Parameters for one health genomic surveillance of Escherichia coli from Australia

A Anne E. Watt M Max L. Cummins C Celeste M. Donato W Wytamma Wirth A Ashleigh F. Porter P Patiyan Andersson E Erica Donner V Vitali Sintchenko A Alicia Arnott A Alireza Zahedi R Rowena Bull J Jessica R. Webb D Danielle Ingle K Kristy Horan T Tuyet Hoang A Angeline Ferdinand T Tehzeeb Zulfiqar C Craig Thompson L Lex E. X. Leong B Bethany Hoye G Glenn F. Browning M Michelle Wille R Rose Wright A Angela Donald Z Zoe Bartlett A Avram Levy C Christina Bareja T Tatiana Gonzales C Cara Minney-Smith E Erin Flynn A Aruna Phabmixay T Thy Huynh A Amy V. Jennison (Public and Environmental Health, Pathology Queensland, Queensland Health, Brisbane, Australia) T Torsten Seemann S Steven P. Djordjevic B Benjamin P. Howden

Abstract

Abstract Genomics is a cornerstone of modern pathogen epidemiology yet demonstrating transmission in a One Health context is challenging, as strains circulate and evolve within and between diverse hosts and environments. To identify phylogenetic linkages and better define relevant measures of genomic relatedness in a One Health context, we collated 5471 Escherichia coli genome sequences from Australia originating from humans (n = 2996), wild animals (n = 870), livestock (n = 649), companion animals (n = 375), environmental sources (n = 292) and food (n = 289) spanning over 36 years. Of the 827 multi-locus sequence types (STs) identified, 10 STs were commonly associated with cross-source genomic clusters, including the highly clonal ST131, pandemic zoonotic lineages such as ST95, and emerging human ExPEC ST1193. Here, we show that assessing genomic relationships at ≤ 100 SNP threshold enabled detection of cross-source linkage otherwise obscured when applying typical outbreak-oriented relatedness thresholds ( ≤ 20 SNPs) and should be considered in interrogation of One Health genomic datasets.

Article Details

Volume / Issue Vol. 16, Issue 1
Published January 02, 2025
ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher Nature Portfolio

Journal Info

Nature Communications

Nature Portfolio

ISSN: 2041-1723 Open Access Life Sciences

Authors (36)

A

Anne E. Watt

M

Max L. Cummins

C

Celeste M. Donato

W

Wytamma Wirth

A

Ashleigh F. Porter

P

Patiyan Andersson

E

Erica Donner

V

Vitali Sintchenko

A

Alicia Arnott

A

Alireza Zahedi

R

Rowena Bull

J

Jessica R. Webb

D

Danielle Ingle

K

Kristy Horan

T

Tuyet Hoang

A

Angeline Ferdinand

T

Tehzeeb Zulfiqar

C

Craig Thompson

L

Lex E. X. Leong

B

Bethany Hoye

G

Glenn F. Browning

M

Michelle Wille

R

Rose Wright

A

Angela Donald

Z

Zoe Bartlett

A

Avram Levy

C

Christina Bareja

T

Tatiana Gonzales

C

Cara Minney-Smith

E

Erin Flynn

A

Aruna Phabmixay

T

Thy Huynh

A

Amy V. Jennison

Public and Environmental Health, Pathology Queensland, Queensland Health, Brisbane, Australia

T

Torsten Seemann

S

Steven P. Djordjevic

B

Benjamin P. Howden