Search

Introduction: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines have reduced severe disease attributed to vaccine-type pneumococci in children. However, the effect is dependent on serotype distribution in the population and disease development may be influenced by co-occurrence of viral and bacterial pathogens in the nasopharynx., Methods: Following introduction of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) in Tanzania we performed repeated cross-sectional surveys, including 775 children below 2 years of age attending primary healthcare centers. All children were sampled from nasopharynx and pneumococci were detected by single-target PCR. Pneumococcal serotypes/groups and presence of viruses and other bacteria were determined by two multiplex PCR assays., Results: The prevalence of PCV13 vaccine-type pneumococci decreased by 50%, but residual vaccine-types were still detected in 21% of the children 2 years after PCV13 introduction. An increase in the non-vaccine-type 15 BC was observed. Pneumococci were often co-occurring with Haemophilus influenzae , and detection of rhino/enterovirus was associated with higher pneumococcal load., Discussion: We conclude that presence of residual vaccine-type and emerging non-vaccine-type pneumococci in Tanzanian children demand continued pneumococcal surveillance. High co-occurrence of viral and bacterial pathogens may contribute to the disease burden and indicate the need of multiple public health interventions to improve child health in Tanzania., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Emgård, Andersson, Gonzales-Siles, Msuya, Nyombi, Nordén, Muro, Lindh, Andersson and Skovbjerg.)

Two Corynebacterium species were proposed decades ago, isolated from clinical samples and divided into biovars: "Corynebacterium genitalium" biovars I-V and "Corynebacterium pseudogenitalium" biovars C1-C6. Several biovars have been re-classified as new species. Nevertheless, biovar I and C5, together with their respective specific epithets "Corynebacterium genitalium" and "Corynebacterium pseudogenitalium", remained not validly published after more than 40 years. Several more strains, temptatively classified as "C. genitalium" biovar I and "Corynebacterium pseudogenitalium" C5, have been isolated from clinical and environmental samples. Both species presented Gram-positive, non-spore forming rod-shaped cells, able to grow aerobically with CO 2 . Core-genome analysis identified "C. genitalium" to be most closely related to Corynebacterium tuscaniense, Corynebacterium urinipleomorphum, Corynebacterium aquatimens and C appendicis, and Corynebacterium gottingense as the most closely related species to "C. pseudogenitalium". Comprehensive genomic, genotypic, phenotypic analyses, as well as chemotaxonomic, support the proposal for "C. genitalium" and "C. pseudogenitalium" as distinct species within the genus Corynebacterium. The designated type strains of the two species are Furness 392-1 T  = ATCC 33030 T  = CCUG 38989 T  = CCM 9178 T  = DSM 113155 T for C. genitalium sp. nov., nom. rev., and Furness 162-C2 T  = ATCC 33039 T  = CCUG 27540 T  = CCM 9177 T  = DSM 113154 T for C. pseudogenitalium sp. nov., nom. rev., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Over 90% of Ethiopians still rely on solid fuels for cooking food. The pollution from the burning process causes adverse respiratory outcomes including respiratory infections. This study aimed to assess the association of the pollution with nasopharyngeal occurrence of potential pathogens., Methods: We conducted a comparative cross-sectional study in urban and rural settings in Ethiopia in 2016. Questionnaire-based data were collected from 168 mothers and 175 children aged below two years. Multiplex real-time PCR assays were performed on nasopharyngeal secretions for detection of bacteria and viruses and for the identification of pneumococcal serotypes/groups., Results: High rates of bacteria and viruses in the nasopharynx were detected by PCR among both the children and the mothers. Among the detected viruses, enterovirus was more commonly detected among rural children than among children from urban areas. Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae were both more prevalent among children and mothers from rural areas compared with urban groups and among those using solid fuels compared with cleaner fuel users. Children from rural households using solid fuels and children whose mothers had educational status below high school had four times higher odds for detection of S. pneumoniae compared with those households using cleaner energy or those children having mothers with a higher educational status, respectively. One or more serotype/serogroup was identified in about 40% of the samples that were positive for pneumococci. Out of all identified serotypes/serogroups, 43% in the children and 45% in the mothers belonged to PCV13, indicating the larger majority of detected pneumococci being non-PCV13 serotypes., Conclusion: This study presented a high carriage rate of S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae among both children and their mothers, especially in rural areas and among solid fuel users. Thus, interventions should target cleaner energy sources to the public and promote maternal education., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2022 Tamire et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Group A rotavirus (RVA) is a prevalent pathogen causing acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in young children and animals. We developed an in-house ELISA (ROTA-GeFeK) for RVA detection, based on the expression of native recombinant VP6 protein in E. coli. To detect the RVA antigen, rabbit polyclonal IgG antibodies, produced against rVP6,were used as capture and detector antibodies in a sandwich ELISA. To validate the ROTA-GeFeK, 252 stool samples from children with AGE, were evaluated by conventional RT-PCR and commercial ELISA. Compared to RT-PCR, the ROTAGeFeK had a sensitivity of 88.2 % and a specificity of 94.4 %. Total detection rates with the ROTA-GeFeK, commercial ELISA and RT-PCR were 58 %, 58 % and 64 % respectively. The limit of detection was equal to 2.1 × 10 4 CCID 50 of the RVA strain RIX4414. No cross-reactivity with other enteric pathogens was observed. The RVApositive samples detected by the assay belonged to a diversity of G and [P] genotypes.This assay displayed reactivity and was proved to be useful for the detection of RVA in diarrheal samples of domestic South American Camelids. We suggest that the ROTAGeFeK can be used as an epidemiologic tool for rotavirus surveillance and for RVA detection in other animal species., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Acute pneumonia remains a leading cause of death among children below 5 years of age in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), despite introduction of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) in 2013. Potential pathogens in the nasopharynx of hospitalised children with pneumonia have not been studied previously in DR Congo. Here we compare clinical characteristics, risk factors and nasopharyngeal occurrence of bacteria and viruses between children with severe and non-severe pneumonia., Methods: Between June 2015 and June 2017, 116 children aged from 2 to 59 months hospitalised due to radiologically confirmed pneumonia at Panzi referral university hospital, Bukavu, Eastern DR Congo were included in the study and sampled from nasopharynx. A multiplex real-time PCR assay for detection of 15 different viruses and 5 bacterial species was performed and another multiplex PCR assay was used for pneumococcal serotype/serogroup determination., Results: During the study period 85 (73%) of the children with radiologically confirmed pneumonia met the WHO classification criteria of severe pneumonia and 31 (27%) had non-severe pneumonia. The fatality rate was 9.5%. Almost all (87%) children were treated with antibiotics before they were hospitalised, in most cases with amoxicillin (58%) or trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (20%). The frequency of potential pathogens in the nasopharynx of the children was high, and any viral or bacterial nucleic acids present at high levels, irrespective of species or type, were significantly associated with severe pneumonia as compared with non-severe cases (52% versus 29%, p = 0.032). White blood cell count > 20,000/μL and C-Reactive Protein > 75 mg/dL were associated with severe pneumonia at admission. Fatal outcome was in the multivariable analysis associated with having a congenital disease as an underlying condition. One or more pneumococcal serotypes/serogroups could be identified in 61 patients, and out of all identified serotypes 31/83 (37%) were non-PCV13 serotypes., Conclusions: The occurrence of any bacteria or any viruses at high levels was associated with severe pneumonia at admission. Children with congenital disorders might need a higher attention when having symptoms of acute respiratory infection, as developed pneumonia could lead to fatal outcome., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Background: Respiratory pathogens including Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae, are implicated in the pathogenicity of acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI). These are also commonly found in both healthy and sick children. In this study, we describe the first data on the most frequent bacteria and viruses detected in the nasopharynx of children from the general population in the Eastern DR Congo., Methods: From January 2014 to June 2015, nasopharyngeal samples from 375 children aged from 2 to 60 months attending health centres for immunisation or growth monitoring were included in the study. Multiplex real-time PCR assays were used for detection of 15 different viruses and 5 bacterial species and for determination of pneumococcal serotypes/serogroups in the nasopharyngeal secretions., Results: High levels of S. pneumoniae were detected in 77% of cases, and H. influenzae in 51%. Rhinovirus and enterovirus were the most commonly found viruses, while respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was rare (1%). Co-occurrence of both bacteria and viruses at high levels was detected in 33% of the children. The pneumococcal load was higher in those children who lived in a dwelling with an indoor kitchen area with an open fire, i.e. a kitchen with an open fire for cooking located inside the dwelling with the resultant smoke passing to the living room and/or bedrooms; this was also higher in children from rural areas as compared to children from urban areas or children not living in a dwelling with an indoor kitchen area with an open fire/not living in this type of dwelling. Immunization with 2-3 doses of PCV13 was associated with lower rates of pneumococcal detection. Half of the identified serotypes were non-PCV13 serotypes. The most common non-PCV13 serotypes/serogroups were 15BC, 10A, and 12F, while 5, 6, and 19F were the most prevalent PCV13 serotypes/serogroups., Conclusions: The burden of respiratory pathogens including S. pneumoniae in Congolese children was high but relatively few children had RSV. Non-PCV13 serotypes/serogroups became predominant soon after PCV13 was introduced in DR Congo., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The taxonomic status of six strains of Acinetobacter obtained from meat samples, collected from supermarkets in Porto, Portugal, was investigated using polyphasic analysis. Partial rpoB sequence similarities lower than 95 % to other Acinetobacter species with validly published names led to the hypothesis that these strains represented novel species. This was confirmed based on comparative multilocus sequence analysis, which included the gyrB , recA and 16S rRNA genes, revealing that these strains represented two coherent lineages that were distinct from each other and from all known species. The names Acinetobacter portensis sp. nov. (comprising four strains) and Acinetobacter guerrae sp. nov. (comprising two strains) are proposed for these novel species. The species status of these two groups was confirmed by low (below 95 %) whole-genome sequence average nucleotide identity values and low (below 70 %) digital DNA-DNA hybridization similarities between the whole-genome sequences of the proposed type strains of each novel species and the representatives of the known Acinetobacter species. Phylogenomic treeing from core genome analysis supported these results. The coherence of each new species lineage was supported by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry differentiation of the species at the protein level, by cellular fatty acid profiles, and by unique and differential combinations of metabolic and physiological properties shared by each novel species. The type strain of A. portensis sp. nov. is AC 877 T (=CCUG 68672 T =CCM 8789 T ) and the type strain of A. guerrae sp. nov. is AC 1271 T (=CCUG 68674 T =CCM 8791 T ).

We present the first complete, closed genome sequences of Streptococcus pyogenes strains NCTC 8198 T and CCUG 4207 T , the type strain of the type species of the genus Streptococcus and an important human pathogen that causes a wide range of infectious diseases. S. pyogenes NCTC 8198 T and CCUG 4207 T are derived from deposit of the same strain at two different culture collections. NCTC 8198 T was sequenced, using a PacBio platform; the genome sequence was assembled de novo, using HGAP. CCUG 4207 T was sequenced and a de novo hybrid assembly was generated, using SPAdes, combining Illumina and Oxford Nanopore sequence reads. Both strategies yielded closed genome sequences of 1,914,862 bp, identical in length and sequence identity. Combining short-read Illumina and long-read Oxford Nanopore sequence data circumvented the expected error rate of the nanopore sequencing technology, producing a genome sequence indistinguishable to the one determined with PacBio. Sequence analyses revealed five prophage regions, a CRISPR-Cas system, numerous virulence factors and no relevant antibiotic resistance genes. These two complete genome sequences of the type strain of S. pyogenes will effectively serve as valuable taxonomic and genomic references for infectious disease diagnostics, as well as references for future studies and applications within the genus Streptococcus.

Correct identifications of isolates and strains of the Mitis-Group of the genus Streptococcus are particularly difficult, due to high genetic similarity, resulting from horizontal gene transfer and homologous recombination, and unreliable phenotypic and genotypic biomarkers for differentiating the species. Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus pseudopneumoniae are the most closely related species of the clade. In this study, publicly-available genome sequences for Streptococcus pneumoniae and S. pseudopneumoniae were analyzed, using a pangenomic approach, to find candidates for species-unique gene markers; ten species-unique genes for S. pneumoniae and nine for S. pseudopneumoniae were identified. These species-unique gene marker candidates were verified by PCR assays for identifying S. pneumoniae and S. pseudopneumoniae strains isolated from clinical samples. All determined species-level unique gene markers for S. pneumoniae were detected in all S. pneumoniae clinical isolates, whereas fewer of the unique S. pseudopneumoniae gene markers were present in more than 95% of the clinical isolates. In parallel, taxonomic identifications of the clinical isolates were confirmed, using conventional optochin sensitivity testing, targeted PCR-detection for the "Xisco" gene, as well as genomic ANIb similarity analyses for the genome sequences of selected strains. Using mass spectrometry-proteomics, species-specific peptide matches were observed for four of the S. pneumoniae gene markers and for three of the S. pseudopneumoniae gene markers. Application of multiple species-level unique biomarkers of S. pneumoniae and S. pseudopneumoniae , is proposed as a protocol for the routine clinical laboratory for improved, reliable differentiation, and identification of these pathogenic and commensal species., (Copyright © 2020 Gonzales-Siles, Karlsson, Schmidt, Salvà-Serra, Jaén-Luchoro, Skovbjerg, Moore and Gomila.)

Mass spectrometry (MS) and proteomics offer comprehensive characterization and identification of microorganisms and discovery of protein biomarkers that are applicable for diagnostics of infectious diseases. The use of biomarkers for diagnostics is widely applied in the clinic and the use of peptide biomarkers is increasingly being investigated for applications in the clinical laboratory. Respiratory-tract infections are a predominant cause for medical treatment, although, clinical assessments and standard clinical laboratory protocols are time-consuming and often inadequate for reliable diagnoses. Novel methods, preferably applied directly to clinical samples, excluding cultivation steps, are needed to improve diagnostics of infectious diseases, provide adequate treatment and reduce the use of antibiotics and associated development of antibiotic resistance. This study applied nano-liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with tandem MS, with a bioinformatics pipeline and an in-house database of curated high-quality reference genome sequences to identify species-unique peptides as potential biomarkers for four bacterial pathogens commonly found in respiratory tract infections (RTIs): Staphylococcus aureus ; Moraxella catarrhalis ; Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae The species-unique peptides were initially identified in pure cultures of bacterial reference strains, reflecting the genomic variation in the four species and, furthermore, in clinical respiratory tract samples, without prior cultivation, elucidating proteins expressed in clinical conditions of infection. For each of the four bacterial pathogens, the peptide biomarker candidates most predominantly found in clinical samples, are presented. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD014522. As proof-of-principle, the most promising species-unique peptides were applied in targeted tandem MS-analyses of clinical samples and their relevance for identifications of the pathogens, i.e. proteotyping, was validated, thus demonstrating their potential as peptide biomarker candidates for diagnostics of infectious diseases., (© 2020 Karlsson et al.)

Clinical and environmental-associated strains (n=17), genotypically related to Corynebacterium spp., yet distinct from any species of the genus Corynebacterium with validly published names, have been isolated during the last 20 years and tentatively identified as Corynebacterium sanguinis, although the combination, "Corynebacterium sanguinis" was never validly published. The comprehensive genotypic and phenotypic characterisations and genomic analyses in this study support the proposal for recognizing the species within the genus Corynebacterium, for which the name, Corynebacterium sanguinis sp. nov., is reaffirmed and proposed. Strains of Corynebacterium sanguinis are Gram-positive, non-motile, non-spore-forming, short, pleomorphic and coryneform bacilli, growing aerobically, with CO 2 . They contain mycolic acids, major respiratory menaquinones, MK-8 (II-H 2 ) and MK-9 (II-H 2 ), and polar lipids, phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, phosphoglycolipid, glycolipids and a novel lipid that remains to be characterized and identified. Strains of Corynebacterium sanguinis are genotypically most similar to Corynebacterium lipophiliflavum, with 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities of 98.3% and rpoB sequence similarities of 94.9-95.2%. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) analysis were able to clearly differentiate Corynebacterium sanguinis from the most closely related species. The genome size of Corynebacterium sanguinis is 2.28-2.37Mbp with 65.1-65.5mol% G+C content. A total of 2202-2318 ORFs were predicted, comprising 2141-2251 protein-encoding genes. The type strain is CCUG 58655 T (=CCM 8873 T =NCTC 14287 T )., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier GmbH.. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Correct serotype identification of Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is important for monitoring disease epidemiology and assessing the impacts of pneumococcal vaccines. Furthermore, correct identification and differentiation of the pathogenic S. pneumoniae from closely related commensal species of the mitis group of the genus Streptococcus are essential for correct serotype identification., Methodology: A new protocol for determining the existing 98 serotypes of pneumococcus was developed, applying two PCR amplifications and amplicon sequencing, using newly designed internal primers. The new protocol was validated using S. pneumoniae genome sequences, reference strains with confirmed serotypes and clinical isolates, and comparing the results with those from the traditional Quellung reaction or antiserum panel gel precipitation, in addition to real-time PCR analysis. The taxonomic identifications of 422 publicly available (GenBank) genome sequences of S. pneumoniae, Streptococcus pseudopneumoniae and Streptococcus mitis were assessed by whole-genome sequence average nucleotide identity based on blast (ANIb) analysis., Results: The proposed sequetyping protocol generates a 1017 bp whole cpsB region sequence, increasing resolution for serotype identification in pneumococcus isolates. The identifications of all GenBank genome sequences of S. pneumoniae were confirmed, whereas most of the S. pseudopneumoniae and almost all of the S. mitis genome sequences did not fulfil the ANIb thresholds for species-level identification. The housekeeping biomarker gene, groEL, correctly identified S. pneumoniae but often misclassified S. pseudopneumoniae and S. mitis as S. pneumoniae., Conclusions: These studies affirm the importance of applying reliable identification protocols for S. pneumoniae before serotyping; our protocols provide reliable diagnostic tools, as well as an improved workflow, for serotype identification of pneumococcus and differentiation of serogroup 6 types.

Objectives: To determine the antibiotic susceptibility and serotype distribution of colonizing Streptococcus pneumoniae in Tanzanian children. Serial cross-sectional surveys were performed following the national introduction of the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) in December 2012., Methods: A total of 775 children less than 2 years of age were recruited at primary health centres in Moshi, Tanzania between 2013 and 2015, and samples were obtained from the nasopharynx. S. pneumoniae were isolated by culture and tested for antibiotic susceptibility by disc diffusion and E-test methods; molecular testing was used to determine serotype/group., Results: Penicillin non-susceptibility in the isolated pneumococci increased significantly from 31% (36/116) in 2013, to 47% (30/64) in 2014 and 53% (32/60) in 2015. Non-susceptibility to amoxicillin/ampicillin and ceftriaxone was low (n=8 and n=9, respectively), while 97% (236/244) of the isolates were non-susceptible to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. The majority of the children (54%, n=418) had been treated with antibiotics in the past 3 months, and amoxicillin/ampicillin were overall the most commonly used antibiotics. Carriage of penicillin-non-susceptible pneumococci was more common in children with many siblings. The prevalence of PCV13 serotypes among the detected serotypes/groups decreased from 56% (40/71) in 2013 to 23% (13/56) in 2015., Conclusions: Penicillin non-susceptibility in S. pneumoniae colonizing Tanzanian children increased during an observation period shortly after the introduction of PCV13. Measures to ensure rational use of antibiotics and more effective systems for surveillance of antibiotic resistance and serotype distribution are needed to assure continued effective treatment of pneumococcal disease., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

A novel Gram-positive, non-motile, non-spore-forming and aerobic bacterium, designated strain VA37-3 T , was isolated from a marine sediment sample collected at 19.2 m water depth from Valparaíso bay, Chile. Strain VA37-3 T exhibits 97.6 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to Corynebacterium marinum D7015 T , 96.4 % to Corynebacterium humireducens MFC-5 T and 96 % to Corynebacterium testudinoris M935/96/4 T ; and a rpoB gene sequence similarity of 85.1 % to Corynebacterium pollutisoli VMS11 T , both analyses suggesting that strain VA37-3 T represents a novel species of Corynebacterium. Physiological testing indicated that strain VA37-3 T requires artificial sea water or sodium-supplemented media for growth, representing the first obligate marine actinomycete of the genus Corynebacterium. The genome of the proposed new species, along with the type strains of its most closely related species were sequenced and characterized. In silico genome-based similarity analyses revealed an ANIb of 72.8 % (C. marinum D7015 T ), ANIm of 85.0 % (Corynebacterium mustelae DSM 45274 T ), tetra of 0.90 (Corynebacterium callunae DSM 20147 T ) and ggdc of 24.7 % (Corynebacterium kutscheri DSM 20755 T ) when compared with the closest related strains. The genomic DNA G+C content of strain VA37-3 T was 57.0 %. Chemotaxonomic assessment of strain VN6-2 T showed the major fatty acids were C18 : 1ω9c and C16 : 0. Menaquinones predominantly consisted of MK-8(II-H2). Polar lipids consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, glycolipids, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphoglycolipid and phosphatidylinositol. Mycolic acids also were present. Overall, the results from phylogenetic, phenotypic and genomic analyses confirmed that strain VA37-3 T represents a novel species of the genus Corynebacterium, for which the name Corynebacterium alimapuense sp. nov. is proposed, with VA37-3 T as the type strain (=CCUG 69366 T =NCIMB 15118 T ).

Water borne diarrheal pathogens might accumulate in river water and cause contamination of drinking and irrigation water. The La Paz River basin, including the Choqueyapu River, flows through La Paz city in Bolivia where it is receiving sewage, and residues from inhabitants, hospitals, and industry. Using quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR), we determined the quantity and occurrence of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC), Salmonella enterica, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Shigella spp. and total enterobacteria in river water, downstream agricultural soil, and irrigated crops, during one year of sampling. The most abundant and frequently detected genes were gapA and eltB, indicating presence of enterobacteria and enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) carrying the heat labile toxin, respectively. Pathogen levels in the samples were significantly positively associated with high water conductivity and low water temperature. In addition, a set of bacterial isolates from water, soil and crops were analyzed by PCR for presence of the genes blaCTX-M, blaKPC, blaNDM, blaVIM and blaOXA-48. Four isolates were found to be positive for blaCTX-M genes and whole genome sequencing identified them as E. coli and one Enterobacter cloacae. The E. coli isolates belonged to the emerging, globally disseminated, multi-resistant E. coli lineages ST648, ST410 and ST162. The results indicate not only a high potential risk of transmission of diarrheal diseases by the consumption of contaminated water and vegetables but also the possibility of antibiotic resistance transfer from the environment to the community., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

A range of methodologies may be used for analyzing bacteria, depending on the purpose and the level of resolution needed. The capability for recognition of species distinctions within the complex spectrum of bacterial diversity is necessary for progress in microbiological research. In clinical settings, accurate, rapid and cost-effective methods are essential for early and efficient treatment of infections. Characterization and identification of microorganisms, using, bottom-up proteomics, or "proteotyping", relies on recognition of species-unique or associated peptides, by tandem mass spectrometry analyses, dependent upon an accurate and comprehensive foundation of genome sequence data, allowing for differentiation of species, at amino acid-level resolution. In this study, the high resolution and accuracy of MS/MS-based proteotyping was demonstrated, through analyses of the three phylogenetically and taxonomically most closely-related species of the Mitis Group of the genus Streptococcus: i.e., the pathogenic species, Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus), and the commensal species, Streptococcus pseudopneumoniae and Streptococcus mitis. To achieve high accuracy, a genome sequence database used for matching peptides was created and carefully curated. Here, MS-based, bottom-up proteotyping was observed and confirmed to attain the level of resolution necessary for differentiating and identifying the most-closely related bacterial species, as demonstrated by analyses of species of the Streptococcus Mitis Group, even when S. pneumoniae were mixed with S. pseudopneumoniae and S. mitis, by matching and identifying more than 200 unique peptides for each species., Competing Interests: Authors AK and RK are affiliated to a company, Nanoxis Consulting AB. The company did not have influence on the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data, the writing of the paper, or the decision to submit for publication. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Background: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines have been introduced in the infant immunisation programmes in many countries to reduce the rate of fatal pneumococcal infections. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) a 13-valent vaccine (PCV13) was introduced in 2013. Data on the burden of circulating pneumococci among children after this introduction are lacking. In this study, we aimed to determine the risk factors related to pneumococcal carriage in healthy Congolese children after the vaccine introduction and to assess the antibiotic resistance rates and serotype distribution among the isolated pneumococci., Methods: In 2014 and 2015, 794 healthy children aged one to 60 months attending health centres in the eastern part of DR Congo for immunisation or growth monitoring were included in the study. Data on socio-demographic and medical factors were collected by interviews with the children's caregivers. Nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained from all the children for bacterial culture, and isolated pneumococci were further tested for antimicrobial resistance using disc diffusion tests and, when indicated, minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) determination, and for serotype/serogroup by molecular testing., Results: The pneumococcal detection rate was 21%, being higher among children who had not received PCV13 vaccination, lived in rural areas, had an enclosed kitchen, were malnourished or presented with fever (p value < 0.05). The predominant serotypes were 19F, 11, 6A/B/C/D and 10A. More than 50% of the pneumococcal isolates belonged to a serotype/serogroup not included in PCV13. Eighty per cent of the isolates were not susceptible to benzylpenicillin and non-susceptibility to ampicillin and ceftriaxone was also high (42 and 37% respectively). Almost all the isolates (94%) were resistant to trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole, while 43% of the strains were resistant to ≥3 antibiotics., Conclusions: Our study shows alarmingly high levels of reduced susceptibility to commonly used antibiotics in pneumococci carried by healthy Congolese children. This highlights the importance of local antibiotic resistance surveillance and indicates the needs for the more appropriate use of antibiotics in the area. The results further indicate that improved living conditions are needed to reduce the pneumococcal burden, in addition to PCV13 vaccination.

We describe a PCR-assay differentiating Streptococcus pneumoniae from closely-related species of the Mitis group of the genus Streptococcus and identification of pneumococcus clinical isolates, based on the "Xisco" gene discriminatory marker. The complete "Xisco" gene sequence was observed in all S. pneumoniae genomes analyzed and absent in all non-pneumococcus genomes., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Methods for rapid and reliable microbial identification are essential in modern healthcare. The ability to detect and correctly identify pathogenic species and their resistance phenotype is necessary for accurate diagnosis and efficient treatment of infectious diseases. Bottom-up tandem mass spectrometry (MS) proteomics enables rapid characterization of large parts of the expressed genes of microorganisms. However, the generated data are highly fragmented, making downstream analyses complex. Here we present TCUP, a new computational method for typing and characterizing bacteria using proteomics data from bottom-up tandem MS. TCUP compares the generated protein sequence data to reference databases and automatically finds peptides suitable for characterization of taxonomic composition and identification of expressed antimicrobial resistance genes. TCUP was evaluated using several clinically relevant bacterial species ( Escherichia coli , Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Staphylococcus aureus , Streptococcus pneumoniae, Moraxella catarrhalis, and Haemophilus influenzae ), using both simulated data generated by in silico peptide digestion and experimental proteomics data generated by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS). The results showed that TCUP performs correct peptide classifications at rates between 90.3 and 98.5% at the species level. The method was also able to estimate the relative abundances of individual species in mixed cultures. Furthermore, TCUP could identify expressed β-lactamases in an extended spectrum β-lactamase-producing (ESBL) E. coli strain, even when the strain was cultivated in the absence of antibiotics. Finally, TCUP is computationally efficient, easy to integrate in existing bioinformatics workflows, and freely available under an open source license for both Windows and Linux environments., (© 2017 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.)

Background: Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is a major cause of diarrhea in children and travelers to endemic areas. Secretion of the heat labile AB 5 toxin (LT) is induced by alkaline conditions. In this study, we determined the surface proteome of ETEC exposed to alkaline conditions (pH 9) as compared to neutral conditions (pH 7) using a LPI Hexalane FlowCell combined with quantitative proteomics. Relative quantitation with isobaric labeling (TMT) was used to compare peptide abundance and their corresponding proteins in multiple samples at MS/MS level. For protein identification and quantification samples were analyzed using either a 1D-LCMS or a 2D-LCMS approach., Results: Strong up-regulation of the ATP synthase operon encoding F1Fo ATP synthase and down-regulation of proton pumping proteins NuoF, NuoG, Ndh and WrbA were detected among proteins involved in regulating the proton and electron transport under alkaline conditions. Reduced expression of proteins involved in osmotic stress was found at alkaline conditions while the Sec-dependent transport over the inner membrane and outer membrane protein proteins such as OmpA and the β-Barrel Assembly Machinery (BAM) complex were up-regulated., Conclusions: ETEC exposed to alkaline environments express a specific proteome profile characterized by up-regulation of membrane proteins and secretion of LT toxin. Alkaline microenvironments have been reported close to the intestinal epithelium and the alkaline proteome may hence represent a better view of ETEC during infection.

Moraxella catarrhalis is a Gram-negative commensal and pathogenic bacterium found in the human respiratory tract. It is associated with otitis media and respiratory tract infections. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of M. catarrhalis type strain CCUG 353(T), composed of 18 contigs and a total size of 1.89 Mb., (Copyright © 2016 Jakobsson et al.)

Streptococcus gordoniitype strain CCUG 33482(T)is a member of theStreptococcus mitisgroup, isolated from a case of subacute bacterial endocarditis. Here, we report the draft genome sequence ofS. gordoniiCCUG 33482(T), composed of 41 contigs of a total size of 2.15 Mb with 2,061 annotated coding sequences., (Copyright © 2016 Salvà-Serra et al.)

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is a water and food-borne pathogen that infects the small intestine of the human gut and causes diarrhoea. Enterotoxigenic E. coli adheres to the epithelium by means of colonization factors and secretes two enterotoxins, the heat labile toxin and/or the heat stable toxin that both deregulate ion channels and cause secretory diarrhoea. Enterotoxigenic E. coli as all E. coli, is a versatile organism able to survive and grow in different environments. During transmission and infection, ETEC is exposed to various environmental cues that have an impact on survivability and virulence. The ability to cope with exposure to different stressful habitats is probably shaping the pool of virulent ETEC strains that cause both endemic and epidemic infections. This review will focus on the ecology of ETEC in its different habitats and interactions with other organisms as well as abiotic factors., (© 2015 The Authors. Environmental Microbiology published by Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Modern microbial systematics requires a range of methodologies for the comprehensive characterization, classification and identification of microorganisms. While whole-genome sequences provide the ultimate reference for defining microbial phylogeny and taxonomy, selected biomarker-based strategies continue to provide the means for the bulk of microbial systematic studies. Proteomics, the study of the expression of genes, as well as the structure and function of the resulting proteins, offers indirect measures of genome sequence data. Recent developments in applications of proteomics for analyzing microorganisms have paralleled the growing microbial genome sequence database, as well as the evolution of mass spectrometry (MS) instrumentation and bioinformatics. MALDI-TOF MS, which generates proteomic mass patterns for 'fingerprint'-based characterizations, has provided a marked breakthrough for microbial identification. However, MALDI-TOF MS is limited in the number of targets that can be detected for strain characterization. Advanced methods of tandem mass spectrometry, in which proteins and peptides generated from proteins, are characterized and identified, using LC-MS/MS, provide the ability to detect hundreds or thousands of expressed microbial strain markers for high-resolution characterizations and identifications. Model studies demonstrate the application of proteomics-based analyses for bacterial species- and strain-level detection and identification and for characterization of environmentally relevant, metabolically diverse bacteria. Proteomics-based approaches represent an emerging complement to traditional methods of characterizing microorganisms, enabling the elucidation of the expressed biomarkers of genome sequence information, which can be applied to 'proteotyping' applications of microorganisms at all taxonomic levels., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)