Impact of Niche Adaptation on Salmonella Virulence and Antimicrobial Resistance

Dear Colleagues,

Non-typhoid Salmonella are the most common foodborne pathogens frequently isolated from food-producing animals that are responsible for zoonotic infections in humans and animal species, including birds. Furthermore, the emergence of several clones of Salmonella resistant to multiple antimicrobials worldwide underscores a significant food safety hazard. On the other hand, Salmonella Typhi caused an estimated 10 million typhoid cases and 117,000 deaths in 2017, and its strains are resistant to multiple antibiotics, stretching health systems in both developed and developing countries. 

The versatile ability of Salmonella serovars to be “host-restricted”, “host-adapted” or “host-generalists” may influence the pathogenicity and resistance to antimicrobials.

In this Special Issue, we are interested in papers that investigate the potential impact of the different environmental niches in the survival of Salmonella, including S. Typhi, and whether (and how much) such niches contribute to the transmission of disease to humans. Additionally, these environmental niches may play a role in the development of antibiotic resistance in pathogens. We are interested in reporting whether Salmonella survival in the environment is impacted by antibiotics, and whether environmental exposure to antibiotics impacts the development of antibiotic resistance and the transmissibility of Salmonella.

Studies of interest could cover topics including but not limited to:  

• Soil and water microbiome experiments with clear implications for survival, virulence, or antibiotic resistance.
• Survival and persistence of Salmonella within biofilms or in the presence of free-living protozoans.
• The role of the environment (soil, water, residual antibiotics) in the development of AMR in Salmonella.
• Transcriptome analysis, mutagenesis and TraDIS experiments of Salmonella to identify genes associated with environmental niches and their implication in pathogenicity and resistance.

We also seek papers documenting uncovered aspects of NTS, with a particular focus on the pathogenicity and virulence factors, host specificity, transmission, and antimicrobial resistance, including multidrug resistance and surveillance.

Dr. Yaovi M.G. Hounmanou
Dr. Vanesa García
Guest Editors

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• Salmonella
• niche adaptation
• virulence
• antimicrobial resistance
• food safety
• omics