Genomic Analysis of Chilean Strains ofCampylobacter jejunifrom Human Faeces

Abstract

Campylobacterspp., especiallyC. jejuni, are recognized worldwide as the bacterial species that most commonly cause food-related diarrhea.C. jejunipossesses many different virulence factors, has the ability to survive in different reservoirs, and has shown among isolates the emergence of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). Genome association analyses of this bacterial pathogen have contributed to a better understanding of its pathogenic and AMR associated determinants. However, the epidemiological information of these bacteria in Latin American countries is scarce and no genomic information is available in public databases from isolates in these countries. Considering this, the present study is aimed to describe the genomic traits from representativeCampylobacterspp. strains recovered from faecal samples of patients with acute diarrhoea from Valparaíso, Chile.Campylobacterspp. was detected from the faeces of 28 (8%) out of 350 patients with acute diarrhoea, mainly from young adults and children, and 26 (93%) of the isolates corresponded toC. jejuni. 63% of the isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin, 25.9% to tetracycline, and 3.5% to erythromycin. Three isolates were selected for WGS on the basis of theirflaA-RFLP genotype. They belonged to the multilocus sequence typing (MLST) clonal clomplex (CC) 21(PUCV-1), CC-48 (PUCV-3), and CC-353 (PUCV-2) and presented several putative virulence genes, including the Type IV and Type VI Secretion Systems, as well as AMR-associated genes in agreement with their susceptibility pattern. On the basis of the wgMLST, they were linked to strains from poultry and ruminants. These are the first genomes of ChileanC. jejuniisolates available in public databases and they provide relevant information about theC. jejuniisolates associated with human infection in this country.