High-resolution genomics uncovers region-specific evolution and virulence of ocular Streptococcus pneumoniae
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae is the leading cause of sight-threatening ocular infection. However, comprehensive molecular epidemiological analyses that focus on ocular pneumococci are limited. We performed a high-resolution whole-genome analysis (WGS) of ocular pneumococcal isolates from the Zhejiang province of China and a global data set (n = 58). Using latex agglutination and the Quellung reaction, nine serotypes were identified, with PCV13 covering 54.5% of the Chinese isolates, and no non-typeable (NT) strains were found in conjunctivitis. Illumina short-read data were assembled de novo and submitted for resistance and virulence gene BLAST, phylogenetic analysis, recombination prediction, and single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis. Phylogenetically, the Chinese isolates showed a sporadic distribution. All Chinese strains carried the ermB gene for macrolide resistance, rather than mefA, in strains from Western countries. Virulence gene analysis revealed that no zmpC gene was identified in Chinese pneumococcal strains associated with keratitis and conjunctivitis. A marked accumulation of SNPs and mosaic blocks in Asian isolates is strongly associated with the acquisition of region-specific alleles encoding the ATP-dependent protease SP_0338 and the UV-damage repair enzyme uvrB. Interestingly, the DNA integrity gene SP_1247 has emerged as a globally conserved and functionally essential determinant of ocular S. pneumoniae. These findings underscore that genes involved in…
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