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Volume 9, Issue 7

Whole-genome sequencing of from Australasian avian hosts: A genomics approach to a pathogen that still ruffles feathers Open Access

Abstract

is a globally distributed veterinary pathogen with zoonotic potential. Although infections have been reported in various hosts, isolation and culture of is challenging, hampering efforts to produce contemporary global genomes. This is particularly evident in the lack of avian genomes from Australia and New Zealand. In this study, we used culture-independent probe-based whole-genome sequencing to expand the global genome catalogue. Here, we provide new genomes from two pigeons, six psittacines, and novel hosts such as the Australian bustard () and sooty shearwater () from Australia and New Zealand. We also evaluated genetic diversity using multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and major outer membrane protein (A) genotyping on additional -positive samples from various captive avian hosts and field isolates from Australasia. We showed that the first genomes sequenced from New Zealand parrots and pigeons belong to the clonal sequence type (ST)24 and diverse ‘pigeon-type’ ST27 clade, respectively. Australian parrot-derived strains also clustered in the ST24 group, whereas the novel ST332 strain from the Australian bustard clustered in a genetically diverse clade of strains from a fulmar, parrot, and livestock. MLST and A genotyping revealed ST24/A genotype A in wild and captive parrots and a sooty shearwater, whilst ‘pigeon-types’ (ST27/35 and A genotypes B/E) were found in pigeons and other atypical hosts, such as captive parrots, a little blue penguin/Kororā () and a zebra finch () from Australia and New Zealand. This study provides new insights into the global phylogenomic diversity of and further demonstrates the multi-host generalist capacity of this pathogen.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): Australia , birds , Chlamydia psittaci , culture-independent sequencing , multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) , New Zealand , novel sequence type (ST) and phylogenomics
Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Australian Research Council (Award DE190100238)
    • Principle Award Recipient: MartinaJelocnik
© 2023 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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Whole-genome sequencing of Chlamydia psittaci from Australasian avian hosts: A genomics approach to a pathogen that still ruffles feathers
M Gen 9, 001072 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.001072
/content/journal/mgen/10.1099/mgen.0.001072
/content/journal/mgen/10.1099/mgen.0.001072
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