
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Summary:The fish pathogen Flavobacterium psychrophilum is currently one of the main pathogenic bacteria hampering the productivity of salmonid farming worldwide. Although putative virulence determinants have been identified, the genetic basis for variation in virulence of F. psychrophilum is not fully understood. In this study, we analyzed whole-genome sequences of a collection of 25 F. psychrophilum isolates from Baltic Sea countries and compared genomic information with a previous determination of their virulence in juvenile rainbow trout. The results revealed a conserved population of F. psychrophilum that were consistently present across the Baltic Sea countries, with no clear association between genomic repertoire, phylogenomic, or gene distribution and virulence traits. However, analysis of the entire genome of four F. psychrophilum isolates by hybrid assembly provided an unprecedented resolution for discriminating even highly related isolates. The results showed that isolates with different virulence phenotypes harbored genetic variances on a number of consecutive leucine-rich repeat (LRR) proteins, repetitive motifs in gliding motility-associated protein, and the insertion of transposable elements into intergenic and genic regions. Thus, these findings provide novel insights into the genetic variation of these elements and their putative role in the modulation of F. psychrophilum virulence.
ISSN:2076-2607
2076-2607
DOI:10.3390/microorganisms9081658