Global Phylogeny of Shigella sonnei Strains from Limited Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) and Development of a Rapid and Cost-Effective SNP-Typing Scheme for Strain Identification by High-Resolution Melting Analysis

The current Shigella sonnei pandemic involves geographically associated, multidrug-resistant clones. This study has demonstrated that S. sonnei phylogeny can be accurately defined with limited single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). By typing 6 informative SNPs using a high-resolution melting (HRM) assay, major S. sonnei lineages/sublineages can be identified as defined by whole-genome variation.