The Characteristics of Ubiquitous and UniqueLeptospiraStrains from the Collection of Russian Centre for Leptospirosis

[摘要] Background and Aim. Leptospira, the causal agent of leptospirosis, has been isolated from the environment, patients, and wide spectrum of animals in Russia. However, the genetic diversity ofLeptospirain natural and anthropurgic foci was not clearly defined.Methods. The recent MLST scheme was used for the analysis of seven pathogenic species. 454 pyrosequencing technology was the base of the whole genome sequencing (WGS).Results. The most wide spread and prevalentLeptospiraspecies in Russia wereL. interrogans, L. kirschneri,andL. borgpetersenii. Five STs, common for Russian strains: 37, 17, 199, 110, and 146, were identified as having a longtime and ubiquitous distribution in various geographic areas. Unexpected properties were revealed for the environmentalLeptospirastrain Bairam-Ali. WGS of this strain genome suggested that it combined the features of the pathogenic and nonpathogenic strains and may be a reservoir of the natural resistance genes. Results of the comparative analysis ofrrsandrpoBgenes and MLST loci for differentLeptospiraspecies strains and phenotypic and serological properties of the strain Bairam-Ali suggested that it represented separateLeptospiraspecies.Conclusions. Thus, the natural and anthropurgic foci supported ubiquitousLeptospiraspecies and the pool of genes important for bacterial adaptivity to various conditions.

[学科分类] 基础医学