Genomics data of L. borgpetersenii strain HP364 and L. weilii strain SC295 isolated from rodents captured from human leptospirosis outbreak areas in Selangor, Malaysia

We report complete genome sequences of two Leptospira isolates, Leptospira borgpetersenii strain HP364 and Leptospira weilii strain SC295. The genome sizes of L. borgpetersenii strain HP364 and L. weilii strain SC295 were 3,874,738 bp and 4,063,712 bp, respectively. Both genomes have been deposited in NCBI GenBank.

Predominance of Leptospira wolffii in north-central Bangladesh, 2019

Leptospira was detected in 48.9% of blood samples from 182 febrile patients in north-central Bangladesh in 2019. Most Leptospira were classified as L. wolffii (93%) on the basis of phylogenetic analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA genes, while others were assigned to L. borgpetersenii and L. meyeri.

Comparative genomic analysis of Leptospira borgpetersenii serogroup Javanica isolated from Rattus species in Southern Japan, Philippines, and Taiwan

Leptospira spp. are the causative agents of leptospirosis, a zoonosis that occurs worldwide, and are maintained by various mammals. Recent molecular typing studies have indicated the existence of a specific Leptospira genotype-host association; however, few studies have shown the colonization of a single genotype in multiple animal genera. To gain further insights into the Leptospira genotype-host association, we conducted whole genome sequencing of 35 strains of L. borgpetersenii serogroup Javanica isolated from various Rattus species in Southern Japan, Philippines, and Taiwan. The SNP-based phylogenetic tree showed that the strains were grouped into five clusters based on their geographic location, indicating geographical structuring of genetic diversity in L. borgpetersenii serogroup Javanica strains. Furthermore, phylogenetic analysis indicated that the L. borgpetersenii serogroup Javanica can infect various animal species, thus making these strains generalist pathogens. This study reports the whole genome comparison of L. borgpetersenii serogroup Javanica strains isolated from Rattus species in East Asian states. The data herein suggest that the serogroup Javanica strains can infect the dominant Rattus species in each region and can be genetically diversified in a geographic manner.

Multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis of Leptospira interrogans and Leptospira borgpetersenii isolated from small feral and wild mammals in East Asia

Leptospira spp. are the causative agents of a worldwide zoonosis, leptospirosis, maintained by various mammals. Each Leptospira serovar is frequently associated with a particular maintenance host, and recently, Leptospira genotype-host association has also been suggested to limit serovars to restricted areas. We investigated the molecular characteristics of L. interrogans and L. borgpetersenii which were isolated from small feral and wild animals in four East Asian states using multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA). MLVA using 11 loci was performed on 110 L. interrogans serogroups from Japan (79 strains of 5 serogroups from 3 animal species), Philippines (21; 3; 2), Taiwan (7; 2; 3), and Vietnam (3; 1; 1). A MLVA method using 4 loci for L. borgpetersenii was established and performed on 52 isolates from Japan (26; 3; 7), Philippines (13; 1; 2), and Taiwan (13; 1; 3). In L. interrogans, serogroups Autumnalis and Hebdomadis appeared more genetically diverse than serogroups Bataviae, Grippotyphosa, Icterohaemorrhagiae, Pomona, or Pyrogenes. The former serogroup strains with the exception of one Hebdomadis strain were isolated from Apodemus speciosus while all the latter serogroup strains with the exception of Grippotyphosa were isolated from Rattus norvegicus. L. borgpetersenii was isolated from at least 11 animal species while L. interrogans was isolated from five species, which might suggest a wider host range for L. borgpetersenii. Broad host preference in a single genotype was also observed, which colonized not only different species of the same genera but also multiple animal genera. This study demonstrates that there may be variability in the range of genetic diversity among different Leptospira serogroups, which may be attributed to maintenance host animals and environmental factors.

Diversification of an emerging pathogen in a biodiversity hotspot: Leptospira in endemic small mammals of Madagascar

Biodiversity hotspots and associated endemism are ideal systems for the study of parasite diversity within host communities. Here, we investigated the ecological and evolutionary forces acting on the diversification of an emerging bacterial pathogen, Leptospira spp., in communities of endemic Malagasy small mammals. We determined the infection rate with pathogenic Leptospira in 20 species of sympatric rodents (subfamily Nesomyinae) and tenrecids (family Tenrecidae) at two eastern humid forest localities. A multilocus genotyping analysis allowed the characterization of bacterial diversity within small mammals and gave insights into their genetic relationships with Leptospira infecting endemic Malagasy bats (family Miniopteridae and Vespertilionidae). We report for the first time the presence of pathogenic Leptospira in Malagasy endemic small mammals, with an overall prevalence of 13%. In addition, these hosts harbour species of Leptospira (L. kirschneri, L. borgpetersenii and L. borgpetersenii group B) which are different from those reported in introduced rats (L. interrogans) on Madagascar. The diversification of Leptospira on Madagascar can be traced millions of years into evolutionary history, resulting in the divergence of endemic lineages and strong host specificity. These observations are discussed in relation to the relative roles of endemic vs. introduced mammal species in the evolution and epidemiology of Leptospira on Madagascar, specifically how biodiversity and biogeographical processes can shape community ecology of an emerging pathogen and lead to its diversification within native animal communities.

Characterization of leptospira borgpetersenii isolates from field rats (rattus norvegicus) by 16s rrna and lipl32 gene sequencing

The main goal of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of leptospirosis among field rodents of Tiruchirappalli district, Tamil Nadu, India. In total 35 field rats were trapped and tested for seroprevalence by the microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Isolation of leptospires was performed from blood and kidney tissues and characterized to serovar level. Genomospecies identification was carried out using 16S rRNA and lipL32 gene sequencing. The molecular phylogeny was constructed to find out species segregation. Seroprevalence was about 51.4 %, and the predominant serovars were Autumnalis, Javanica, Icterohaemorrhagiae and Pomona. Two isolates from the kidneys were identified as serovar Javanica of Serogroup Javanica, and sequence based molecular phylogeny indicated these two isolates were Leptospira borgpetersenii.