FEMS Microbiology Letters, 367, 2020, fnaa043 doi: 10.1093/femsle/fnaa043 Advance Access Publication Date: 4 March 2020 Research Letter R E S E A R C H L E T T E R – Environmental Microbiology Whole genome sequencing provides genomic insights into three Morganella morganii strains isolated from bovine rectal swabs in Dhaka, Bangladesh Aura Rahman 1,2 , Omar Faruk Bhuiyan 1,2 , Abdus Sadique 1 , Tamanna Afroze 1 , Mrinmoy Sarker 2 , Abdul Mueed Ibne Momen 1,2 , Jahidul Alam 1 , Arman Hossain 1,2 , Imran Khan 2 , Kazi Fahmida Rahman 2 , Mohammad Kamruzzaman 3 , Fariza Shams 2 , Gias U. Ahsan 1,4 and Maqsud Hossain 1,2, * ,† 1 NSU Genome Research Institute (NGRI), North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2 Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 3 National Institute of Cancer Research Hospital (NICRH), Dhaka, Bangladesh and 4 Department of Public Health, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh ∗ Corresponding author: NSU Genome Research Institute (NGRI), North South University, Baridhara, Bashundhara, Dhaka 1229, Bangladesh. Tel: +88-02-5566-8200;E-mail: muhammad.maqsud@northsouth.edu One sentence summary: Whole genome sequencing has revealed that M. morganii isolated from cattle rectal swabs in Bangladesh possess a unique repertoire of genes that likely aid in its adaptation to the environment. Editor: S´ eamus Fanning † Maqsud Hossain, http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9794-411X ABSTRACT Morganella morganii, a gram negative, facultative anaerobic bacterium belonging to the Proteeae tribe of the Morganellaceae family, is an unusual opportunistic pathogen mainly responsible for nosocomial and urinary tract infections. While cattle have long been established as a source of a few zoonotic pathogens, no such data has been recorded for M. morganii despite its ubiquitous presence in nature and a number of animal hosts. In this study, draft genomes were produced of three M. morganii isolates from Bangladeshi cattle. The three isolates, named B2, B3 and B5, possessed an average genome size of 3.9 Mp, a GC% of ∼51% and pan and core genomes of 4637 and 3812 genes, respectively. All strains were bearers of the qnrD1 carrying plasmid Col3M and possessed roughly similar virulence profles and prophage regions. The strains also carried genes that were unique when compared with other publicly available M. morganii genomes. Many of these genes belonged to metabolic pathways associated with adaptation to environmental stresses and were predicted in silico to be borne in genomic islands. The fndings of this study expand on the current understanding of M. morganii”s genomic nature and its adaptation in cattle. Keywords: Morganella morganii; Bangladesh; cattle; draft genome Received: 31 October 2019; Accepted: 3 March 2020 C  FEMS 2020. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com 1 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/femsle/article/367/6/fnaa043/5780225 by guest on 24 January 2022