Whole-genome sequencing of the clinical isolate of Legionella pneumophila ALAW1 from the West Bank allows high-resolution typing and determination of pathogenicity mechanisms. Issue 1 (31st December 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zayed, Ashraf R.; Bunk, Boyke; Jaber, Lina; Abu-Teer, Hadeel; Ali, Mousa; Steinert, Michael; Höfle, Manfred G.; Brettar, Ingrid; Bitar, Dina M.
• Is Part Of: European clinical respiratory journal. Volume 10:Issue 1(2023)
• Publication Date: 2023-12-31
• Subjects: Legionella pneumophila -- ST 461 -- VACC11 -- L pneumophila str. Alcoy -- WGS; Lungs -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Respiratory organs -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Lung Diseases; Lungs -- Diseases; Respiratory organs -- Diseases; Europe; Periodicals; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 616.24
• DOI: 10.1080/20018525.2023.2168346
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2001-8525

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Background: Legionella pneumophila is water-based bacterium causing Legionnaires' disease (LD). We describe the first documented case of nosocomial LD caused by L. pneumophila sequence type (ST) 461 and serogroup 6. The etiology of LD was confirmed by culturing the bronchoalveolar lavage sample retrieving L. pneumophila strain ALAW1. A 7-days treatment of the LD patient with Azithromycin and Levofloxacin allowed complete recovery. Methods: In details, we sequenced the whole genome of the L. pneumophila ALAW1 using Illumina HiSeq platform. The sequence of ALAW1 was aligned with the genome sequence from the closely related reference strain Alcoy 2300/99 and a whole-genome phylogeny based on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) was created using Parsnp software. Also, the TYGS web-server was used in order to compare the genome with type strain. Results: An analysis of the population structure by SNP and TYGS comparison clustered ALAW1 with the reference genome Alcoy 2300/99. Blastp analysis of the type IV secretion Dot/Icm system genes showed that these genes were highly conserved with (≤25%) structural differences at the protein level. Conclusions: Overall, this study provides insights into detailed genome structure and demonstrated the value of whole-genome sequencing as the ultimate typing tool for Legionella.