Genomic confirmation of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus transmission from deceased donor to liver transplant recipient.

Authors: Bashir, Ali and Attie, Oliver and Sullivan, Mitchell and Sebra, Robert and Singh, Kavindra V and Altman, Deena and Pak, Theodore and Dutta, Jayeeta and Chacko, Kieran and Webster, Elizabeth and Lewis, Martha and Hamula, Camille and Delli Carpini, Kristin W and Murray, Barbara E and Kasarskis, Andrew and van Bakel, Harm and Huprikar, Shirish

In a liver transplant recipient with vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) surgical site and bloodstream infection, a combination of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, multilocus sequence typing, and whole genome sequencing identified that donor and recipient VRE isolates were highly similar when compared to time-matched hospital isolates. Comparison of de novo assembled isolate genomes was highly suggestive of transplant transmission rather than hospital-acquired transmission and also identified subtle internal rearrangements between donor and recipient missed by other genomic approaches. Given the improved resolution, whole-genome assembly of pathogen genomes is likely to become an essential tool for investigation of potential organ transplant transmissions.

Journal: PloS one
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170449
Year: 2017

Read publication