Next-Generation Sequencing of Coccidioides immitis Isolated during Cluster Investigation

• Main Authors: David M. Engelthaler, Tom M. Chiller, James A. Schupp, Joshua Colvin, Stephen M. Beckstrom-Sternberg, Elizabeth M. Driebe, Tracy Moses, Waibhav Tembe, Shripad Sinari, James S. Beckstrom-Sternberg, Alexis Christoforides, John V. Pearson, John Carpten, Paul Keim, Ashley Peterson, Dawn Terashita, S. Arunmozhi Balajee
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2011-02-01
• Series: Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Subjects: Fungi; next generation sequencing; Coccidioides; genotyping; molecular epidemiology; whole genome sequence typing
• Online Access: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/17/2/10-0620_article
• ISSN: 1080-6040; 1080-6059

Next-generation sequencing enables use of whole-genome sequence typing (WGST) as a viable and discriminatory tool for genotyping and molecular epidemiologic analysis. We used WGST to confirm the linkage of a cluster of Coccidioides immitis isolates from 3 patients who received organ transplants from a single donor who later had positive test results for coccidioidomycosis. Isolates from the 3 patients were nearly genetically identical (a total of 3 single-nucleotide polymorphisms identified among them), thereby demonstrating direct descent of the 3 isolates from an original isolate. We used WGST to demonstrate the genotypic relatedness of C. immitis isolates that were also epidemiologically linked. Thus, WGST offers unique benefits to public health for investigation of clusters considered to be linked to a single source.