Genomic characterization of SPI-1 lacking Salmonella Senftenberg isolates from China.

Infections associated with Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Senftenberg are often associated with poultry flocks, farm environments, and consumption of mussels and vegetables as sources. The recent emergence of multidrug resistant isolates, both in Africa and the United States, has raised public health concerns. In this study comparative genomic analysis and phenotyping were used to characterize 14 clinical Salmonella Senftenberg isolates recovered from Shenzhen and Shanghai, China between 2002 and 2011.All S. Seftenberg isolates (except S10078 and S11192) were previously characterized by deletion of Salmonella Pathogenicity Island 1. DNA prepared from all isolates was sequenced using an Illumina HiSeq platform and Multilocus Sequencing Type (MLST), antimicrobial profiles, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), genome architecture and protein families were determined. SNP analyses indicated that the studied S. Senftenberg isolates belonged to two distinct phylogenetic clades designated SC1&SC2 that were distinguished in the genomic architecture, invasion capability and abundance of protein families.