Molecular epidemiology of Campylobacter jejuni isolates from the broiler production chain: first report of MLST profiles in Argentina

• Published in: Revista argentina de microbiología Vol. 53; no. 1; pp. 59 - 63
• Main Authors: Zbrun, M.V., Rossler, E., Soto, L.P., Rosmini, M.R., Sequeira, G.J., Frizzo, L.S., Signorini, M.L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Argentina Elsevier España, S.L.U 01.01.2021
• Subjects: Cadena cárnica aviar; Campylobacter jejuni; Diversidad genética; Genetic diversity; Genotipos novedosos; Novel genotypes; Poultry meat chain; Poultry meat chain; Cadena cárnica aviar; Genotipos novedosos; Diversidad genética; Genetic diversity; Novel genotypes; Campylobacter jejuni
• ISSN: 0325-7541
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ram.2020.06.005

•Campylobacter jejuni is an important food-borne pathogen with a global distribution.•We evaluated the genotype of C. jejuni isolates from broiler farms and slaughterhouses.•It is the first molecular epidemiology study of Campylobacter in the broiler production chain in Argentina.•C. jejuni isolates showed high genetic diversity by PFGE and MLST typing.•Novel MSLT C. jejuni genotypes have been identified in Argentina. Campylobacter jejuni is an important foodborne pathogen with global distribution. We describe a genotyping study of a collection of C. jejuni (n=137) isolated from different broiler farms and from multiple sites along the processing line in a slaughterhouse in Argentina during 2011, 2012 and 2015. The isolates were genotyped using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Based on the PFGE results, the isolates were grouped into 26 pulsotypes. Subsequently, the isolates representing these 26 pulsotypes were chosen for MLST genotyping, which identified 16 different sequence types (STs) and 6 clonal complexes (CCs) (21, 45, 48, 353, 354, 446). Several of the STs (n=7) have not been previously reported in the PubMLST.org database. The most prevalent CCs were 21, 45 (both associated with human campylobacteriosis worldwide) and 353. This study showed high genetic diversity among C. jejuni in the broiler production environment in Argentina with novel MLST genotypes. Campylobacter jejuni es un importante agente patógeno de transmisión alimentaria a nivel mundial. Describimos el estudio molecular de una colección de C. jejuni (n = 137) aislados de diferentes granjas de pollos y de múltiples sitios de un frigorífico de Argentina durante los años 2011, 2012 y 2015. Los aislamientos fueron genotipados mediante electroforesis en campo pulsado (PFGE) y tipificación multilocus de secuencias (MLST). Con base en los resultados de PFGE, los aislamientos se agruparon en 26 pulsotipos. Se seleccionaron aislamientos representativos de dichos pulsotipos para genotipificarlos mediante MLST, se identificaron así 16 secuenciotipos (ST) diferentes y seis complejos clonales (CC) (21, 45, 48, 353, 354, 446). Varios de los ST (n = 7) no habían sido reportados previamente en la base de datos PubMLST.org. Los CC más prevalentes fueron el 21, el 45 (asociados con casos de campilobacteriosis) y el 353. Este estudio identificó una elevada diversidad genética de C. jejuni en la cadena cárnica aviar argentina con novedosos genotipos mediante MLST.