Abstract
Yersinia pseudotuberculosis is a Gram-negative intestinal pathogen of humans and has been responsible for several nationwide gastrointestinal outbreaks. Large-scale population genomic studies have been performed on the other human pathogenic species of the genus Yersinia, Yersinia pestis and Yersinia enterocolitica allowing a high-resolution understanding of the ecology, evolution and dissemination of these pathogens. However, to date no purpose-designed large-scale global population genomic analysis of Y. pseudotuberculosis has been performed. Here we present analyses of the genomes of 134 strains of Y. pseudotuberculosis isolated from around the world, from multiple ecosystems since the 1960s. Our data display a phylogeographic split within the population, with an Asian ancestry and subsequent dispersal of successful clonal lineages into Europe and the rest of the world. These lineages can be differentiated by CRISPR cluster arrays, and we show that the lineages are limited with respect to inter-lineage genetic exchange. This restriction of genetic exchange maintains the discrete lineage structure in the population despite co-existence of lineages for thousands of years in multiple countries. Our data highlights how CRISPR can be informative of the evolutionary trajectory of bacterial lineages, and merits further study across bacteria.
Highlights
The genus Yersinia belongs to the Gram-negative bacterial family Enterobacteriaceae, and is a model genus for studying the evolution of bacterial pathogens [1]
By analysing a set of geographically and temporally distributed genomes we show that evolution within Y. pseudotuberculosis differs from that seen in the other two human pathogenic species of the genus Yersinia
The genus Yersinia has acted as a model for developing our understanding of microbial pathogenesis, molecular microbiology and microbial evolution [1]
Summary
The genus Yersinia belongs to the Gram-negative bacterial family Enterobacteriaceae, and is a model genus for studying the evolution of bacterial pathogens [1]. Three species of Yersinia are well-recognised human pathogens: the plague bacillus Yersinia pestis, and the enteropathogenic Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia enterocolitica [1]. Y. pseudotuberculosis, which causes infection in a broad range of hosts, including domesticated and wild animals, has been associated with foodborne infection in humans – known as yersiniosis. Transmission of the bacterium is usually through the faecal–oral route, and human infection can result from the ingestion of contaminated food products or water, or otherwise by direct contact with an infected animal or human [2,3,4,5]. Y. pseudotuberculosis is found widely in the environment, including soil [6], and in animals it causes a tuberculosis-like disease [6]. Human cases of Y. pseudotuberculosis infections are usually sporadic, several large outbreaks have been reported in Finland and recently in New Zealand [7, 8]. The efficacy of serotyping is very limited due to a large proportion of strains belonging to serotypes O : 1a, O : 1b and O : 3 [8, 10]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
