Previous reports indicate that horizontal gene transfer might have occurred earlier

Apitolisib molecular weight to form a more ancestral L. monocytogenes strain, which would then give rise to L. innocua through gene deletion events possibly via low-virulent L. monocytogenes lineage IIIA strains [11, 13]. In this study, L. innocua subgroup D strain L43 exhibits the least genetic distances to L. monocytogenes (Fig 1), and constituted another evolutionary intermediates between L. monocytogenes and L. innocua main clusters. Therefore, L. innocua strain L43 and L monocytogenes strain 54006 [11] might serve as intermediate linkage strains in deciphering the evolution of the L. innocua-L. monocytogenes clade. The strain L43 seems to share a “”hybrid”" genetic background derived from L. innocua and L. monocytogenes by the MLST data and its carriage of L. monocytogenes-specific virulence gene inlJ. InlJ is a sortase-anchored adhesin specifically expressed in vivo [35], but its function in atypical L. innocua strains requires further investigation. Another atypical L. innocua strain PRL/NW 15B95 has been characterized as having the entire LIPI-1 embedded into an otherwise typical L. innocua genetic background [9]. However, we did not see its presence in the strain L43. PRL/NW 15B95 falls into the main L. innocua cluster based on

sequencing of 16S-23S intergenic regions, 16S rRNA and iap genes, and selleck chemicals llc has possibly acquired LIPI-1 by a later transposition event, based on the finding of a 16 bp Tn1545 integration consensus sequence flanking the virulence island Florfenicol [9]. Thus, unlike L43, PRL/NW 15B95 does not constitute an evolutional intermediate between L. monocytogenes and L. innocua. Complementary transfer of only some of the virulence genes such as LIPI-1 did not change the avirulent character of PRL/NW 15B95 [9]. In this study, all L. innocua strains were nonpathogenic in mice models (Table 1). Conclusion This study reveals that L. innocua is a relatively young species descending from L. monocytogenes. The evolutionary history in the L. monocytogenes-L. innocua clade represents a rare example of evolution towards reduced virulence of pathogens. L. innocua is genetically

monophyletic and comprises four subgroups based on internalin profiling and MLST scheme. The majority of L. innocua strains belong to two major subgroups A and B, and one atypical subgroup might serve as a link between L. monocytogenes and L. innocua main cluster in the evolutionary chain. While subgroups A and B appeared at approximately the same time, the subgroup A strains seem to represent the possible evolutionary direction towards adaptation to enviroments. It is believed that the phylogenetic structure and evolutionary history of L. innocua will be much clearer if a larger strain collection and the whole genome sequences of more representative strains become available. Methods Bacterial strains A total of 68 Listeria strains were examined in this study (Table 1). These included 30 L.