Stella Adom

Ghana

Comparative Genomic of Infectious Coryza Pathogen Avibacterium Paragallinarum

Iris De-baker Dadson1
Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

Abstract

Background

Avibacterium paragallinarum (A. paragallinarium) is a gram-negative bacterium of the family Pasteurellaceae and the causative agent of infectious coryza (IC), an acute contagious respiratory disease of major economic importance in poultry. The disease leads to reduced productivity, growth retardation, and increased susceptibility to secondary infections. This study carried out a comparative genomic analysis of A. paragallinarium isolates to investigate genetic diversity, virulence-associated genes, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) determinants.

Methods

A total of 118 genomes were analysed using seven different databases thus National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD), ResFinder, MEtaGenomic Antibiotic Resistance Database (MEGARes), PlasmidFinder, Virulence Factors of Pathogenic Bacteria Database (VFDB), and ARGANNOT to detect resistance and virulence factors.

Results

Gene detection capacity varied significantly between databases, with the MEGARes identifying the highest number of resistance genes, while PlasmidFinder recorded the lowest. The dominant virulence gene detected was gmhA/lpcA (80.3%), essential for lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis, followed by lpxC (15.1%) and kdsA (4.6%). This distribution highlights the central role of gmhA/lpcA in pathogenicity.

Conclusions

This study highlights the importance of database optimisation, continuous genomic surveillance, and integrated global monitoring strategies to effectively track and control the spread of resistant strains in poultry populations.