title: Whole genome sequencing revealed host adaptation-focused genomic plasticity of pathogenic Leptospira.
abstract: Leptospirosis, caused by pathogenic Leptospira spp., has recently been recognized as an emerging infectious disease worldwide. Despite its severity and global importance, knowledge about the molecular pathogenesis and virulence evolution of Leptospira spp. remains limited. Here we sequenced and analyzed 102 isolates representing global sources. A high genomic variability were observed among different Leptospira species, which was attributed to massive gene gain and loss events allowing for adaptation to specific niche conditions and changing host environments. Horizontal gene transfer and gene duplication allowed the stepwise acquisition of virulence factors in pathogenic Leptospira evolved from a recent common ancestor. More importantly, the abundant expansion of specific virulence-related protein families, such as metalloproteases-associated paralogs, were exclusively identified in pathogenic species, reflecting the importance of these protein families in the pathogenesis of leptospirosis. Our observations also indicated that positive selection played a crucial role on this bacteria adaptation to hosts. These novel findings may lead to greater understanding of the global diversity and virulence evolution of Leptospira spp.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Health for Research on Quality and Standardization of Biotech Products, National Institutes of Food and Drug Control, Beijing 100050, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yinghua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Medical Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 280 South Chongqing Road, Shanghai 200025, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yongzhang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Shanghai-MOST Key Laboratory of Health and Disease Genomics, Chinese National Human Genome Center at Shanghai, Shanghai Zhang Jiang Hi-TechPark, 250 Bi-Bo Road, Shanghai 201203, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yuezhu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14853, United States of America.
authors.forename: Yung-Fu
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Health for Research on Quality and Standardization of Biotech Products, National Institutes of Food and Drug Control, Beijing 100050, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 155 Changbai Road, Changping District, 102206 Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiugao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Medical Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 280 South Chongqing Road, Shanghai 200025, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xuran
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhuang
authors.affiliation: Shanghai-MOST Key Laboratory of Health and Disease Genomics, Chinese National Human Genome Center at Shanghai, Shanghai Zhang Jiang Hi-TechPark, 250 Bi-Bo Road, Shanghai 201203, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yongqiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Health for Research on Quality and Standardization of Biotech Products, National Institutes of Food and Drug Control, Beijing 100050, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jinlong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Medical Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 280 South Chongqing Road, Shanghai 200025, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Lingbing
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Shanghai-MOST Key Laboratory of Health and Disease Genomics, Chinese National Human Genome Center at Shanghai, Shanghai Zhang Jiang Hi-TechPark, 250 Bi-Bo Road, Shanghai 201203, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Minjun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Guizhou Provincial Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 73 Bageyan Road, Guiyang 550004, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shijun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Shanghai-MOST Key Laboratory of Health and Disease Genomics, Chinese National Human Genome Center at Shanghai, Shanghai Zhang Jiang Hi-TechPark, 250 Bi-Bo Road, Shanghai 201203, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shengyue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Health for Research on Quality and Standardization of Biotech Products, National Institutes of Food and Drug Control, Beijing 100050, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Health for Research on Quality and Standardization of Biotech Products, National Institutes of Food and Drug Control, Beijing 100050, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaofang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xin
authors.affiliation: Shanghai-MOST Key Laboratory of Health and Disease Genomics, Chinese National Human Genome Center at Shanghai, Shanghai Zhang Jiang Hi-TechPark, 250 Bi-Bo Road, Shanghai 201203, People's Republic of China.|Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200032, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Guoping
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Medical Foods, Shanghai Institute of Planned Parenthood Research, 2140 Xie-Tu Road, Shanghai 200032, People's Republic of China.|Shanghai-MOST Key Laboratory of Health and Disease Genomics, Chinese National Human Genome Center at Shanghai, Shanghai Zhang Jiang Hi-TechPark, 250 Bi-Bo Road, Shanghai 201203, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Huajun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Medical Science, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 280 South Chongqing Road, Shanghai 200025, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaokui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Health for Research on Quality and Standardization of Biotech Products, National Institutes of Food and Drug Control, Beijing 100050, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Junzhi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D016680:Genome, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D006801:Humans; D007919:Leptospira / Q000235:genetics*; D007922:Leptospirosis / Q000235:genetics; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D037521:Virulence Factors
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