Browsing by Author "Chen, Zhao"

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    A multicenter genomic epidemiological investigation in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico reveals the diversity and persistence of Salmonella populations in surface waters
    (2024) Chen, Zhao; Moreno-Switt, Andrea I.; Reyes-Jara, Angelica; Suarez, Enrique Delgado; Adell, Aiko D.; Oliveira, Celso Jose Bruno; Bonelli, Raquel Regina; Huang, Xinyang; Brown, Eric; Allard, Marc; Grim, Christopher; Bell, Rebecca; Meng, Jianghong; Toro, Magaly
    This study examined the diversity and persistence of Salmonella in the surface waters of agricultural regions of Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. Research groups (three in 2019-2020 and five in 2021-2022) conducted a long-term survey of surface water across 5-8 months annually (n = 30 monthly). On-site, each team filtered 10-L water samples with modified Moore Swabs to capture Salmonella, which were then isolated and identified using conventional microbiological techniques. Salmonella isolates were sequenced on Illumina platforms. Salmonella was present in 1,493/3,291 water samples (45.8%), with varying isolation rates across countries and years. Newport, Infantis, and Typhimurium were the most frequent among the 128 different serovars. Notably, 22 serovars were found in all three countries, representing almost half of the 1,911 different isolates collected. The resistome comprised 72 antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes and six point mutations in three genes. At least one AMR determinant was observed in 33.8% (646/1,911) of the isolates, of which 47.4% (306/646) were potentially multidrug resistant. Phylogeny based on core genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST) showed that most isolates clustered according to sequence type and country of origin. Only 14 cgMLST multi-country clusters were detected among the 275 clusters. However, further analysis confirmed that close genetic relatedness occurred mostly among isolates from the same country, with three exceptions. Interestingly, isolates closely related phylogenetically were recovered over multiple years within the same country, indicating the persistence of certain Salmonella in those areas. In conclusion, surface waters in these regions are consistently contaminated with diverse Salmonella, including strains that persist over time. IMPORTANCE Salmonella is a leading foodborne pathogen responsible for millions of illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths annually. Although Salmonella-contaminated water has now been recognized as an important contamination source in the agrifood chain, there is a lack of knowledge on the global occurrence and diversity of Salmonella in surface water. Moreover, there has been insufficient research on Salmonella in surface waters from Latin American countries that are major producers and exporters of agricultural products. Incorporating genetic profiling of Salmonella isolates from underrepresented regions, such as Latin America, enhances our understanding of the pathogen's ecology, evolution, antimicrobial resistance, and pathogenicity. Moreover, leveraging genomic data derived from pathogens isolated from diverse geographical areas is critical for assessing the potential public health risk posed by the pathogen and expediting investigations of foodborne outbreaks. Ultimately, global efforts contribute significantly to reducing the incidence of foodborne infections.
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    Integrative genome-centric metagenomics for surface water surveillance: Elucidating microbiomes, antimicrobial resistance, and their associations
    (2024) Huang, Xinyang; Toro, Magaly; Reyes-Jara, Angelica; Moreno-Switt, Andrea, I; Adell, Aiko; Oliveira, Celso J. B.; Bonelli, Raquel R.; Gutierrez, Sebastian; Alvarez, Francisca P.; Rocha, Alan Douglas de Lima; Kraychete, Gabriela B.; Chen, Zhao; Grim, Christopher; Brown, Eric; Bell, Rebecca; Meng, Jianghong
    Surface water ecosystems are intimately intertwined with anthropogenic activities and have significant public health implications as primary sources of irrigation water in agricultural production. Our extensive metagenomic analysis examined 404 surface water samples from four different geological regions in Chile and Brazil, spanning irrigation canals (n = 135), rivers (n = 121), creeks (n = 74), reservoirs (n = 66), and ponds (n = 8). Overall, 50.25 % of the surface water samples contained at least one of the pathogenic or contaminant bacterial genera (Salmonella: 29.21 %; Listeria: 6.19 %; Escherichia: 35.64 %). Furthermore, a total of 1,582 antimicrobial resistance (AMR) gene clusters encoding resistance to 25 antimicrobial classes were identified, with samples from Brazil exhibiting an elevated AMR burden. Samples from stagnant water sources were characterized by dominant Cyanobacteriota populations, resulting in significantly reduced biodiversity and more uniform community compositions. A significant association between taxonomic composition and the resistome was supported by a Procrustes analysis (p < 0.001). Notably, regional signatures were observed regarding the taxonomic and resistome profiles, as samples from the same region clustered together on both ordinates. Additionally, network analysis illuminated the intricate links between taxonomy and AMR at the contig level. Our deep sequencing efforts not only mapped the microbial landscape but also expanded the genomic catalog with newly characterized metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs), boosting the classification of reads by 12.85%. In conclusion, this study underscores the value of metagenomic approaches in surveillance of surface waters, enhancing our understanding of microbial and AMR dynamics with far-reaching public health and ecological ramifications.
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    Unveiling the genomic landscape of Salmonella enterica serotypes Typhimurium, Newport, and Infantis in Latin American surface waters: a comparative analysis
    (2024) Chen, Zhao; Toro, Magaly; Moreno-Switt, Andrea I.; Adell, Aiko D.; Delgado-Suarez, Enrique J.; Bonelli, Raquel R.; Oliveira, Celso J. B.; Reyes-Jara, Angelica; Huang, Xinyang; Albee, Brett; Grim, Christopher J.; Allard, Marc; Tallent, Sandra M.; Brown, Eric W.; Bell, Rebecca L.; Meng, Jianghong
    Surface waters are considered ecological habitats where Salmonella enterica can persist and disseminate to fresh produce production systems. This study aimed to explore the genomic profiles of S. enterica serotypes Typhimurium, Newport, and Infantis from surface waters in Chile, Mexico, and Brazil collected between 2019 and 2022. We analyzed the whole genomes of 106 S. Typhimurium, 161 S. Newport, and 113 S. Infantis isolates. Our phylogenetic analysis exhibited distinct groupings of isolates by their respective countries except for a notable case involving a Chilean S. Newport isolate closely related to two Mexican isolates, showing 4 and 13 single nucleotide polymorphisms of difference, respectively. The patterns of the most frequently detected antimicrobial resistance genes varied across countries and serotypes. A strong correlation existed between integron carriage and genotypic multidrug resistance (MDR) across serotypes in Chile and Mexico (R > 0.90, P < 0.01), while integron(s) were not detected in any of the Brazilian isolates. By contrast, we did not identify any strong correlation between plasmid carriage and genotypic MDR across diverse countries and serotypes.