Subtyping of Salmonella enterica Subspecies I Using Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Adenylate Cyclase

Methods to rapidly identify serotypes of Salmonella enterica subspecies I are of vital importance for protecting the safety of food. To supplement the serotyping method dkgB-linked intergenic sequence ribotyping (ISR), single-nucleotide polymorphisms were characterized within adenylate cyclase (cyaA). The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database had 378 cyaA sequences from S. enterica subspecies I, which included 42 unique DNA sequences and 19 different amino acid sequences. Five representative isolates, namely serotypes Typhimurium, Kentucky, Enteritidis phage type PT4, and two variants of Enteritidis phage type PT13a, were differentiated within a microsphere-based fluidics system in cyaA by allele-specific primer extension. Validation against 25 poultry-related environmental Salmonella isolates representing 11 serotypes yielded a ∼89% success rate at identifying the serotype of the isolate, and a different region could be targeted to achieve 100%. When coupled with ISR, all serotypes were differentiated. Phage lineages of serotype Enteritidis 13a and 4 were identified, and a biofilm-forming strain of PT13a was differentiated from a smooth phenotype within phage type. Comparative ranking of mutation indices to genes such as the tRNA transferases, the diguanylate cyclases, and genes used for multilocus sequence typing indicated that cyaA is an appropriate gene for assessing epidemiological trends of Salmonella because of its relative stability in nucleotide composition.