{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,16]],"date-time":"2026-05-16T03:30:16Z","timestamp":1778902216215,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,28]],"date-time":"2023-07-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1690502400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Yersinia pestis, the etiological agent of the plague, is considered a genetically homogeneous species. Brazil is currently in a period of epidemiological silence but plague antibodies are still detected in sentinel animals, suggesting disease activity in the sylvatic cycle. The present study deployed an in silico approach to analyze virulence factors among 407 Brazilian genomes of Y. pestis belonging to the Fiocruz Collection (1966\u20131997). The pangenome analysis associated several known virulence factors of Y. pestis in clades according to the presence or absence of genes. Four main strain clades (C, E, G, and H) exhibited the absence of various virulence genes. Notably, clade G displayed the highest number of absent genes, while clade E showed a significant absence of genes related to the T6SS secretion system and clade H predominantly demonstrated the absence of plasmid-related genes. These results suggest attenuation of virulence in these strains over time. The cgMLST analysis associated genomic and epidemiological data highlighting evolutionary patterns related to the isolation years and outbreaks of Y. pestis in Brazil. Thus, the results contribute to the understanding of the genetic diversity and virulence within Y. pestis and the potential for utilizing genomic data in epidemiological investigations.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens12080991","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,28]],"date-time":"2023-07-28T07:58:52Z","timestamp":1690531132000},"page":"991","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Genomic Analysis of Yersinia pestis Strains from Brazil: Search for Virulence Factors and Association with Epidemiological Data"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9499-1463","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o Luiz de Lemos Padilha","family":"Pitta","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Microbiology Department of Aggeu Magalh\u00e3es Institute\u2014FIOCRUZ PE, Recife 50740-465, PE, Brazil"},{"name":"Bioinformatics Platform of Aggeu Magalh\u00e3es Institute\u2014FIOCRUZ PE, Recife 50740-465, PE, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Matheus Filgueira","family":"Bezerra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Microbiology Department of Aggeu Magalh\u00e3es Institute\u2014FIOCRUZ PE, Recife 50740-465, PE, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Diego Leandro Reis da Silva","family":"Fernandes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Microbiology Department of Aggeu Magalh\u00e3es Institute\u2014FIOCRUZ PE, Recife 50740-465, PE, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tessa de","family":"Block","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Sciences\u2014Institute of Tropical Medicine, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3089-2102","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ane de Souza","family":"Novaes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences\u2014Federal University of Vale do S\u00e3o Francisco\u2014UNIVASF, Petrolina 56300-000, PE, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alzira Maria Paiva de","family":"Almeida","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Microbiology Department of Aggeu Magalh\u00e3es Institute\u2014FIOCRUZ PE, Recife 50740-465, PE, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4775-1779","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Antonio Mauro","family":"Rezende","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Microbiology Department of Aggeu Magalh\u00e3es Institute\u2014FIOCRUZ PE, Recife 50740-465, PE, Brazil"},{"name":"Bioinformatics Platform of Aggeu Magalh\u00e3es Institute\u2014FIOCRUZ PE, Recife 50740-465, PE, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e00044-19","DOI":"10.1128\/CMR.00044-19","article-title":"Yersinia Pestis: The Natural History of Plague","volume":"34","author":"Barbieri","year":"2020","journal-title":"Clin. 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