The emergence and diversification of a zoonotic pathogen from within the microbiota of intensively farmed pigs
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Author
Murray, Gemma G. R.
Hossain, A. S. Md. Mukarram
Miller, Eric L.
Bruchmann, Sebastian
Balmer, Andrew J.
Matuszewska, Marta
Herbert, Josephine
Hadjirin, Nazreen F.
Mugabi, Robert
Li, Ganwu
Ferrando, Maria Laura
Fernandes de Oliveira, Isabela Maria
Nguyen, Thanh
Yen, Phung L. K.
Phuc, Ho D.
Moe, Aung Zaw
Wai, Thiri Su
Gottschalk, Marcelo
Valentin-Weigand, Peter
Heegaard, Peter M. H.
Vrieling, Manouk
Maw, Min Thein
Myint, Hnin Thidar
Win, Ye Tun
Hoa, Ngo Thi
Bentley, Stephen D.
Clavijo, Maria J.
Wells, Jerry M.
Tucker, Alexander W.
Weinert, Lucy A.
Publication date
2023-11-14ISSN
0027-8424
Abstract
The expansion and intensification of livestock production is predicted to promote the
emergence of pathogens. As pathogens sometimes jump between species, this can affect
the health of humans as well as livestock. Here, we investigate how livestock microbiota
can act as a source of these emerging pathogens through analysis of Streptococcus suis, a
ubiquitous component of the respiratory microbiota of pigs that is also a major cause of
disease on pig farms and an important zoonotic pathogen. Combining molecular dating,
phylogeography, and comparative genomic analyses of a large collection of isolates, we
find that several pathogenic lineages of S. suis emerged in the 19th and 20th centuries,
during an early period of growth in pig farming. These lineages have since spread between
countries and continents, mirroring trade in live pigs. They are distinguished by the
presence of three genomic islands with putative roles in metabolism and cell adhesion,
and an ongoing reduction in genome size, which may reflect their recent shift to a more
pathogenic ecology. Reconstructions of the evolutionary histories of these islands reveal
constraints on pathogen emergence that could inform control strategies, with pathogenic lineages consistently emerging from one subpopulation of S. suis and acquiring
genes through horizontal transfer from other pathogenic lineages. These results shed
light on the capacity of the microbiota to rapidly evolve to exploit changes in their host
population and suggest that the impact of changes in farming on the pathogenicity and
zoonotic potential of S. suis is yet to be fully realized.
Document Type
Article
Document version
Published version
Language
English
Subject (CDU)
619 - Veterinary science
Pages
11
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Is part of
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Citation
Murray, Gemma G. R., Arman Hossain, Eric L. Miller, Sebastian Bruchmann, Andrew J. Balmer, Marta Matuszewska, Josephine Herbert, et al. 2023. “The Emergence and Diversification of a Zoonotic Pathogen from within the Microbiota of Intensively Farmed Pigs.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 120 (47) e2307773120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2307773120.
Grant agreement number
EC/H2020/727966/EU/Program for Innovative Global Prevention of Streptococcus suis/PIGSs
Program
Sanitat Animal
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- ARTICLES CIENTÍFICS [2555]
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/