Whole-Genome Sequences of Cronobacter sakazakii Isolates Obtained from Foods of Plant Origin and Dried-Food Manufacturing Environments

Abstract

Here, we present draft genome sequences of 29 Cronobacter sakazakii isolates obtained from foods of plant origin and dried-food manufacturing facilities. Assemblies and annotations resulted in genome sizes ranging from 4.3 to 4.5 Mb and 3,977 to 4,256 gene-coding sequences with G+C contents of ∼57.0%.

The Secretion of Toxins and Other Exoproteins of Cronobacter: Role in Virulence, Adaption, and Persistence

“…It is thought that the Cronobacter genus split from its most recent Enterobacteriaceae ancestor approximately 45-68 million years ago. This time period coincides with the Paleogene period of the Cenozoic era when early flowering plants were also evolving, thus supporting the theory that plants may be the ancestral habitat for Cronobacter species [56,103,129,130]. Recently, Afridi et al provided evidence that plants inoculated with C. sakazakii (producing 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase, ACC deaminase) enhanced plant growth and saline stress tolerance [131].…”

“…b The authors would like to remind the readers that many of the plasmids and their genetic loci described in this section possess great nucleotide sequence homology among the different plasmids types (e.g., the virulence plasmids), but the prevalence and distribution of the genetic loci are based on PCR detection using pESA3-pCTU1 sequence inferences. [129,130], and Tall et al [147]. Numbers within parentheses are the percentage PCR-positive for each plasmid gene locus in relation to the total number of plasmid (incFIB)-harboring strains of each of the seven Cronobacter species as described by Franco et al [47].…”

Draft genomes of Cronobacter sakazakii strains isolated from dried spices bring unique insights into the diversity of plant-associated strains

“…The general features of the strains reported in the present study are shown in Table 1 which includes five ST64 strains: AS (Allspice) 2, AS4, AS13, AS15, and Jor172 which were obtained from spice samples from the USA, the Republic of Korea, China, and Jordan. Strains representing 12 other STs are also incorporated into this report, including strains representing STs like the meningitis ST4 clone and other clinically relevant STs: ST1, ST8, ST3, ST13, ST21, ST31, ST40, ST99, ST219, ST226, and a recent new ST: ST643 [ 19 ].…”

“…Frozen bacterial cultures were stored at − 80 °C in Trypticase soy broth (BBL, Cockeysville, MD) supplemented with 1% NaCl (TSBS) and 50% glycerol, and were streaked onto agar plates containing Enterobacter sakazakii Chromogenic Plating Medium (ESPM, R&F Products; Downers Grove, IL) followed by incubation overnight at 37 °C. Typical Cronobacter - like colonies (blue-black to blue-gray colored, raised colonies) were chosen to inoculate TSBS broth cultures (5 ml) which were incubated at 37 °C, shaking at 150 rpm for 18 h. Bacterial DNA was extracted and purified using a Qiagen Qiacube instrument and its automated technology (QIAGEN Sciences; Germantown, MD) as described previously and according to the manufacturer’s instructions [ 16 , 18 , 19 , 35 , 36 ].…”

“…Moreover, linking the epidemiology of adult cases to consumption of PIF is difficult to explain [ 5 – 7 ], suggesting that there are still unknown sources, such as other foods which may be involved in causing adult infections. Although occurrences of Cronobacter species in plant- origin foods are increasingly being reported, relatively less genomic information is available [ 18 , 19 ]. Here, we describe the draft genome sequences of 26 C. sakazakii strains isolated from dried spices which were obtained from the USA, the Middle East, China, and the Republic of Korea.…”