Comparison ofMycoplasma pneumoniaeGenome Sequences from Strains Isolated from Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Patients.
Mycoplasma pneumoniaeis a common cause of respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in children. We recently demonstrated that this bacterium can be carried asymptomatically in the respiratory tract of children. To identify potential genetic differences betweenM. pneumoniaestrains that are carried asymptomatically and those that cause symptomatic infections, we performed whole-genome sequence analysis of 20M. pneumoniaestrains. The analyzed strains included 3 reference strains, 3 strains isolated from asymptomatic children, 13 strains isolated from clinically well-defined patients suffering from an upper (n= 4) or lower (n= 9) RTI, and one strain isolated from a follow-up patient who recently recovered from an RTI. The obtained sequences were each compared to the sequences of the reference strains. To find differences between strains isolated from asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals, a variant comparison was performed between the different groups of strains. Irrespective of the group (asymptomatic vs. symptomatic) from which the strains originated, subtype 1 and subtype 2 strains formed separate clusters. We could not identify a specific genotype associated withM. pneumoniaevirulence. However, we found marked genetic differences between clinical isolates and the reference strains, which indicated that the latter strains may not be regarded as appropriate representatives of circulatingM. pneumoniaestrains.
Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Emiel B M
EB
Spuesens
Center for Biomics, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Rutger W W
RW
Brouwer
Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Kristin H J M
KH
Mol
Laboratory of Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Theo
T
Hoogenboezem
Center for Biomics, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Christel E M
CE
Kockx
Regional Laboratory of Public Health Kennemerland, Department of Molecular Biology Haarlem, Netherlands.
Ruud
R
Jansen
Center for Biomics, Erasmus MC Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Wilfred F J
WF
Van IJcken
Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Annemarie M C
AM
Van Rossum
Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's HospitalRotterdam, Netherlands; Department of Life Sciences, Erasmus University CollegeRotterdam, Netherlands.
Cornelis
C
Vink
Mycoplasma pneumoniae; colonization; infection; respiratory tract infections; whole genome sequencing