Development and Evaluation of a Core Genome Multilocus Sequencing Typing (cgMLST) Scheme for Serratia marcescens Molecular Surveillance and Outbreak Investigations
Stefanie Kampmeier, Karola Prior, Scott A. Cunningham, Abhinav Goyal, Dag Harmsen, Robin Patel, Alexander Mellmann
Abstract
= 175 isolates) distributed over three continents. Analysis of Db11 genes within the 491 data sets identified 2,692 target genes present in ≥97% of genomes (mean, 99.1%; median, 99.9%). These genes formed the novel cgMLST scheme, covering 47.8% of nucleotides in the Db11 genome. Analyzing 175 isolates from 24 outbreaks using the novel scheme gave comparable results to previous typing efforts for both general groupings and allelic distances within clusters. In summary, a novel cgMLST scheme for S. marcescens was developed and evaluated. The scheme and its associated nomenclature will improve standardization of typing efforts for molecular surveillance and outbreak investigation, allowing better understanding of S. marcescens genomic epidemiology and facilitating interlaboratory comparisons.