Mycobacterium bovis is a bacterial pathogen that is adapted to infecting mammalian hosts, mainly cattle. The disease is costly to cattle farmers worldwide and has potential to infect multiple species, especially humans. Controlling M. bovis is difficult, but when disease outbreaks occur alongside reservoirs of infection (species populations that can maintain disease in their own population and also transmit disease to a species of interest) for M. bovis, this task of disease control/eradication becomes arduous. While some species have the potential to become reservoirs of infection, other species can not fulfil the requirements necessary to harbor M. bovis as a disease. The underpinnings of what leads to reservoir of infection formation in M. bovis is still ongoing, but utilization of pathogen sequence data from different host species might elucidate genomic factors that lead to reservoirs of infection forming. Host Adaptation processes in M. bovis could show signs of the genomic signatures that are common amongst established reservoirs worldwide. Pangenome analysis offers a framework to investigate these processes through analyzing changes in the core genome (genes shared by all isolates in a dataset) and accessory genome (genes that are variable in presence in the dataset). In this project we will compare the host adaptive processes in Reservoir Hosts and Non Reservoir hosts by answering the following questions:
What Genome Features lead to M. bovis Adaptation? To answer this question we will utilize pangenomics to elucidate genomic elements that highlight adaptation. Specifically We will answer these specific questions:
- What genes present in the accessory genome correspond to reservoir status? Do Accessory genes cluster specifically by reservoir?
- Are ther genes that show signs of positive selection or homologous recombination different between reservoirs and non reservoirs?
- Do SNPs have the ability to decipher reservoirs from non reservoirs?
Noah Austin Legall
Liliana Salvador