Exploring the Diversity of <em>Arcobacter butzleri</em> from Cattle in the UK Using MLST and Whole Genome Sequencing

<div><p><em>Arcobacter butzleri</em> is considered to be an emerging human foodborne pathogen. The completion of an <em>A. butzleri</em> genome sequence along with microarray analysis of 13 isolates in 2007 revealed a surprising amount of diversity amongst <em>A. butzleri</em> isolates from humans, animals and food. In order to further investigate <em>Arcobacter</em> diversity, 792 faecal samples were collected from cattle on beef and dairy farms in the North West of England. <em>Arcobacter</em> was isolated from 42.5% of the samples and the diversity of the isolates was investigated using multilocus sequence typing. An <em>A. butzleri</em> whole genome sequence, obtained by 454 shotgun sequencing of an isolate from a clinically-healthy dairy cow, showed a number of differences when compared to the genome of a human-derived <em>A. butzleri</em> isolate. PCR-based prevalence assays for variable genes suggested some tentative evidence for source-related distributions. We also found evidence for phenotypic differences relating to growth capabilities between our representative human and cattle isolates. Our genotypic and phenotypic observations suggest that some level of niche adaptation may have occurred in <em>A. butzleri</em>.</p>