Comparative genomics reveals high genetic similarity among strains of Salmonella enterica serovar Infantis isolated from multiple sources in Brazil

Background . Salmonella enterica serovar Infantis ( Salmonella Infantis) is a zoonotic, ubiquitous and foodborne pathogen of worldwide distribution. Despite Brazil's relevance as a major meat exporter, few studies were conducted to characterize strains of this serovar by genomic analyses in this country. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the diversity of 80 Salmonella Infantis strains isolated from veterinary, food and human sources in Brazil between 2013 and 2018 by comparative genomic analyses. Additional genomes of non -Brazilian countries ( n = 18) were included for comparison purposes in some analyses. Methods . Analyses of whole-genome multi -locus sequence typing (wgMLST), using PGAdb-builder, and of fragmented genomes, using Gegenees, were conducted to compare the 80 Brazilian strains to the 18 non -Brazilian genomes. Pangenome analyses and calculations were performed for all Salmonella Infantis genomes analyzed. The presence of prophages was determined using PHASTER for the 80 Brazilian strains. The genome plasticity using BLAST Ring Image Generator (BRIG) and gene synteny using Mauve were evaluated for 20 selected Salmonella Infantis genomes from Brazil and ten from non -Brazilian countries. Unique orthologous protein clusters were searched in ten selected Salmonella Infantis genomes from Brazil and ten from non -Brazilian countries. Results . wgMLST and Gegenees showed a high genomic similarity among some Brazilian Salmonella Infantis genomes, and also the correlation of some clusters with non -Brazilian genomes. Gegenees also showed an overall similarity > 91% among all Salmonella Infantis genomes. Pangenome calculations revealed an open pangenome for all Salmonella Infantis subsets analyzed and a high gene content in the core genomes. Fifteen types of prophages were detected among 97.5% of the Brazilian strains. BRIG and Mauve demonstrated a high structural similarity among the Brazilian and nonBrazilian isolates. Unique orthologous protein clusters related to biological processes, molecular functions, and cellular components were detected among Brazilian and nonBrazilian genomes. Conclusion . The results presented using different genomic approaches emphasized the significant genomic similarity among Brazilian Salmonella Infantis genomes analyzed, suggesting wide distribution of closely related genotypes among diverse sources in Brazil. The data generated contributed to novel information regarding the genomic diversity of Brazilian and non -Brazilian Salmonella Infantis in comparison. The different genetically related subtypes of Salmonella Infantis from Brazil can either occur exclusively within the country, or also in other countries, suggesting that some exportation of the Brazilian genotypes may have already occurred.