VNTR analysis reveals unexpected genetic diversity within Mycoplasma agalactiae, the main causative agent of contagious agalactia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Mycoplasma agalactiae </it>is the main cause of contagious agalactia, a serious disease of sheep and goats, which has major clinical and economic impacts. Previous studies of <it>M. agalactiae </it>have shown it to be unusually homogeneous and there are currently no available epidemiological techniques which enable a high degree of strain differentiation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have developed variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) analysis using the sequenced genome of the <it>M. agalactiae </it>type strain PG2. The PG2 genome was found to be replete with tandem repeat sequences and 4 were chosen for further analysis. VNTR 5 was located within the hypothetical protein MAG6170 a predicted lipoprotein. VNTR 14 was intergenic between the hypothetical protein MAG3350 and the hypothetical protein MAG3340. VNTR 17 was intergenic between the hypothetical protein MAG4060 and the hypothetical protein MAG4070 and VNTR 19 spanned the 5' end of the pseudogene for a lipoprotein MAG4310 and the 3' end of the hypothetical lipoprotein MAG4320.</p> <p>We have investigated the genetic diversity of 88 <it>M. agalactiae </it>isolates of wide geographic origin using VNTR analysis and compared it with pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. Simpson's index of diversity was calculated to be 0.324 for PFGE and 0.574 for VNTR analysis. VNTR analysis revealed unexpected diversity within <it>M. agalactiae </it>with 9 different VNTR types discovered. Some correlation was found between geographical origin and the VNTR type of the isolates.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>VNTR analysis represents a useful, rapid first-line test for use in molecular epidemiological analysis of <it>M. agalactiae </it>for outbreak tracing and control.</p

Author Correction: Scalable and robust SARS-CoV-2 testing in an academic center.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper

Cohort profile: Ngā Kawekawe o Mate Korona | Impacts of COVID-19 in Aotearoa – a prospective, national cohort study of people with COVID-19 in New Zealand

Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant health, social and economic impacts around the world. We established a national, population-based longitudinal cohort to investigate the immediate and longer-term physical, psychological and economic impacts of COVID-19 on affected people in Aotearoa New Zealand (Aotearoa), with the resulting evidence to assist in designing appropriate health and well-being services for people with COVID-19.Participants All people residing in Aotearoa aged 16 years or over, who had a confirmed or probable diagnosis of COVID-19 prior to December 2021, were invited to participate. Those living in dementia units were excluded. Participation involved taking part in one or more of four online surveys and/or in-depth interviews. The first wave of data collection took place from February to June 2022.Findings to date By 30 November 2021, of 8735 people in Aotearoa aged 16+ who had COVID-19, 8712 were eligible for the study and 8012 had valid addresses so were able to be contacted to take part. A total of 990 people, including 161 Tāngata Whenua (Māori, Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa) completed one or more surveys; in addition, 62 took part in in-depth interviews. Two hundred and seventeen people (20%) reported symptoms consistent with long COVID. Key areas of adverse impacts were experiences of stigma, mental distress, poor experiences of health services and barriers to healthcare, each being significantly more pronounced among disabled people and/or those with long COVID.Future plans Further data collection is planned to follow-up cohort participants. This cohort will be supplemented by the inclusion of a cohort of people with long COVID following Omicron infection. Future follow-ups will assess longitudinal changes to health and well-being impacts, including mental health, social, workplace/education and economic impacts of COVID-19