Wellcome Sanger Institute Sequences Reference Genomes Of 3,000 Dangerous Bacteria
By Bio-IT World Staff
June 6, 2018 | The genomes of more than 3,000 bacteria, including some of the world’s most dangerous, have been sequenced by researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in collaboration with Pacific Biosciences (PacBio). Infecting tens of millions of people worldwide every year, these bacteria have been collected by the National Collection of Type Cultures (NCTC) and include deadly strains of plague, dysentery and cholera.
By decoding the DNA, researchers will be able to better understand these diseases and how they become resistant to antibiotics. The publicly available genomic maps could also lead to the development of new diagnostic tests, vaccines or treatments.
Antibiotic resistance is a significant problem globally and the collection includes some of the most important known drug-resistant bacteria. These include tuberculosis, one of the top ten causes of death worldwide, infecting 10.4 million and killing 1.7 million people in 2016 alone, and gonorrhea, the sexually transmitted disease that infects 78 million people a year and is now becoming extremely difficult to treat. The NCTC also contains samples of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which is resistant to multiple antibiotics and which can cause life-threatening infections in hospitals.
The genetic study of these strains will help researchers to understand the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance, and to look for any cracks in their armor to enable treatment.
All “type strains” of bacteria in the collection, the first strains that describe the species and are used to classify them, were sequenced as part of this initiative. The genome sequences of these highly valuable strains are fundamental for developing ways to identify specific infections in people, including tests diagnosing bacterial infections in the field to rapidly identify the source of an outbreak and help contain infections.
Julian Parkhill from the Wellcome Sanger Institute said in a press release: “Historical collections such at the NCTC are of enormous value in understanding current pathogens. Knowing very accurately what bacteria looked like before and during the introduction of antibiotics and vaccines, and comparing them to current strains from the same collection, shows us how they have responded to these treatments. This in turn helps us develop new antibiotics and vaccines. PacBio’s comprehensive DNA sequencing enables deep genomic analyses, and we are happy to be partnering with them for this important project.”
“The high-quality genomic maps enabled by SMRT Sequencing allow an unprecedented understanding of these bacteria,” Jonas Korlach, Chief Scientific Officer of PacBio, said in an official statement. “We are delighted to be chosen by institutions like Wellcome Sanger to help create such essential resources for the scientific and public health communities.”
Going forward, all the bacterial species in the NCTC collection will be sequenced as they are collected.
