Clinical manifestation and prognosis associated with three <i>vrrA</i>-based genotypes of <i>B</i>. <i>cereus</i>.

<p>Clinical manifestation and prognosis associated with three <i>vrrA</i>-based genotypes of <i>B</i>. <i>cereus</i>.</p

Clustering analysis of genotyping data of B. cereus clinical endophthalmitis isolates.

<p>Phylogenetic tree of <i>B</i>. <i>cereus</i> clinical endophthalmitis isolates was drawn based on <i>vrrA</i> gene sequence analyses. The figure showed that <i>B</i>. <i>cereus</i> isolats could be grouped into three genotyping (GT) groups: GTI, GTII, and GTIII. GTI was be further divided into three subgroups.</p

B-scan images of the patients' eyes infected with <i>B</i>. <i>cereus</i> before (A,B,C) and after (D,E,F) surgery operation.

<p>(A). Infection caused by GTI strains showed severe vitreous opacity (gay arrows). (B). Infection caused by GTII strains showed mild vitreous opacity (gray arrows). (C). Mild vitreous opacity infection caused by GTIII strains (gray arrow),high reflection and ascoustic shadow in vitreous showed foreign body (white arrow). (D). Infection caused by GTI strains after surgery. (E). Infection caused by GTII strains after surgery. (F). Infection caused by GTIII strains after surgery(the false expansion of eye ball after vitreous surgery with silicon oil tamponade).</p

Patients’ Information.

<p>Patients’ Information.</p

PCR amplification of the <i>vrrA</i> gene among clinical <i>B</i>. <i>cereus</i> isolates.

<p>Lane1-14: Bc1-Bc14; lane16-25: Bc16-Bc25; Lane26: <i>B</i>. <i>cereus</i> ATCC14579; Lane27: <i>B</i>. <i>thuringiensis</i> CTCC22945; Lane28: <i>Bacillus subtilis</i> ATCC9372; Lane29: ddH2O; Lane15 and Lane30: DNA marker. The predicted size of the product was approximately 430bp. A total of twenty–four <i>B</i>. <i>cereus</i> strains were confirmed by the PCR, and non-<i>B</i>. <i>cereus</i> strains did not yield a PCR product.</p

Table_1_Comparative Genomic and Pan-Genomic Characterization of Staphylococcus epidermidis From Different Sources Unveils the Molecular Basis and Potential Biomarkers of Pathogenic Strains.DOCX

Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) is the most common pathogen causing traumatic endophthalmitis. Among which, Staphylococcus epidermidis is the most common species that colonizes human skin, eye surfaces, and nasal cavity. It is also the main cause of nosocomial infection, specially foreign body-related bloodstream infections (FBR-BSIs). Although some studies have reported the genome characteristics of S. epidermidis, the genome of ocular trauma-sourced S. epidermidis strain and a comprehensive understanding of its pathogenicity are still lacking. Our study sequenced, analyzed, and reported the whole genomes of 11 ocular trauma-sourced samples of S. epidermidis that caused traumatic endophthalmitis. By integrating publicly available genomes, we obtained a total of 187 S. epidermidis samples from healthy and diseased eyes, skin, respiratory tract, and blood. Combined with pan-genome, phylogenetic, and comparative genomic analyses, our study showed that S. epidermidis, regardless of niche source, exhibits two founder lineages with different pathogenicity. Moreover, we identified several potential biomarkers associated with the virulence of S. epidermidis, including essD, uhpt, sdrF, sdrG, fbe, and icaABCDR. EssD and uhpt have high homology with esaD and hpt in Staphylococcus aureus, showing that the genomes of S. epidermidis and S. aureus may have communicated during evolution. SdrF, sdrG, fbe, and icaABCDR are related to biofilm formation. Compared to S. epidermidis from blood sources, ocular-sourced strains causing intraocular infection had no direct relationship with biofilm formation. In conclusion, this study provided additional data resources for studies on S. epidermidis and improved our understanding of the evolution and pathogenicity among strains of different sources.</p