Isolation, identification, and whole genome sequencing of a rabbit-derived type A Pasteurella multocida strain

Abstract:

[Background] Pasteurella multocida can cause various diseases such as porcine pulmonary disease, bovine hemorrhagic sepsis, and rabbit hemorrhagic sepsis, posing a serious threat to the healthy development of the animal husbandry in China. [Objective] A rabbit farm in Chongqing sent a batch of sick and dead rabbits for examination. To study their pathogens and treatment methods, we carried out microbial isolation and whole genome sequencing for the pathogens. [Methods] The bacterial isolation and purification, biochemical testing, 16S rRNA gene identification, capsule serotyping, drug susceptibility testing, and virulence gene testing were conducted with the diseased rabbit samples from a rabbit farm in Chongqing, 2022. The whole genome sequencing results were employed to annotate the virulence genes and drug resistance genes and build the phylogenetic tree. [Results] The isolate was identified as a rabbit-derived type A Pasteurella multocida strain belonged to the sequence type ST74 and named LXSS001. The genome sequence was uploaded to NCBI (collection number:CP119523.1). The strain was resistant to tetracycline, compound sulfamethoxazole, and sulfamethoxazole, while it was sensitive to cefotaxime, cefoperazone, and amikacin and so on. The strain had the whole genome length of 2 480 671 bp and carried 58 virulence genes and resistance genes for 9 classes of antibiotics. The phylogenetic tree showed that LXSS001 had the highest homology with the 3480 strain. [Conclusion] This study completed the isolation, identification, and whole genome sequencing of a type A P. multocida strain and revealed its phylogenetic relationship with other isolates, providing a basis for the subsequent research on P. multocida.