The diversity, evolution and ecology of Salmonella in venomous snakes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Reptile-associated Salmonella bacteria are a major, but often neglected cause of both gastrointestinal and bloodstream infection in humans globally. The diversity of Salmonella enterica has not yet been determined in venomous snakes, however other ectothermic animals have been reported to carry a broad range of Salmonella bacteria. We investigated the prevalence and diversity of Salmonella in a collection of venomous snakes and non-venomous reptiles.

Methodology/principle findings

We used a combination of selective enrichment techniques to establish a unique dataset of reptilian isolates to study Salmonella enterica species-level evolution and ecology and used whole-genome sequencing to investigate the relatedness of phylogenetic groups. We observed that 91% of ve

SUBMITTER: Pulford CV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6548357 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature