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Volume 74, Issue 2

sp. nov., associated with mortalities among endangered seabirds Open Access

Abstract

Infectious diseases threaten endangered species, particularly in small isolated populations. Seabird populations on the remote Amsterdam Island in the Indian Ocean have been in decline for the past three decades, with avian cholera caused by proposed as the primary driver. However, species have also been sporadically detected from albatrosses on Amsterdam Island and may be contributing to some of the observed mortality. In this study, we genomically characterized 16 species isolates obtained from three Indian yellow-nosed albatross () chick carcasses in 2019. Histological analyses suggest that they died of bacterial septicaemia. Two isolates were sequenced using both Illumina short-read and MinION long-read approaches, which – following hybrid assembly – resulted in closed circular genomes. Mapping of Illumina reads from the remaining isolates to one of these new reference genomes revealed that all 16 isolates were closely related, with a maximum of 13 nucleotide differences distinguishing any pair of isolates. The nucleotide diversity of isolates obtained from the same or different carcasses was similar, suggesting all three chicks were likely infected from a common source. These genomes were compared with a global collection of genomes from and other species from the same genus. The isolates from albatrosses were phylogenetically distinct, sharing a most recent common ancestor with . Based on phylogenomic analysis and standard thresholds for average nucleotide identity and digital DNA–DNA hybridization, these isolates represent a novel species, for which we propose the name sp. nov. The type strain is A18Y020d (=CIP 112216=DSM 115297). The implications of this bacterium for albatross conservation will require further study.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): comparative genomics , conservation , Erysipelothrix and yellow-nosed albatross
Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • OSU OREME ECOPOP
    • Principle Award Recipient: ThierryBoulinier
  • Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises
    • Principle Award Recipient: ThierryBoulinier
  • ANR ECOPATHS (Award ANR-21-CE35-0016)
    • Principle Award Recipient: ThierryBoulinier
  • Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (Award RC2635)
    • Principle Award Recipient: AmandineGamble
  • Institut Polaire Français Paul Emile Victor (Award IPEV ECOPATH-1151)
    • Principle Award Recipient: ThierryBoulinier
  • National Science Foundation (Award DEB-1557022)
    • Principle Award Recipient: AmandineGamble
© 2024 The Authors
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. This article was made open access via a Publish and Read agreement between the Microbiology Society and the corresponding author’s institution.
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2024-02-15
2024-04-28
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Erysipelothrix amsterdamensis sp. nov., associated with mortalities among endangered seabirds
Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 74, 006264 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1099/ijsem.0.006264
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