High-Level Genetic Diversity among Invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae Isolates in Turkey

Jpn J Infect Dis. 2016 May 20;69(3):207-12. doi: 10.7883/yoken.JJID.2015.062. Epub 2015 Aug 7.

Abstract

This study obtained information on the serotypes and molecular typing characteristics of Streptococcus pneumoniae strains causing invasive diseases in Turkey. Sixty-eight S. pneumoniae isolates causing invasive pneumococcal diseases were collected from different regions of Turkey from 2009 to 2011. The isolates were characterized by performing multilocus sequence typing (MLST), pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and capsular serotyping, and 25 different serotypes were identified. Serotypes 19F, 23F, 1, 14, and 7F were common and accounted for 52.9% of all the serotypes. In addition, 54 different PFGE profiles (pulsotypes) were observed. Twenty-three of the 68 (33.8%) isolates were clustered into 9 pulsotypes. MLST analysis yielded 36 sequence types, of which 12 (33.3%) were novel. A comparison of results with the global pneumococcal MLST database by performing eBURST analysis showed that our strains belonged to 20 different clonal complexes and 5 singletons. In addition, we identified 4 new alleles: 2 gdh, 1 xpt, and 1 ddl. Thus, the results of this study highlighted a high level of diversity among pneumococcal isolates. In addition, the study identified a case of possible capsular switching.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Alleles
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field
  • Female
  • Genetic Variation*
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Male
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Middle Aged
  • Multilocus Sequence Typing
  • Phylogeny*
  • Pneumococcal Infections / epidemiology*
  • Pneumococcal Infections / microbiology
  • Serogroup*
  • Serotyping
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae / classification
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae / genetics*
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae / isolation & purification
  • Turkey / epidemiology