Determinants of Listeria monocytogenes stress responses

Listeria monocytogenes is a remarkable bacterium, as it is able to shift from a capable environmental saprophyte into a severe intracellular pathogen. As a strictly foodborne pathogen, L. monocytogenes poses a notable risk, particularly to those consumers among the risk groups for whom invasive listeriosis is potentially fatal. Furthermore, modern consumption habits and increasingly favoured ready-to-eat foods, often consumed without proper heating, increase the risk of acquiring the foodborne disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic mechanisms conferring wide-ranging stress tolerance in L. monocytogenes. Two-component systems, comprising a sensor histidine kinase and a cognate response regulator, aid bacteria in sensing and adapting to changes in both surrounding environmental as well as intracellular conditions. The histidine kinases, in particular, have lacked comprehensive studies on their roles in the stress tolerance of L. monocytogenes. Thus, histidine kinases were studied by expressional analyses under cold conditions and by mutationally disrupting each histidine kinase-encoding gene in a parental model strain, L. monocytogenes EGD-e. The modified strains were individually challenged at high (42.5 degrees C) and low (3.0 degrees C) temperatures, high (9.4) and low (5.6) pH levels, and high salt (6% NaCl), ethanol (3.5 vol%) and hydrogen peroxide (5 mM) concentrations. Expressional studies and growth experiments on genetically modified strains proved lisK and yycG to respectively play central roles in the acclimation and immediate growth of L. monocytogenes at low temperatures. The most substantial increase in gene expression under cold conditions was that of the chemotaxis gene cheY with 236-fold upregulation at 3 degrees C. The disrupted ΔliaS strain displayed impaired growth in response to all the other stresses, particularly at a high temperature and under osmotic stress. These studies demonstrated the prominent importance of the histidine kinase-encoding genes yycG and lisK to cold tolerance and liaS, with roles in the growth of L. monocytogenes under multiple stresses. To shed light on the accessory genetic mechanisms that cause large strain variation in L. monocytogenes in withstanding heat treatments, heat resistance-conferring traits were further investigated by means of whole-genome sequencing. Comparing the complete genomes of heat-resistant L. monocytogenes AT3E and -sensitive AL4E strains revealed the heat-resistant strain to harbour a novel 58-kb plasmid, pLM58, which was absent in the sensitive strain. Furthermore, curing of the plasmid in AT3E produced a marked decrease in heat resistance from virtually no reduction to a 1.1 cfu/ml log10 reduction at 55.0 degrees C. In pLM58, a 2,155-bp open reading frame annotated as an ATP-dependent ClpL protease-encoding gene was identified. Conjugation of the coding sequence and the putative promoter of the clpL gene into a natively heat-sensitive L. monocytogenes 10403S strain, in turn, enhanced the survival of the strain from a 1.2 cfu/ml log10 reduction to a 0.4 cfu/ml log10 reduction in heat challenge at 55.0 degrees C. In this study, we presented the first evidence of plasmid-mediated heat resistance in L. monocytogenes and identified the protease ClpL to be a novel plasmid-borne heat-resistance mediator. The emerging resistance of L. monocytogenes to benzalkonium chloride, a quaternary ammonium compound widely used as a detergent in food-processing facilities, is a significant concern for food safety and public health. The resistance of 392 L. monocytogenes isolates from Finland (n = 197) and Switzerland (n = 195) to benzalkonium chloride was assessed. A minimal inhibitory concentration of 20 µg/ml was defined. Altogether, 11.5% of the strains proved to be resistant to benzalkonium chloride. Serotype 1/2c harboured the highest prevalence, 32.4% (11/34), of benzalkonium chloride-resistant strains, while in total, most of the resistant strains belonged to serotype 1/2a. Altogether, 68.9% of the resistant strains harboured at least one of the efflux pump system-encoding genes, bcrABC, emrE or qacH, known to confer benzalkonium chloride resistance in L. monocytogenes. We found resistant strains with partially or completely efflux pump-dependent benzalkonium chloride resistance, with the exception of the known resistance-mediating efflux pumps, suggesting the existence of other resistance-contributing efflux pump systems. The lacking of known efflux pump system-encoding genes in addition to efflux pump-independent benzalkonium chloride resistance, in turn, indicates the contribution of completely novel benzalkonium chloride resistance mechanisms. The aim of these studies was to shed light on the genes contributing to the versatile stress tolerance abilities and strain variation of the severe foodborne pathogen, L. monocytogenes. Knowledge of such traits may aid in developing targeted strategies and measures to identify and control the contamination and risks caused, in particular, by stress-tolerant L. monocytogenes strains.Listeria monocytogenes on elintarvikevälitteinen, listerioosia aiheuttava bakteeri, joka kykenee lisääntymään vaativissa stressiolosuhteissa. Monet elintarvikeketjussa käytettävistä hallintamenetelmistä, kuten matala lämpötila ja korkea suolapitoisuus, eivät estä sen kasvua. L. monocytogenes on vakava taudinaiheuttaja, sillä invasiivisen listerioosin aiheuttama kuolleisuus on jopa 20–30 %. Viime vuosina listerioositapausten määrä on erityisesti Suomessa ollut tavallista suurempi Euroopan keskiarvoon nähden. L. monocytogeneksen monipuoliseen stressikestävyyteen johtavia geneettisiä tekijöitä ei vielä tunneta kattavasti. Lisäksi L. monocytogenes -kantojen välillä esiintyy eroja niiden kyvyssä sietää eri stressitekijöitä ja osa kannoista on siten erityisen stressikestäviä. Väitöskirjan kokonaistavoitteena oli selvittää erilaisia geneettisiä tekijöitä, jotka vaikuttavat L. monocytogeneksen stressinsietokykyyn ja kantakohtaisiin eroihin elintarvikehygieenisesti merkittävissä stressiolosuhteissa (kylmä, lämpö, happamuus, emäksisyys, korkea suola- ja etanolipitoisuus, oksidatiivinen stressi ja desinfektioaine benzalkoniumkloridi). Mutaatio- ja geeni-ilmentymismenetelmin todettiin useiden kaksoiskomponenttisäätelijöihin kuuluvien histidiinikinaasien edistävän L. monocytogeneksen kasvua eri stressiolosuhteissa. Genomisekvensoinnin avulla puolestaan tunnistettiin uusi lämpöresistenssiä lisäävä plasmidi. Suurella kantamäärällä voitiin erottaa selkeää kantakohtaista vaihtelua L. monocytogeneksen benzalkoniumkloridiresistenssissä ja todettiin osan resistenssistä johtuvan mahdollisesti täysin uusista resistenssimekanismeista. Tuntemalla paremmin L. monocytogeneksen stressinsiedon geneettisiä mekanismeja voidaan entistä tarkemmin suunnitella ja kohdentaa listerian torjuntatoimenpiteitä elintarvikeketjussa

Screening of the two-component-system histidine kinases of Listeria monocytogenes EGD-e. LiaS is needed for growth under heat, acid, alkali, osmotic, ethanol and oxidative stresses

To study the role of each two-component system (TCS) histidine kinase (HK) in stress tolerance of Listeria monocytogenes EGD-e, we monitored the growth of individual HIC deletion mutant strains under heat (42.5 degrees C), acid (pH 5.6), alkali (pH 9.4), osmotic (6% NaCl), ethanol (3.5 vol%), and oxidative (5 mM H2O2) stresses. The growth of Delta liaS (Delta lmo1021) strain was impaired under each stress, with the most notable decrease under heat and osmotic stresses. The Delta ivirS (Delta lmo1741) strain showed nearly completely restricted growth at high temperature and impaired growth in ethanol. The growth of Delta agrC (Delta lmo0050) strain was impaired under osmotic stress and slightly under oxidative stress. We successfully complemented the HIC mutations using a novel allelic exchange based approach. This approach avoided the copy-number problems associated with in trans complementation from a plasmid. The mutant phenotypes were restored to the wild-type level in the complemented strains. This study reveals novel knowledge on the HKs needed for growth of L monocytogenes EGD-e under abovementioned stress conditions, with LiaS playing multiple roles in stress tolerance of L monocytogenes EGD-e. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Comparative Phenotypic and Genotypic Analysis of Swiss and Finnish Listeria monocytogenes Isolates with Respect to Benzalkonium Chloride Resistance

Reduced susceptibility of Listeria monocytogenes to benzalkonium chloride (BC), a quaternary ammonium compound widely used in food processing and hospital environments, is a growing public health and food safety concern. The minimal inhibitory concentration of BC on 392 L. monocytogenes strains from Switzerland (CH) and Finland (FIN) was determined. Within this strain collection, benzalkonium chloride resistance was observed in 12.3% (24/195) of Swiss and 10.6% (21/197) of Finnish strains. In both countries, the highest prevalence of BC-resistant strains (CH: 29.4%; FIN: 38.9%) was detected among serotype 1/2c strains. Based on PCR analysis, genes coding for the qacH efflux pump system were detected for most of the BC-resistant strains ( CH: 62.5%; FIN: 52.4%). Some Swiss BC-resistant strains harbored genes coding for the bcrABC(16.7%) efflux pump system, while one Finnish BC-resistant strain harbored the emrE gene previously only described among BC-resistant L. monocytogenes strains from Canada. Interestingly, a subset of BC-resistant strains (CH: 5/24, 20.8%; FIN: 9/21, 42.8%) lacked genes for efflux pumps currently known to confer BC resistance in L. monocytogenes. BC resistance analysis in presence of reserpine showed that the resistance was completely or partially efflux pump dependent in 10 out of the 14 strains lacking the known BC resistance genes. Sequence types 155 and ST403 were over-representated among these strains suggesting that these strains might share similar but yet unknown mechanisms of BC resistance.Peer reviewe

Robust analysis of prokaryotic pangenome gene gain and loss rates with Panstripe

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) plays a critical role in the evolution and diversification of many microbial species. The resulting dynamics of gene gain and loss can have important implications for the development of antibiotic resistance and the design of vaccine and drug interventions. Methods for the analysis of gene presence/absence patterns typically do not account for errors introduced in the automated annotation and clustering of gene sequences. In particular, methods adapted from ecological studies, including the pangenome gene accumulation curve, can be misleading as they may reflect the underlying diversity in the temporal sampling of genomes rather than a difference in the dynamics of HGT. Here, we introduce Panstripe, a method based on generalized linear regression that is robust to population structure, sampling bias, and errors in the predicted presence/absence of genes. We show using simulations that Panstripe can effectively identify differences in the rate and number of genes involved in HGT events, and illustrate its capability by analyzing several diverse bacterial genome data sets representing major human pathogens.Peer reviewe

The Analysis of Field Strains Isolated From Food, Animal and Clinical Sources Uncovers Natural Mutations in Listeria monocytogenes Nisin Resistance Genes

Nisin is a commonly used bacteriocin for controlling spoilage and pathogenic bacteria in food products. Strains possessing high natural nisin resistance that reduce or increase the potency of this bacteriocin against Listeria monocytogenes have been described. Our study sought to gather more insights into nisin resistance mechanisms in natural L. monocytogenes populations by examining a collection of 356 field strains that were isolated from different foods, food production environments, animals and human infections. A growth curve analysis-based approach was used to access nisin inhibition levels and assign the L. monocytogenes strains into three nisin response phenotypic categories; resistant (66%), intermediate (26%), and sensitive (8%). Using this categorization isolation source, serotype, genetic lineage, clonal complex (CC) and strain-dependent natural variation in nisin phenotypic resistance among L. monocytogenes field strains was revealed. Whole genome sequence analysis and comparison of high nisin resistant and sensitive strains led to the identification of new naturally occurring mutations in nisin response genes associated with increased nisin resistance and sensitivity in this bacterium. Increased nisin resistance was detected in strains harboring RsbUG77S and PBPB3V240F amino acid substitution mutations, which also showed increased detergent stress resistance as well as increased virulence in a zebra fish infection model. On the other hand, increased natural nisin sensitivity was detected among strains with mutations in sigB, vir, and dlt operons that also showed increased lysozyme sensitivity and lower virulence. Overall, our study identified naturally selected mutations involving pbpB3 (lm0441) as well as sigB, vir, and dlt operon genes that are associated with intrinsic nisin resistance in L. monocytogenes field strains recovered from various food and human associated sources. Finally, we show that combining growth parameter-based phenotypic analysis and genome sequencing is an effective approach that can be useful for the identification of novel nisin response associated genetic variants among L. monocytogenes field strains.Peer reviewe

A high-throughput multiplexing and selection strategy to complete bacterial genomes

Background: Bacterial whole-genome sequencing based on short-read technologies often results in a draft assembly formed by contiguous sequences. The introduction of long-read sequencing technologies permits those contiguous sequences to be unambiguously bridged into complete genomes. However, the elevated costs associated with long-read sequencing frequently limit the number of bacterial isolates that can be long-read sequenced. Here we evaluated the recently released 96 barcoding kit from Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) to generate complete genomes on a high-throughput basis. In addition, we propose an isolate selection strategy that optimizes a representative selection of isolates for long-read sequencing considering as input large-scale bacterial collections. Results: Despite an uneven distribution of long reads per barcode, near-complete chromosomal sequences (assembly contiguity = 0.89) were generated for 96 Escherichia coli isolates with associated short-read sequencing data. The assembly contiguity of the plasmid replicons was even higher (0.98), which indicated the suitability of the multiplexing strategy for studies focused on resolving plasmid sequences. We benchmarked hybrid and ONT-only assemblies and showed that the combination of ONT sequencing data with short-read sequencing data is still highly desirable (i) to perform an unbiased selection of isolates for long-read sequencing, (ii) to achieve an optimal genome accuracy and completeness, and (iii) to include small plasmids underrepresented in the ONT library. Conclusions: The proposed long-read isolate selection ensures the completion of bacterial genomes that span the genome diversity inherent in large collections of bacterial isolates. We show the potential of using this multiplexing approach to close bacterial genomes on a high-throughput basis.Peer reviewe

Community carriage of ESBL-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae: a cross-sectional study of risk factors and comparative genomics of carriage and clinical isolates

The global prevalence of infections caused by extended-spectrum βlactamase-producing Enterobacterales (ESBL-E) is increasing, and for Escherichia coli, observations indicate that this is partly driven by community-onset cases. The ESBL-E population structure in the community is scarcely described, and data on risk factors for carriage are conflicting. Here, we report the prevalence and population structure of fecal ESBL-producing E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae (ESBL-Ec/Kp) in a general adult population, examine risk factors, and compare carriage isolates with contemporary clinical isolates. Fecal samples obtained from 4,999 participants (54% women) ≥40 years in the seventh survey of the population-based Tromsø Study, Norway (2015, 2016), were screened for ESBL-Ec/Kp. In addition, we included 118 ESBL-Ec clinical isolates from the Norwegian surveillance program in 2014. All isolates were wholegenome sequenced. Risk factors associated with carriage were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression. ESBL-Ec gastrointestinal carriage prevalence was 3.3% [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.8%–3.9%, no sex difference] and 0.08% (0.02%–0.20%) for ESBL-Kp. For ESBL-Ec, travel to Asia was the only independent risk factor (adjusted odds ratio 3.46, 95% CI 2.18–5.49). E. coli ST131 was most prevalent in both collections. However, the ST131 proportion was significantly lower in carriage (24%) versus clinical isolates (58%, P < 0.001). Carriage isolates were genetically more diverse with a higher proportion of phylogroup A (26%) than clinical isolates (5%, P < 0.001), indicating that ESBL gene acquisition occurs in a variety of E. coli lineages colonizing the gut. STs commonly related to extraintestinal infections were more frequent in clinical isolates also carrying a higher prevalence of antimicrobial resistance, which could indicate clone-associated pathogenicity

Strong pathogen competition in neonatal gut colonisation

Opportunistic bacterial pathogen species and their strains that colonise the human gut are generally understood to compete against both each other and the commensal species colonising this ecosystem. Currently we are lacking a population-wide quantification of strain-level colonisation dynamics and the relationship of colonisation potential to prevalence in disease, and how ecological factors might be modulating these. Here, using a combination of latest high-resolution metagenomics and strain-level genomic epidemiology methods we performed a characterisation of the competition and colonisation dynamics for a longitudinal cohort of neonatal gut microbiomes. We found strong inter- and intra-species competition dynamics in the gut colonisation process, but also a number of synergistic relationships among several species belonging to genus Klebsiella, which includes the prominent human pathogen Klebsiella pneumoniae. No evidence of preferential colonisation by hospital-adapted pathogen lineages in either vaginal or caesarean section birth groups was detected. Our analysis further enabled unbiased assessment of strain-level colonisation potential of extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC) in comparison with their propensity to cause bloodstream infections. Our study highlights the importance of systematic surveillance of bacterial gut pathogens, not only from disease but also from carriage state, to better inform therapies and preventive medicine in the future.Peer reviewe

Interactions between commensal <i>Enterococcus faecium</i> and <i>Enterococcus lactis</i> and clinical isolates of<i> Enterococcus faecium</i>

Enterococcus faecium (Efm) is a versatile pathogen, responsible for multidrug-resistant infections, especially in hospitalized immunocompromised patients. Its population structure has been characterized by diverse clades (A1, A2, and B (reclassified as E. lactis (Ela)), adapted to different environments, and distinguished by their resistomes and virulomes. These features only partially explain the predominance of clade A1 strains in nosocomial infections. We investigated in vitro interaction of 50 clinical isolates (clade A1 Efm) against 75 commensal faecal isolates from healthy humans (25 clade A2 Efm and 50 Ela). Only 36% of the commensal isolates inhibited clinical isolates, while 76% of the clinical isolates inhibited commensal isolates. The most apparent overall differences in inhibition patterns were presented between clades. The inhibitory activity was mainly mediated by secreted, proteinaceous, heat-stable compounds, likely indicating an involvement of bacteriocins. A custom-made database targeting 76 Bacillota bacteriocins was used to reveal bacteriocins in the genomes. Our systematic screening of the interactions between nosocomial and commensal Efm and Ela on a large scale suggests that, in a clinical setting, nosocomial strains not only have an advantage over commensal strains due to their possession of AMR genes, virulence factors, and resilience but also inhibit the growth of commensal strains

Modulation of multidrug-resistant clone success in <i>Escherichia coli</i> populations:a longitudinal, multi-country, genomic and antibiotic usage cohort study

BACKGROUND: The effect of antibiotic usage on the success of multidrug-resistant (MDR) clones in a population remains unclear. With this genomics-based molecular epidemiology study, we aimed to investigate the contribution of antibiotic use to Escherichia coli clone success, relative to intra-strain competition for colonisation and infection.METHODS: We sequenced all the available E coli bloodstream infection isolates provided by the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC) from 2012 to 2017 (n=718) and combined these with published data from the UK (2001-11; n=1090) and Norway (2002-17; n=3254). Defined daily dose (DDD) data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (retrieved on Sept 21, 2021) for major antibiotic classes (β-lactam, tetracycline, macrolide, sulfonamide, quinolone, and non-penicillin β-lactam) were used together with sequence typing, resistance profiling, regression analysis, and non-neutral Wright-Fisher simulation-based modelling to enable systematic comparison of resistance levels, clone success, and antibiotic usage between the UK and Norway.FINDINGS: Sequence type (ST)73, ST131, ST95, and ST69 accounted for 892 (49·3%) of 1808 isolates in the BSAC collection. In the UK, the proportion of ST69 increased between 2001-10 and 2011-17 (p=0·0004), whereas the proportions of ST73 and ST95 did not vary between periods. ST131 expanded quickly after its emergence in 2003 and its prevalence remained consistent throughout the study period (apart from a brief decrease in 2009-10). The extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-carrying, globally disseminated MDR clone ST131-C2 showed overall greater success in the UK (154 [56·8%] of 271 isolates in 2003-17) compared with Norway (51 [18·3%] of 278 isolates in 2002-17; p&lt;0·0001). DDD data indicated higher total use of antimicrobials in the UK, driven mainly by the class of non-penicillin β-lactams, which were used between 2·7-times and 5·1-times more in the UK per annum (ratio mean 3·7 [SD 0·8]). This difference was associated with the higher success of the MDR clone ST131-C2 (pseudo-R2 69·1%). A non-neutral Wright-Fisher model replicated the observed expansion of non-MDR and MDR sequence types under higher DDD regimes. INTERPRETATION: Our study indicates that resistance profiles of contemporaneously successful clones can vary substantially, warranting caution in the interpretation of correlations between aggregate measures of resistance and antibiotic usage. Our study further suggests that in countries with low-to-moderate use of antibiotics, such as the UK and Norway, the extent of non-penicillin β-lactam use modulates rather than determines the success of widely disseminated MDR ESBL-carrying E coli clones. Detailed understanding of underlying causal drivers of success is important for improved control of resistant pathogens.FUNDING: Trond Mohn Foundation, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, European Research Council, Royal Society, and Wellcome Trust.</p