PORTE TORRE, LORENA ISABEL
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PORTE TORRE, LORENA ISABEL
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lporte@udd.cl
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Whole-genome sequencing reveals changes in genomic diversity and distinctive repertoires of T3SS and T6SS effector candidates in Chilean clinical Campylobacter strains

2023 , Assaf Katz , Lorena Porte , WEITZEL, THOMAS , Carmen Varela , Cristina Muñoz-Rehbein , Juan A. Ugalde , Christopher Grim , Narjol González-Escalona , Carlos J. Blondel , Verónica Bravo

Campylobacter is the leading cause of bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide and an emerging and neglected pathogen in South America. This zoonotic pathogen colonizes the gastrointestinal tract of a wide range of mammals and birds, with poultry as the most important reservoir for human infections. Apart from its high morbidity rates, the emergence of resistant strains is of global concern. The aims of this work were to determine genetic diversity, presence of antimicrobial resistance determinants and virulence potential of Campylobacter spp. isolated from patients with acute gastrointestinal disease at ‘Clinica Alemana’, Santiago de Chile. The study considered the isolation of Campylobacter spp., from stool samples during a 20-month period (January 2020 to September 2021). We sequenced (NextSeq, Illumina) and performed an in-depth analysis of the genome sequences of 88 Campylobacter jejuni and 2 Campylobacter coli strains isolated from clinical samples in Chile. We identified a high genetic diversity among C. jejuni strains and the emergence of prevalent clonal complexes, which were not identified in our previous reports. While ~40% of strains harbored a mutation in the gyrA gene associated with fluoroquinolone resistance, no macrolide-resistance determinants were detected. Interestingly, gene clusters encoding virulence factors such as the T6SS or genes associated with long-term sequelae such as Guillain-Barré syndrome showed lineage-relatedness. In addition, our analysis revealed a high degree of variability regarding the presence of fT3SS and T6SS effector proteins in comparison to type strains 81-176, F38011, and NCTC 11168 and 488. Our study provides important insights into the molecular epidemiology of this emerging foodborne pathogen. In addition, the differences observed regarding the repertoire of fT3SS and T6SS effector proteins could have an impact on the pathogenic potential and transmissibility of these Latin American isolates, posing another challenge in characterizing the infection dynamics of this emergent and neglected bacterial pathogen.

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Longitudinal study of wound healing status and bacterial colonisation of Staphylococcus aureus and Corynebacterium diphtheriae in epidermolysis bullosa patients

2022 , FUENTES BUSTOS, MARIA IGNACIA , YUBERO GONCALVEZ, MARIA JOAO , Pilar Morandé , Carmen Varela , Karen Oróstica , Francisco Acevedo , REBOLLEDO JARAMILLO, BORIS EDUARDO , Esteban Arancibia , PORTE TORRE, LORENA ISABEL , PALISSON ETCHARREN, FRANCIS

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Infecciones por helmintos intestinales en Chile: Análisis retrospectivo en Santiago, años 2015-2019

2023 , María Mireya Ahumada , Felipe Haecker , PORTE TORRE, LORENA ISABEL , WEITZEL, THOMAS

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Cyclospora cayetanensis

2017 , Thomas Weitzel , Valeska Vollrath , Lorena Porte

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Hepatitis B and C virus infection among HIV patients within the public and private healthcare systems in Chile: A cross-sectional serosurvey

2020 , WEITZEL, THOMAS , Fernanda Rodríguez , Luis Miguel Noriega , Alejandra Marcotti , Luisa Duran , Carla Palavecino , Lorena Porte , AGUILERA SANHUEZA, XIMENA PAZ , Marcelo Wolff , Claudia P. Cortes , Yury E. Khudyakov

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Klebsiella pneumoniae hipervirulenta

2020 , Silvina López , PORTE TORRE, LORENA ISABEL , WEITZEL, THOMAS

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Creación del primer biorrepositorio nacional de bacterias multirresistentes disponible para el estudio de la resistencia bacteriana en Chile

2022 , Patricia García , RIVAS JIMENEZ, LINA MARIA , Anne Peters , Paola Henríquez , Loriana Castillo , Vijna Illesca , Andrea Maripani , Juan Moreno , Margareta Mühlhauser , PORTE TORRE, LORENA ISABEL , María Luisa Rioseco , Pamela Rojas , Francisco Silva , Patricio Suazo , MUNITA SEPULVEDA, JOSE MANUEL

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Head-to-head comparison of CAMPYAIR aerobic culture medium versus standard microaerophilic culture for Campylobacter isolation from clinical samples

2023 , Arturo Levican , Carmen Varela , Lorena Porte , WEITZEL, THOMAS , Isabel Briceño , Francisco Guerra , Benjamín Mena , Arthur Hinton

Campylobacter spp. are considered the most frequent cause of acute gastroenteritis worldwide. However, outside high-income countries, its burden is poorly understood. Limited published data suggest that Campylobacter prevalence in low- and middle-income countries is high, but their reservoirs and age distribution are different. Culturing Campylobacter is expensive due to laboratory equipment and supplies needed to grow the bacterium (e.g., selective culture media, microaerophilic atmosphere, and a 42°C incubator). These requirements limit the diagnostic capacity of clinical laboratories in many resource-poor regions, leading to significant underdiagnosis and underreporting of isolation of the pathogen. CAMPYAIR, a newly developed selective differential medium, permits Campylobacter isolation without the need for microaerophilic incubation. The medium is supplemented with antibiotics to allow Campylobacter isolation in complex matrices such as human feces. The present study aims to evaluate the ability of the medium to recover Campylobacter from routine clinical samples. A total of 191 human stool samples were used to compare the ability of CAMPYAIR (aerobic incubation) and a commercial Campylobacter medium (CASA, microaerophilic incubation) to recover Campylobacter. All Campylobacter isolates were then identified by MALDI-TOF MS. CAMPYAIR showed sensitivity and specificity values of 87.5% (95% CI 47.4%–99.7%) and 100% (95% CI 98%–100%), respectively. The positive predictive value of CAMPYAIR was 100% and its negative predictive value was 99.5% (95% CI 96.7%–99.9%); Kappa Cohen coefficient was 0.93 (95% CI 0.79–1.0). The high diagnostic performance and low technical requirements of the CAMPYAIR medium could permit Campylobacter culture in countries with limited resources.

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Draft Whole-Genome Sequences of 51 Campylobacter jejuni and 12 Campylobacter coli Clinical Isolates from Chile

2020 , Verónica Bravo , Carmen Varela , PORTE TORRE, LORENA ISABEL , WEITZEL, THOMAS , George J. Kastanis , Maria Balkey , Carlos J. Blondel , Narjol Gonzalez-Escalona , David Rasko

Campylobacter species are the leading cause of gastroenteritis worldwide and an emerging threat in developing countries. Here, we report the draft whole-genome sequences of 51 Campylobacter jejuni and 12 Campylobacter coli strains isolated from patients with gastroenteritis in Santiago, Chile.

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Genomic Analysis of Chilean Strains of Campylobacter jejuni from Human Faeces

2019 , Arturo Levican , Ignacio Ramos-Tapia , Isabel Briceño , Francisco Guerra , Benjamin Mena , Carmen Varela , PORTE TORRE, LORENA ISABEL

Campylobacterspp., especiallyC. jejuni, are recognized worldwide as the bacterial species that most commonly cause food-related diarrhea.C. jejunipossesses many different virulence factors, has the ability to survive in different reservoirs, and has shown among isolates the emergence of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). Genome association analyses of this bacterial pathogen have contributed to a better understanding of its pathogenic and AMR associated determinants. However, the epidemiological information of these bacteria in Latin American countries is scarce and no genomic information is available in public databases from isolates in these countries. Considering this, the present study is aimed to describe the genomic traits from representativeCampylobacterspp. strains recovered from faecal samples of patients with acute diarrhoea from Valparaíso, Chile.Campylobacterspp. was detected from the faeces of 28 (8%) out of 350 patients with acute diarrhoea, mainly from young adults and children, and 26 (93%) of the isolates corresponded toC. jejuni. 63% of the isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin, 25.9% to tetracycline, and 3.5% to erythromycin. Three isolates were selected for WGS on the basis of theirflaA-RFLP genotype. They belonged to the multilocus sequence typing (MLST) clonal clomplex (CC) 21(PUCV-1), CC-48 (PUCV-3), and CC-353 (PUCV-2) and presented several putative virulence genes, including the Type IV and Type VI Secretion Systems, as well as AMR-associated genes in agreement with their susceptibility pattern. On the basis of the wgMLST, they were linked to strains from poultry and ruminants. These are the first genomes of ChileanC. jejuniisolates available in public databases and they provide relevant information about theC. jejuniisolates associated with human infection in this country.

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