High Levels of Recombination among Streptococcus pneumoniae Isolates from the Gambia

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dc.contributor.authorDonkor, E.S.
dc.contributor.authorBishop, C.J.
dc.contributor.authorAntonio, M.
dc.contributor.authoret al.
dc.date.accessioned2023-10-18T10:10:36Z
dc.date.available2023-10-18T10:10:36Z
dc.date.issued2011
dc.descriptionResearch Articleen_US
dc.description.abstractWe carried out multilocus sequence typing (MLST) on 148 pneumococcal carriage isolates collected from children <24 months old in the Upper River Division, the Gambia. MLST revealed a diverse population. Seventy-six different sequence types (STs) were found, the most common of which were 802 and 919, associated with 23F and 6A serotypes, respectively. Com parison with the MLST database showed that only 11 of the STs found in the present sample had been reported outside Africa. Six STs showed evidence of capsular switching (172, 802, 847, 1730, 1736, and 1737). Serotype switches were confirmed by mi croarrays that detected capsule genes. Of isolates analyzed by using microarrays, 40/69 (58%) harbored the tetM resistance deter minant. A statistical genetic analysis to detect recombination found that 49/144 (34%) isolates showed significant (P < 0.05) evi dence of admixture, which is greater than that observed in similar samples from the United Kingdom (5%) and Finland (2%). We hypothesize that large amounts of admixture could reflect the high prevalence of multiple carriage in this region, leading to more opportunities for homologous recombination between strains. This could have consequences for the population response to conjugate vaccination. IMPORTANCE The population structure of the pneumococcus in sub-Saharan Africa has barely been studied despite the high lev els of morbidity and mortality due to pneumococcal disease in this region. We report the largest sample to date from carriage in sub-Saharan Africa to be typed by sequencing (multilocus sequence typing [MLST]) and microarray analysis. The results clearly show that the population is highly distinct and divergent from others studied in the United States and Europe. Moreover, in con trast with samples from developed countries, the population contains a high proportion of isolates showing a history of homolo gous recombination, which shuffles genetic information into new combinations and can generate drug-resistant and vaccine escape strains. This is likely to have important consequences for the evolutionary response of the pneumococcal population to conjugate vaccination targeting a subset of pneumococcal serotypes, which is under way in the Gambia and other countries.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://ugspace.ug.edu.gh:8080/handle/123456789/40415
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisher® mbio.asm.orgen_US
dc.subjectStreptococcus pneumoniae Isolatesen_US
dc.subjectGambiaen_US
dc.titleHigh Levels of Recombination among Streptococcus pneumoniae Isolates from the Gambiaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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