The Emergence of Invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae Serotype 24F in Lebanon: Complete Genome Sequencing Reveals High Virulence and Antimicrobial Resistance Characteristics

Abstract

The sequencing results yielded eight closed circular genomes. Three multilocus sequence typing (MLST) types were identified (ST11618, ST14184, ST15253). Both MLST and WGS analyses revealed that these isolates from Lebanon were genetically homogenous belonging to clonal complex CC230 and clustered closely with isolates originating from Canada, United States of America, United Kingdom and Iceland. Their penicillin binding protein profiles correlated with both β-lactam susceptibility patterns and MLST types. Moreover, the isolates harbored the macrolide and tetracycline resistance genes and showed a similar virulence gene profile. To our knowledge, this study represents the first report of complete phenotypic and genomic characterization of the emerging <i>Streptococcus pneumoniae</i>, serotype 24F, in the Middle East and North Africa region.