Development of a multilocus sequence typing scheme for Ureaplasma
1Clinical Laboratory, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310016, China.
Summary
A new multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme effectively differentiates Ureaplasma strains, revealing distinct population structures and linking specific lineages to Ureaplasma parvum and Ureaplasma urealyticum infections.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Molecular Epidemiology
- Genetics
Background:
- Ureaplasma is a common human urogenital commensal.
- It is linked to various invasive diseases, including non-gonococcal urethritis, infertility, and adverse pregnancy outcomes.
- Understanding Ureaplasma's molecular epidemiology is crucial for disease control.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme for Ureaplasma.
- To analyze the molecular epidemiology and population structure of Ureaplasma clinical isolates.
- To correlate genetic lineages with Ureaplasma species and clinical manifestations.
Main Methods:
- Developed an MLST scheme using four housekeeping genes (ftsH, rpL22, valS, thrS).
- Validated the scheme on 283 Ureaplasma isolates, including reference strains and clinical samples.
- Employed eBURST analysis and neighbor-joining tree construction for population structure analysis.
Main Results:
- Identified 99 unique sequence types (STs), with ST1 and ST22 being predominant.
- Revealed two major clonal lineages (CC1 and CC2), corresponding to Ureaplasma parvum (UPA) and Ureaplasma urealyticum (UUR) respectively.
- CC2 (UUR) was more frequently associated with symptomatic vaginitis, tubal obstruction, and cervicitis.
Conclusions:
- The developed MLST scheme provides high discriminatory power for Ureaplasma molecular epidemiology.
- The study elucidated distinct population structures and species-specific clonal lineages.
- Findings highlight the potential of MLST for understanding Ureaplasma-associated diseases.
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