AUTHOR=Jesus Hendor N. R. , Rocha Danilo J. P. G. , Ramos Rommel T. J. , Silva Artur , Brenig Bertram , Góes-Neto Aristóteles , Costa Mateus M. , Soares Siomar C. , Azevedo Vasco , Aguiar Eric R. G. R. , Martínez-Martínez Luiz , Ocampo Alain , Alibi Sana , Dorta Alexis , Pacheco Luis G. C. , Navas Jesus TITLE=Pan-genomic analysis of Corynebacterium amycolatum gives insights into molecular mechanisms underpinning the transition to a pathogenic phenotype JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology VOLUME=13 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.1011578 DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.1011578 ISSN=1664-302X ABSTRACT=

Corynebacterium amycolatum is a nonlipophilic coryneform which is increasingly being recognized as a relevant human and animal pathogen showing multidrug resistance to commonly used antibiotics. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms involved in transition from colonization to the MDR invasive phenotype in clinical isolates. In this study, we performed a comprehensive pan-genomic analysis of C. amycolatum, including 26 isolates from different countries. We obtained the novel genome sequences of 8 of them, which are multidrug resistant clinical isolates from Spain and Tunisia. They were analyzed together with other 18 complete or draft C. amycolatum genomes retrieved from GenBank. The species C. amycolatum presented an open pan-genome (α = 0.854905), with 3,280 gene families, being 1,690 (51.52%) in the core genome, 1,121 related to accessory genes (34.17%), and 469 related to unique genes (14.29%). Although some classic corynebacterial virulence factors are absent in the species C. amycolatum, we did identify genes associated with immune evasion, toxin, and antiphagocytosis among the predicted putative virulence factors. Additionally, we found genomic evidence for extensive acquisition of antimicrobial resistance genes through genomic islands.