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Heuristic Mining of Hierarchical Genotypes and Accessory Genome Loci in Bacterial Populations
Published on: December 7, 2021
Diversity of seM in Streptococcus equi subsp. equi isolated from strangles outbreaks
Felipe Libardoni1, Andréia Vielmo1, Luana Farias1
1Laboratório de Bacteriologia, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Medicina Veterinária, 97105-900 Santa Maria, RS, Brazil.
Veterinary Microbiology
|October 6, 2012
Summary
Strangles, a horse respiratory disease, shows greater M protein gene (seM) allele diversity in Brazil than globally. This finding aids in developing targeted vaccines for Streptococcus equi ssp. equi (S. equi) control.
Area of Science:
- Veterinary Medicine
- Microbiology
- Genetics
Background:
- Strangles is a primary equine upper respiratory tract disease caused by Streptococcus equi ssp. equi (S. equi).
- Limited data exists on the genetic diversity of S. equi, specifically seM alleles, in Brazilian horse populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To molecularly analyze and differentiate S. equi isolates from southern Brazil (1994-2010).
- To characterize seM alleles in S. equi to understand their diversity and geographic distribution.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of seM alleles from 47 S. equi isolates from clinical strangles cases.
- Comparison of variable region sequences of the seM gene.
- Phylogenetic grouping using Neighbor-joining analysis.
Main Results:
- Fifteen distinct seM alleles were identified among the 47 Brazilian S. equi isolates.
- Only one allele (seM-61) was previously documented in the PubMLST-seM database.
- New alleles seM-115 (27.7%) and seM-117 (21.3%) were the most prevalent in this study.
- Brazilian isolates exhibited significantly greater seM allele diversity compared to global data.
Conclusions:
- The Brazilian horse population harbors a high diversity of seM alleles in S. equi.
- This genetic diversity has implications for strangles vaccine efficacy.
- Identifying specific seM alleles is crucial for developing effective commercial and autogenous vaccines against strangles.
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