The draft genomes of Elizabethkingia anophelis of equine origin are genetically similar to three isolates from human clinical specimens

PLoS One. 2018 Jul 19;13(7):e0200731. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0200731. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

We report the isolation and characterization of two Elizabethkingia anophelis strains (OSUVM-1 and OSUVM-2) isolated from sources associated with horses in Oklahoma. Both strains appeared susceptible to fluoroquinolones and demonstrated high MICs to all cell wall active antimicrobials including vancomycin, along with aminoglycosides, fusidic acid, chloramphenicol, and tetracycline. Typical of the Elizabethkingia, both draft genomes contained multiple copies of β-lactamase genes as well as genes predicted to function in antimicrobial efflux. Phylogenetic analysis of the draft genomes revealed that OSUVM-1 and OSUVM-2 differ by only 6 SNPs and are in a clade with 3 strains of Elizabethkingia anophelis that were responsible for human infections. These findings therefore raise the possibility that Elizabethkingia might have the potential to move between humans and animals in a manner similar to known zoonotic pathogens.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • Flavobacteriaceae / classification
  • Flavobacteriaceae / genetics*
  • Flavobacteriaceae / physiology
  • Flavobacteriaceae Infections / microbiology
  • Flavobacteriaceae Infections / veterinary
  • Genes, Bacterial / genetics*
  • Genetic Variation*
  • Genome, Bacterial / genetics*
  • Horse Diseases / microbiology
  • Horses
  • Host Specificity
  • Humans
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Phylogeny
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Species Specificity

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents

Grants and funding

WLJ, NJT and JEG acknowledge support from the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station (http://oaes.okstate.edu/). CDC research was supported by the Advanced Molecular Detection (AMD) initiative (https://www.cdc.gov/amd/index.html). The funders played no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.