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Rumore J, Walker M, Pagotto F, Forbes JD, Peterson CL, Tyler AD, Graham M, Van Domselaar G, Nadon C, Reimer A, Knox N. Use of a taxon-specific reference database for accurate metagenomics-based pathogen detection of Listeria monocytogenes in turkey deli meat and spinach. BMC Genomics 2023; 24:361. [PMID: 37370007 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-023-09338-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The reliability of culture-independent pathogen detection in foods using metagenomics is contingent on the quality and composition of the reference database. The inclusion of microbial sequences from a diverse representation of taxonomies in universal reference databases is recommended to maximize classification precision for pathogen detection. However, these sizable databases have high memory requirements that may be out of reach for some users. In this study, we aimed to assess the performance of a foodborne pathogen (FBP)-specific reference database (taxon-specific) relative to a universal reference database (taxon-agnostic). We tested our FBP-specific reference database's performance for detecting Listeria monocytogenes in two complex food matrices-ready-to-eat (RTE) turkey deli meat and prepackaged spinach-using three popular read-based DNA-to-DNA metagenomic classifiers: Centrifuge, Kraken 2 and KrakenUniq. RESULTS In silico host sequence removal led to substantially fewer false positive (FP) classifications and higher classification precision in RTE turkey deli meat datasets using the FBP-specific reference database. No considerable improvement in classification precision was observed following host filtering for prepackaged spinach datasets and was likely a consequence of a higher microbe-to-host sequence ratio. All datasets classified with Centrifuge using the FBP-specific reference database had the lowest classification precision compared to Kraken 2 or KrakenUniq. When a confidence-scoring threshold was applied, a nearly equivalent precision to the universal reference database was achieved for Kraken 2 and KrakenUniq. Recall was high for both reference databases across all datasets and classifiers. Substantially fewer computational resources were required for metagenomics-based detection of L. monocytogenes using the FBP-specific reference database, especially when combined with Kraken 2. CONCLUSIONS A universal (taxon-agnostic) reference database is not essential for accurate and reliable metagenomics-based pathogen detection of L. monocytogenes in complex food matrices. Equivalent classification performance can be achieved using a taxon-specific reference database when the appropriate quality control measures, classification software, and analysis parameters are applied. This approach is less computationally demanding and more attainable for the broader scientific and food safety communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jillian Rumore
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
- Public Health Agency of Canada, National Microbiology Laboratory, MB, Winnipeg, Canada.
| | - Matthew Walker
- Public Health Agency of Canada, National Microbiology Laboratory, MB, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Franco Pagotto
- Food Directorate, Health Canada, Bureau of Microbial Hazards, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Jessica D Forbes
- Eastern Ontario Regional Laboratory Association, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Christy-Lynn Peterson
- Public Health Agency of Canada, National Microbiology Laboratory, MB, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Andrea D Tyler
- Public Health Agency of Canada, National Microbiology Laboratory, MB, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Morag Graham
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
- Public Health Agency of Canada, National Microbiology Laboratory, MB, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Gary Van Domselaar
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
- Public Health Agency of Canada, National Microbiology Laboratory, MB, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Celine Nadon
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
- Public Health Agency of Canada, National Microbiology Laboratory, MB, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Aleisha Reimer
- Public Health Agency of Canada, National Microbiology Laboratory, MB, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Natalie Knox
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
- Public Health Agency of Canada, National Microbiology Laboratory, MB, Winnipeg, Canada
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de-Dios T, Scheib CL, Houldcroft CJ. An Adagio for Viruses, Played Out on Ancient DNA. Genome Biol Evol 2023; 15:evad047. [PMID: 36930529 PMCID: PMC10063219 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evad047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Revised: 02/16/2023] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Studies of ancient DNA have transformed our understanding of human evolution. Paleogenomics can also reveal historic and prehistoric agents of disease, including endemic, epidemic, and pandemic pathogens. Viruses-and in particular those with single- or double-stranded DNA genomes-are an important part of the paleogenomic revolution, preserving within some remains or environmental samples for tens of thousands of years. The results of these studies capture the public imagination, as well as giving scientists a unique perspective on some of the more slowly evolving viruses which cause disease. In this review, we revisit the first studies of historical virus genetic material in the 1990s, through to the genomic revolution of recent years. We look at how paleogenomics works for viral pathogens, such as the need for careful precautions against modern contamination and robust computational pipelines to identify and analyze authenticated viral sequences. We discuss the insights into virus evolution which have been gained through paleogenomics, concentrating on three DNA viruses in particular: parvovirus B19, herpes simplex virus 1, and smallpox. As we consider recent worldwide transmission of monkeypox and synthetic biology tools that allow the potential reconstruction of extinct viruses, we show that studying historical and ancient virus evolution has never been more topical.
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Affiliation(s)
- Toni de-Dios
- Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Estonia
| | - Christiana L Scheib
- Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Estonia
- St. John's College, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
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