title: Diversity of O Antigens within the Genus Cronobacter: from Disorder to Order.
abstract: Cronobacter species are Gram-negative opportunistic pathogens that can cause serious infections in neonates. The lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) that form part of the outer membrane of such bacteria are possibly related to the virulence of particular bacterial strains. However, currently there is no clear overview of O-antigen diversity within the various Cronobacter strains and links with virulence. In this study, we tested a total of 82 strains, covering each of the Cronobacter species. The nucleotide variability of the O-antigen gene cluster was determined by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. As a result, the 82 strains were distributed into 11 previously published serotypes and 6 new serotypes, each defined by its characteristic restriction profile. These new serotypes were confirmed using genomic analysis of strains available in public databases: GenBank and PubMLST Cronobacter. Laboratory strains were then tested using the current serotype-specific PCR probes. The results show that the current PCR probes did not always correspond to genomic O-antigen gene cluster variation. In addition, we analyzed the LPS phenotype of the reference strains of all distinguishable serotypes. The identified serotypes were compared with data from the literature and the MLST database (www.pubmlst.org/cronobacter/). Based on the findings, we systematically classified a total of 24 serotypes for the Cronobacter genus. Moreover, we evaluated the clinical history of these strains and show that Cronobacter sakazakii O2, O1, and O4, C. turicensis O1, and C. malonaticus O2 serotypes are particularly predominant in clinical cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Prague, Czech Republic martina.blazkova@vscht.cz.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blažková
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Barbora
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Javůrková
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jiří
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vlach
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Göselová
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Ludmila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Karamonová
authors.affiliation: Pathogen Research Group, School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Pauline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ogrodzki
authors.affiliation: Pathogen Research Group, School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Forsythe
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Ladislav
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fukal
mesh_terms: D059126:Cronobacter / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004756:Enterobacteriaceae Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D005810:Multigene Family; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D019081:O Antigens / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics*; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D065288:Serogroup
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D019081:O Antigens; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes