Population structure of Neisseria meningitidis ST-9493 identified in Colombian isolates.

Introduction: Neisseria meningitidis is associated with invasive infections causing high mortality rates. The objective of this study was to describe the population structure of Colombian invasive isolates with ST-9493, a potentially emerging clonal group in the country.

Methods: The complete genomes of 34 invasive isolates of serogroup B with ST-9493 and its variants at one or two loci were sequenced by Illumina to describe the phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of these isolates.

Complexity of Genomic Epidemiology of Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae Isolates in Colombia Urges the Reinforcement of Whole Genome Sequencing-Based Surveillance Programs.

Background: Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) is an emerging public health problem. This study explores the specifics of CRKP epidemiology in Colombia based on whole genome sequencing (WGS) of the National Reference Laboratory at Instituto Nacional de Salud (INS)'s 2013-2017 sample collection.

Methods: A total of 425 CRKP isolates from 21 departments were analyzed by HiSeq-X10®Illumina high-throughput sequencing.

Novel Highly Divergent SARS-CoV-2 Lineage With the Spike Substitutions L249S and E484K.

COVID-19 pandemics has led to genetic diversification of SARS-CoV-2 and the appearance of variants with potential impact in transmissibility and viral escape from acquired immunity. We report a new and highly divergent lineage containing 21 distinctive mutations (10 non-synonymous, eight synonymous, and three substitutions in non-coding regions). The amino acid changes L249S and E484K located at the CTD and RBD of the Spike protein could be of special interest due to their potential biological role in the virus-host relationship.

Molecular characterization of Neisseria meningitidis isolates recovered from patients with invasive meningococcal disease in Colombia from 2013 to 2016.

Background: Neisseria meningitidis is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Meningococcal isolates have a highly dynamic population structure and can be phenotypically and genetically differentiated into serogroups and clonal complexes. The aim of this study was to describe the phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of invasive isolates recovered in Colombia from 2013 to 2016.

Common conformational changes in flavodoxins induced by FMN and anion binding: the structure of Helicobacter pylori apoflavodoxin.

Flavodoxins, noncovalent complexes between apoflavodoxins and flavin mononucleotide (FMN), are useful models to investigate the mechanism of protein/flavin recognition. In this respect, the only available crystal structure of an apoflavodoxin (that from Anabaena) showed a closed isoalloxazine pocket and the presence of a bound phosphate ion, which posed many questions on the recognition mechanism and on the potential physiological role exerted by phosphate ions. To address these issues we report here the X-ray structure of the apoflavodoxin from the pathogen Helicobacter pylori.