{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,23]],"date-time":"2026-01-23T09:29:49Z","timestamp":1769160589789,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,20]],"date-time":"2022-12-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1671494400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) is already endemic in vulnerable populations in several European countries; however, molecular epidemiology data with improved accuracy are necessary to better understand LGV epidemic in these countries. Current strategies to study the molecular epidemiology of LGV cases involve schemes based on a few genetic fragments of <jats:italic>Chlamydia trachomatis<\/jats:italic>, which have demonstrated limited discriminatory power for LGV. Therefore, this study aimed to propose a new combination of molecular markers based on the most variable genes of L-genotype genomes to improve the characterization of the current LGV epidemic in Madrid, Spain.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Four genes were selected according to their diversity index (CTLon_0054, CTLon_0087, CTLon_0243 and CTLon_0301) for use in combination with <jats:italic>ompA<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>In silico<\/jats:italic> and experimental studies were performed to compare the previously described multilocus sequence typing (MLST) schemes with our proposal. Moreover, the proposed scheme was applied (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u200968) to analyze the spatio-temporal spread of the LGV cases.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Our proposal demonstrated higher diversity allowing the identification of three main groups compared to the previously published MLST based on hypervariable genes wherein only a single sequence type was identified. The temporal analysis showed that the major cluster was progressively diversifying, revealing a very active transmission chain. Furthermore, an L2b genome identical to that of the origin of the epidemic was detected, suggesting reintroductions or a low screening rate in vulnerable populations. The spatial distribution suggests that the selection and spread of new variants occurs from the central district to the peripheral regions.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The scheme proposed in this study has proven to be useful for appropriate discrimination of LGV strains. This study, to our knowledge for the first time, demonstrates a spatio-temporal spread that increases our understanding and identifies areas with special susceptibility for maintenance of the endemic situation of LGV.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2022.1056216","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,20]],"date-time":"2022-12-20T07:17:12Z","timestamp":1671520632000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Specific high-resolution scheme to improve understanding of the spatio-temporal dispersion of lymphogranuloma venereum epidemic"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Laura","family":"Mart\u00ednez-Garc\u00eda","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jos\u00e9 Mar\u00eda","family":"Gonz\u00e1lez-Alba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Teresa","family":"Puerta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alicia","family":"Comuni\u00f3n","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mar\u00eda Concepci\u00f3n","family":"Rodr\u00edguez-Jim\u00e9nez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Eva","family":"Orviz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Matilde","family":"S\u00e1nchez-Conde","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mario","family":"Rodr\u00edguez-Dom\u00ednguez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rafael","family":"Cant\u00f3n","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Juan Carlos","family":"Gal\u00e1n","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2844","DOI":"10.1128\/JCM.00128-11","article-title":"Evaluation of high-resolution typing methods for chlamydia trachomatis in samples from heterosexual couples","volume":"49","author":"Bom","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. 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