Allelic variation contributes to bacterial host specificity

• Published in: Nature communications 2015-10, Vol.6 (1), p.8754-8754, Article 8754
• Main Authors: Yue, Min, Han, Xiangan, Masi, Leon De, Zhu, Chunhong, Ma, Xun, Zhang, Junjie, Wu, Renwei, Schmieder, Robert, Kaushik, Radhey S., Fraser, George P., Zhao, Shaohua, McDermott, Patrick F., Weill, François-Xavier, Mainil, Jacques G., Arze, Cesar, Fricke, W. Florian, Edwards, Robert A., Brisson, Dustin, Zhang, Nancy R., Rankin, Shelley C., Schifferli, Dieter M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 13; 13/106; 14/1; 60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES; 631/208/726/649; 631/326/325/1506; 631/326/41/1969; Adaptation; Adhesins, Bacterial; Adhesins, Bacterial - chemistry; Adhesins, Bacterial - genetics; Adhesins, Bacterial - metabolism; Alleles; Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Bacterial Adhesion; Bacterial Proteins; Bacterial Proteins - chemistry; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Bacterial Proteins - metabolism; Computer science; Fimbriae, Bacterial; Fimbriae, Bacterial - chemistry; Fimbriae, Bacterial - genetics; Fimbriae, Bacterial - metabolism; Food Microbiology; Genes; Genetic Variation; Genomes; Host Specificity; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Infections; Infectious diseases; Laboratories; Life Sciences; Molecular Sequence Data; multidisciplinary; Médecine vétérinaire & santé animale; Pathogens; Phylogeny; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Proteins; Salmonella; Salmonella Infections; Salmonella Infections - microbiology; Salmonella Infections, Animal; Salmonella Infections, Animal - microbiology; Salmonella typhimurium; Salmonella typhimurium - classification; Salmonella typhimurium - genetics; Salmonella typhimurium - isolation & purification; Salmonella typhimurium - physiology; Santé publique et épidémiologie; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sciences du vivant; Veterinary medicine; Veterinary medicine & animal health
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9754

Understanding the molecular parameters that regulate cross-species transmission and host adaptation of potential pathogens is crucial to control emerging infectious disease. Although microbial pathotype diversity is conventionally associated with gene gain or loss, the role of pathoadaptive nonsynonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms (nsSNPs) has not been systematically evaluated. Here, our genome-wide analysis of core genes within Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium genomes reveals a high degree of allelic variation in surface-exposed molecules, including adhesins that promote host colonization. Subsequent multinomial logistic regression, MultiPhen and Random Forest analyses of known/suspected adhesins from 580 independent Typhimurium isolates identifies distinct host-specific nsSNP signatures. Moreover, population and functional analyses of host-associated nsSNPs for FimH, the type 1 fimbrial adhesin, highlights the role of key allelic residues in host-specific adherence in vitro . Together, our data provide the first concrete evidence that functional differences between allelic variants of bacterial proteins likely contribute to pathoadaption to diverse hosts. One of the key aspects for controlling infectious diseases is understanding how pathogens cross host species. Here the authors conduct a genome-wide analysis of Salmonella and show a high degree of variation, enabling host-adapted colonization among Salmonella intestinal and systemic serovars.