The 100K Genome Project is led by the University of California, Davis and the US Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition alongside Agilent.
The 20 completed genome sequences of foodborne disease-causing microorganisms have been added to the public database at the National Center for Biotechnology Information.
It brings the total of genomes sequenced, including strains of salmonella and listeria, to 30 after 10 were completed in May.
Sequenced pathogens
Deposited sequences include several isolates of salmonella, listeria, campylobacter, and vibrio, as well as a full characterization of their epigenomes - a diagnostic feature that defines how the DNA is chemically modified and changes how the organism behaves.
"These finished genome sequences represent the highest quality standard, with each strain closed in a single bacterial chromosome and the associated mobile DNA," said Bart Weimer, director of the 100K Genome Project and professor at the school of veterinary medicine at UC Davis.
"They also contain complete associated phage or plasmid elements, which are critical for understanding pathogenicity, drug resistance and other biologically important traits that are linked to survival.”
Speed and treatment
The genome sequencing effort is focused on speeding the diagnosis and treatment of foodborne diseases, and shortening the duration and limiting the spread of foodborne illness outbreaks.
It is a five year partnership aiming to make the food supply safer for consumers by speeding the testing of raw ingredients and finished products.
"Making these genomic sequences publicly available through the National Center for Biotechnology Information database provides researchers and public health officials with information that will allow tracking of foodborne pathogens to their source," said Marc Allard, an FDA genomics expert and advisor to the 100K Genome Project.
Genomes were determined using Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT®) sequencing technology from Pacific Biosciences of California.
Identifying pathogens is just one part of the process for controlling the foodborne illness as the food vehicle of any given outbreak and the origin still need to be identified, said the project leaders.
"Increasingly, microbiologists are recognizing that epigenetic information provides essential clues to the virulence of an outbreak strain," said Jonas Korlach, chief scientific officer at Pacific Biosciences.
"The automated pipelines that made the completion of these 20 genomes and epigenomes possible serve as a solid foundation for the production of many more high-quality, finished genomes of foodborne pathogens through this project in the near future."