Comparison of the Legionella pneumophila population structure as determined by sequence-based typing and whole genome sequencing.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Legionella pneumophila is an opportunistic pathogen of humans where the source of infection is usually from contaminated man-made water systems. When an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease caused by L. pneumophila occurs, it is necessary to discover the source of infection. A seven allele sequence-based typing scheme (SBT) has been very successful in providing the means to attribute outbreaks of L. pneumophila to a particular source or sources. Particular sequence types described by this scheme are known to exhibit specific phenotypes. For instance some types are seen often in clinical cases but are rarely isolated from the environment and vice versa. Of those causing human disease some types are thought to be more likely to cause more severe disease. It is possible that t

SUBMITTER: Underwood AP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3877988 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature