Next-generation sequencing of streptococcus pneumoniae serotype mixtures

Serotyping of Streptococcus pneumoniae is a critical tool in the surveillance of the pathogen and development and evaluation of vaccines. Whole-genome DNA sequencing and analysis is becoming increasingly common and is an effective method for pneumococcal serotype identification of pure isolates. However, because of the complexities of the pneumococcal capsular loci, current analysis software requires samples to be pure (or nearly pure) and only contain a single pneumococcal serotype. This study involves the sequencing of multi-serotype mixtures and the quantification of serotype abundance in those mixed samples, in order to determine relative growth rates over time of different serotypes present within mixtures.