Abstract
Streptococcus agalactiae is an invasive multi-host pathogen that causes invasive diseases mainly in newborns, elderly, and individuals with underlying health complications. In fish, S. agalactiae causes streptococcosis, which is characterized by septicemia and neurological signs, and leads to great economic losses to the fish farming industry worldwide. These bacteria can be classified into different serotypes based on capsular antigens, and into different sequence types (ST) based on multilocus sequence typing (MLST). In 2015, serotype III ST283 was identified to be associated with a foodborne invasive disease in non-pregnant immunocompetent humans in Singapore, and the infection was related to raw fish consumption. In addition, a serotype III strain isolated from tilapia in Brazil has been reported to be resistant to five antibiotic classes. This specific serotype can serve as a reservoir of resistance genes and pose a serious threat to public health. Thus, new approaches for the control and treatment of S. agalactiae infections are needed. In the present study, 24 S. agalactiae serotype III complete genomes, isolated from human and fish hosts, were compared. The core genome was identified, and, using bioinformatics tools and subtractive criteria, five proteins were identified as potential drug targets. Furthermore, 5,008 drug-like natural compounds were virtually screened against the identified targets. The ligands with the best binding properties are suggested for further in vitro and in vivo analysis.
Highlights
Streptococcus agalactiae is a multi-host, invasive, Gram-positive pathogen, identified in several species of terrestrial and aquatic mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish (Delannoy et al, 2013)
Based on multilocus sequence typing (MLST), the strains are classified into sequence types (ST), which are further grouped into clonal complexes (CC) (Barony et al, 2017)
It is notable that the genomes of serotype III isolates were found to be highly conserved, and the lowest similarity observed was 82%
Summary
Streptococcus agalactiae is a multi-host, invasive, Gram-positive pathogen, identified in several species of terrestrial and aquatic mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish (Delannoy et al, 2013). Through comparative genomics and bioinformatics approaches, this study screened all the available genomes of S. agalactiae isolated from human and fish hosts in GenBank of National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database for conserved proteins that are not homologous to the host’s proteome and can serve as potential drug targets, and virtually screened for drug-like natural compounds that could bind to the identified drug targets.
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