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. 2015 May 15;10(5):e0126507.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0126507. eCollection 2015.

Potential Transmission Pathways of Streptococcus gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus

Jessika Dumke  1 , Dennis Hinse  1 , Tanja Vollmer  1 , Jochen Schulz  2 , Cornelius Knabbe  1 , Jens Dreier  1
Affiliations

Potential Transmission Pathways of Streptococcus gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus

Jessika Dumke et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Streptococcus gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus (S. gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus), a member of group D streptococci, is an inhabitant of the animal and human gastrointestinal tract. Furthermore, it is a facultative pathogen which causes e.g. endocarditis, septicemia and mastitis. S. gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus may be transmitted either directly or indirectly between animals and humans. However, the transmission routes are an unsolved issue. In this study, we present systematic analyses of an S. gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus isolate of an infective endocarditis patient in relation to isolates of his laying hen flock. Isolates from pooled droppings of laying hens, pooled dust samples and human blood culture were characterized by using multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and DNA fingerprinting. MLST revealed the same allelic profile of isolates from the human blood culture and from the droppings of laying hens. In addition, these isolates showed clonal identity regarding a similar DNA fingerprinting pattern. For the first time, we received a hint that transmission of S. gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus between poultry and humans may occur. This raises the question about the zoonotic potential of isolates from poultry and should be considered in future studies.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. UPGMA dendrogram of 33 S. gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus isolates.
The dendrogram shows bacterial isolates and the corresponding parameters (source of isolate ion, origins of isolation, date of sampling and delivery, sequence types and clusters). The dashed line symbolizes the cluster border, which was calculated based on the SID. The isolates with the same STs are highlighted in grey and white. Abbreviation: I–IV isolates from droppings from laying hen group I–IV; ST sequence type.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Dendrogram analysis and virtual gel images of DNA fingerprinting of S. gallolyticus subsp. Gallolyticus.
33 S. gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus were analyzed by DNA fingerprinting. Chip gel electrophoresis (Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer (Agilent Technologies, Waldbronn, Germany)) was used to detect PCR products. S. gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus ATCC BAA-2069 [31] and UCN 34 [32] were used as reference strains to root the phylogenetic tree.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Clustering of 33 S. gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus isolates by use of MST and eBURST.
An MST was generated based on the UPGMA dendrogram. Each circle represents one ST. The size of a circle corresponds to the number of isolates included. The shadings indicate the origin of the S. gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus isolates. The clonal complex (CC) was determined by eBURST and is symbolized by a dashed line (CC 55).
Fig 4
Fig 4. Potential transmission pathways of S. gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus in a laying hen flock.
General results of the identification of S. gallolyticus subsp. gallolyticus can be seen in the black framed white boxes. The transmission (symbolized by grey arrows) of the bacterium between laying hens themselves, between laying hens and humans, or between laying hens/humans and the environment may be supported by several factors, which are indicated as key points next to the arrows.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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