AUTHOR=Turco Silvia , Russo Simone , Pietrucci Daniele , Filippi Anita , Milanesi Marco , Luzzago Camilla , Garbarino Chiara , Palladini Giorgia , Chillemi Giovanni , Ricchi Matteo 

TITLE=High clonality of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis field isolates from red deer revealed by two different methodological approaches of comparative genomic analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Veterinary Science

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2024.1301667

DOI=10.3389/fvets.2024.1301667

ISSN=2297-1769

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Mycobacterium avium</italic> subsp. <italic>paratuberculosis</italic> (MAP) is the aetiological agent of paratuberculosis (Johne’s disease) in both domestic and wild ruminants. In the present study, using a whole-genome sequence (WGS) approach, we investigated the genetic diversity of 15 <italic>Mycobacterium avium</italic> field strains isolated in the last 10 years from red deer inhabiting the Stelvio National Park and affected by paratuberculosis. Combining <italic>de novo</italic> assembly and a reference-based method, followed by a pangenome analysis, we highlight a very close relationship among 13 MAP field isolates, suggesting that a single infecting event occurred in this population. Moreover, two isolates have been classified as <italic>Mycobacterium avium</italic> subsp. <italic>hominissuis</italic>, distinct from the other MAPs under comparison but close to each other. This is the first time that this subspecies has been found in Italy in samples without evident epidemiological correlations, having been isolated in two different locations of the Stelvio National Park and in different years. Our study highlights the importance of a multidisciplinary approach incorporating molecular epidemiology and ecology into traditional infectious disease knowledge in order to investigate the nature of infectious disease in wildlife populations.</p>