Poultry-associated Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar 4,12:d:- reveals high clonality and a distinct pathogenicity gene repertoire.
A European baseline survey during the years 2005 and 2006 has revealed that the monophasic Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar 4,12:d:- was, with a prevalence of 23.6%, the most frequently isolated serovar in German broiler flocks. In Denmark and the United Kingdom, its serovar prevalences were 15.15% and 2.8%, respectively. Although poultry is a major source of human salmonellosis, serovar 4,12:d:- is rarely isolated in humans (approximately 0.09% per year). Molecular typing studies using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and DNA microarray analysis show that the serovar is highly clonal and lacks genes with known contributions to pathogenicity. In contrast to other poultry-associated serovars, all strains were susceptible to 17 antimicrobial agents tested and did not encode any resistance determinant. Furthermore, serovar 4,12:d:- lacked the genes involved in galactonate metabolism and in the glycolysis and glyconeogenesis important for energy production in the cells. The conclusion of the study is that serovar 4,12:d:- seems to be primarily adapted to broilers and therefore causes only rare infections in humans.
Huehn
Stephan
S
Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Diedersdorfer Weg 1, D-12277 Berlin, Germany.
Bunge
Cornelia
C
Junker
Ernst
E
Helmuth
Reiner
R
Malorny
Burkhard
B
D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D002645:Chickens; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D003718:Denmark; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D005838:Genotype; D005858:Germany; D006019:Glycolysis; D006801:Humans; D046228:Microarray Analysis; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D012481:Salmonella Infections, Animal / Q000382:microbiology*; D019779:Salmonella enterica / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D013400:Sugar Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D006113:United Kingdom; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D013400:Sugar Acids; D037521:Virulence Factors; C012991:galactonic acid