Microarray-based comparative genomic indexing of the Cronobacter genus ( Enterobacter sakazakii)

• Published in: International journal of food microbiology Vol. 136; no. 2; pp. 159 - 164
• Main Authors: Healy, B., Huynh, S., Mullane, N., O'Brien, S., Iversen, C., Lehner, A., Stephan, R., Parker, C.T., Fanning, S.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 31.12.2009; [Amsterdam; New York, NY]: Elsevier Science; Elsevier
• Subjects: animal pathogenic bacteria; Bacterial Typing Techniques; Biological and medical sciences; Cluster Analysis; Comparative; Comparative Genomic Hybridization; Cronobacter; Cronobacter sakazakii; DNA, Bacterial - genetics; Enterobacter sakazakii; Enterobacteriaceae - classification; Enterobacteriaceae - genetics; Food industries; Food microbiology; food pathogens; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes, Bacterial; Genome; genomics; Gram-negative bacteria; Microarray; microarray technology; molecular sequence data; nucleotide sequences; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; Open Reading Frames; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Species Specificity; strain differences; Enterobacter sakazakii; Microarray; Genome; Comparative; Cronobacter
• ISSN: 0168-1605; 1879-3460
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2009.07.008

Cronobacter ( Enterobacter sakazakii) is a recently defined genus consisting of 6 species. To extend our understanding of the genetic relationship between Cronobacter sakazakii BAA-894 and the other species of this genus, microarray-based comparative genomic indexing (CGI) was undertaken to determine the presence/absence of genes identified in the former sequenced genome and to compare 276 selected open reading frames within the different Cronobacter strains. Seventy-eight Cronobacter strains (60 C. sakazakii, 8 C. malonaticus, 5 C. dublinensis, 2 C. muytjensii, 1 C. turicensis, 1 C. genomospecies 1, and 1 Cronobacter sp.) representing clinical and environmental isolates from various geographical locations were investigated. Hierarchical clustering of the CGI data showed that the species grouped as clusters. The 5 C. dublinensis and 2 C. muytjensii strains examined formed distinct species clusters. Moreover, all of the C. sakazakii and 3 of 8 C. malonaticus strains formed a large cluster. The remaining C. malonaticus strains formed a sub-group within a larger cluster that also contained C. turicensis, C. genomospecies 1, and an unknown Cronobacter sp. Cronobacter sakazakii and 3 of 8 C. malonaticus strains could be distinguished from the others within the collection by the presence of 10 fimbrial related genes. Similarly, capsule and/or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) related glycosyltransferases differentiated several of the C. sakazakii strains from each other.