Genomic diversity and security profile of Corynebacterium pseudodiphtheriticum species

ELEAN, MARIANO; ORTIZ MOYANO, RAMIRO; RAYA TONETTI, FERNANDA; VILLENA, JULIO

Rosario

Congreso; XIII Argentine Congress of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology; 2023

Asociación Argentina de Bioinformática y Biología Computacional

Bacteria belonging to the genus Corynebacterium have usually been associated with infectiousdiseases. C. diphtheriae and C. ulcerans produce toxins that can induce upper respiratory tract illness characterized by sore throat, fever, and nasal discharge. However, not all the species of this genus are pathogenic. C. pseudodiphtheriticum is usually found as a member of the normal microbiota of the upper respiratory tract and some studies have indicated that these bacteria exert beneficial effects for the host. In this regard, we have shown that the strain C. pseudodiphtheriticum 090104 is able to beneficially modulate immune responses in the respiratory tract, improving the resistance to pathogens such as Streptococcus pneumoniae, Klebsiella pneumoniae and respiratory syncytial virus. Considering the positive effects of this species, we aimed to carry out a comparative genomic studyof C. pseudodiphtheriticum strains to characterize their security profile in terms of virulence genes