Infectious disease: Genome sequencing reveals how Shigella sonnei spread around the world

摘要

Kathryn Holt (University of Melbourne, Australia) and colleagues sequenced the genomes of 132 samples of S. sonnei that were isolated between 1948 and 2008 from Europe, Asia, Africa, Central America and South America. Four distinct lineages of S. sonnei were identified. Although the lineages are characterized by hundreds of different single nucleotide polymorphisms, the gene content only had minor differences.