Tell me if you prefer bovine or poultry sectors and I’ll tell you who you are: Characterization of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Mbandaka in France

Madeleine de Sousa Violante (1) , Valérie Michel (2) , Karol Romero (3) , Laetitia Bonifait (4, 5) , Louise Baugé (4, 5) , Agnès Perrin-Guyomard (6) , Carole Feurer (7) , Nicolas Radomski (8) , Ludovic Mallet (9) , Michel-Yves Mistou (1) , Sabrina Cadel-Six (3)

1 MaIAGE - Mathématiques et Informatique Appliquées du Génome à l'Environnement [Jouy-En-Josas]
2 Actalia [La Roche sur Foron]
3 LSAl - Laboratoire de sécurité des aliments de Maisons-Alfort
4 Laboratoire de Ploufragan-Plouzané-Niort [ANSES]
5 HQPAP - Hygiène et qualité des produits avicoles et porcins
6 Laboratoire de Fougères - ANSES
7 IFIP - Institut du Porc
8 IZSAM - Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise Guiseppe Caporale
9 IUCT Oncopole - UMR 1037 - Institut Universitaire du Cancer de Toulouse - Oncopole

Introduction: In north-western France, Salmonella enterica susp. enterica serovar Mbandaka (S. Mbandaka) is most frequently isolated from bovine and dairy samples. While this serovar most often results in asymptomatic carriage, for a number of years it has caused episodes of abortions, which have serious economic consequences for the sector. Interestingly, this serovar is also isolated from Gallus gallus in the same geographic zone. Despite its prevalence in bovines in north-western France, S. Mbandaka has not been broadly studied at the genomic level, and its prevalence and host adaptation are still not fully understood. Methods: In this study, we analyzed the genomic diversity of 304 strains of S. Mbandaka isolated from the bovine and poultry sectors in this area over a period of 5 years. A phylogenetic analysis was carried out and two approaches were followed to identify conserved genes and mutations related to host associations. The first approach targeted the genes compiled in the MEGARESv2, Resfinder, VFDB and SPI databases. Plasmid and phage contents were also investigated. The second approach refers to an in-house algorithm developed for this study that computes sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of accessory genes and core variants according to predefined genomes groups. Results and discussion: All the analyzed strains belong to the multi-locus sequence type profile ST413, and the phylogenomic analysis revealed main clustering by host (bovine and poultry), emphasizing the circulation of 12 different major clones, of which seven circulate in poultry and five in the bovine sector in France and a likely food production chain adaptation of these clones. All strains present resistance determinants including heavy metals and biocides that could explain the ability of this serovar to survive and persist in the environment, within herds, and in food processing plants. To explore the wild animal contribution to the spread of this serovar in north-western France, we retrieved S. Mbandaka genomes isolated from wild birds from EnteroBase and included them in the phylogenomic analysis together with our collection. Lastly, screening of accessory genes and major variants allowed us to identify conserved specific mutations characteristic of each major cluster. These mutations could be used to design useful probes for food safety surveillance.

Mots clés: bovine and poultry sectors; clone characterization; genomic analysis; genomic markers; host adaptation; S. Mbandaka

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Madeleine de Sousa Violante, Valérie Michel, Karol Romero, Laetitia Bonifait, Louise Baugé, et al.. Tell me if you prefer bovine or poultry sectors and I’ll tell you who you are: Characterization of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Mbandaka in France. Frontiers in Microbiology, 2023, 14, pp.1130891. ⟨10.3389/fmicb.2023.1130891⟩. ⟨anses-04105476⟩