Investigating the population structure of Moraxella catarrhalis using a cgMLST scheme and LIN code system

Iman Yassine, Keith A. Jolley, James E. Bray, Melissa J. Jansen van Rensburg, Fadheela Patel, Anna E. Sheppard, Heather J. Zar, Veronica Allen, Lemese Ah Tow, Martin C. J. Maiden, Mark P. Nicol and Angela B. Brueggemann ()
Additional contact information
Iman Yassine: University of Oxford
Keith A. Jolley: University of Oxford
James E. Bray: University of Oxford
Melissa J. Jansen van Rensburg: University of Oxford
Fadheela Patel: University of Cape Town
Anna E. Sheppard: University of Oxford
Heather J. Zar: University of Cape Town
Veronica Allen: University of Cape Town
Lemese Ah Tow: University of Cape Town
Martin C. J. Maiden: University of Oxford
Mark P. Nicol: University of Cape Town
Angela B. Brueggemann: University of Oxford

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Abstract Moraxella catarrhalis is an important cause of infectious exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and otitis media. To investigate the population structure of M. catarrhalis, we developed a core-genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST) scheme using 1319 core genes, and a life identification number (LIN) barcode classification system. Whole-genome analyses of nearly 2000 genomes confirmed divergent seroresistant (SR) and serosensitive (SS) M. catarrhalis lineages with distinct evolutionary trajectories. SR genomes are more conserved, while SS genomes exhibited greater genetic variability. Virulence gene analyses revealed lineage-specific variations in ubiquitous surface proteins (UspA1 and UspA2) and lipooligosaccharide (LOS) types. The bro β-lactamase, and mcb bacteriocin cluster, are more common in SR lineages, which suggested different selective pressures and adaptation. Here, we show that this cgMLST scheme and LIN code system provide a robust method for characterising M. catarrhalis, distinguish between SR and SS lineages, and offer a unified framework for population structure analyses.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-64487-8 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-64487-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-64487-8

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().