Characterization and Whole Genome Sequencing of Chromobacterium violaceum OUAT_2017: A Zoonotic Pathogen Found Fatal to a Wild Asiatic Elephant

Sourav R Hota; Soumesh K Padhi; Avishek Pahari; Bikash K Behera; Biswaranjan Panda; Sunil K Mor; Vikash K Singh; Sagar M Goyal; Niranjana Sahoo

doi:10.1007/s12088-022-01047-4

Characterization and Whole Genome Sequencing of Chromobacterium violaceum OUAT_2017: A Zoonotic Pathogen Found Fatal to a Wild Asiatic Elephant

Indian J Microbiol. 2022 Dec;62(4):627-633. doi: 10.1007/s12088-022-01047-4. Epub 2022 Oct 31.

Authors

Sourav R Hota¹, Soumesh K Padhi², Avishek Pahari², Bikash K Behera², Biswaranjan Panda³, Sunil K Mor⁴, Vikash K Singh⁴, Sagar M Goyal⁴, Niranjana Sahoo²

Affiliations

¹ Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Department, Government of Odisha, Bhubaneswar, Odisha India.
² Centre for Wildlife Health, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 751003 India.
³ Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, Odisha 751003 India.
⁴ College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, 1333 Gortner Ave, Saint Paul, Minnesota 55108-1098 USA.

Abstract

This study reports a rare fatal case of Chromobacterium violeceum OUAT_2017 strain infection in an Asiatic elephant calf in India. Necropsy revealed pus-filled nodules in liver, spleen, and lungs. Nutrient broth cultures of nodule content showed sediment of violet pigment whereas smooth, non-diffusible, violet-pigmented, homogeneous colonies appeared on nutrient agar. The organism was found to be non-haemolytic and resistant to 8 of the 24 antibiotics tested in vitro. Partial 16S rRNA gene sequence measuring 1410 bp revealed 97% homology with C. violeceum. The bacterial genome composed of 64.87% of G + C content with total size of 4,681,202 bp. The genome annotation has 42 genes responsible for multidrug antibiotic resistance with the presence of Aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes (AAC (6')) that targets streptomycin and spectinomycin. Our findings corroborated the lethal effect of C. violeceum in a new host (elephant) that enriched scientific information on epidemiological picture and whole genome sequencing as well.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12088-022-01047-4.

Keywords: Chromobacterium violaceum; Elephant; Whole genome sequencing; Zoonotic disease.

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