The Bacteriology Laboratory of the Wadsworth Center in collaboration with Dr. Cheryl Andam’s laboratory at the University of Albany RNA Institute has a new publication in Nature Communications highlighting some recent work, "Genetic exchange networks bridge mobile DNA vehicles in the bacterial pathogen Listeria monocytogenes” (Nat Commun. 2025 Nov 4;16(1):9723
The Wadsworth Center’s Bacteriology laboratory has routinely performed whole genome sequencing (WGS) for clinical diagnostics as well as public health surveillance and investigations since 2016. The laboratory has made the sequencing data available for additional analyses and included metadata for this and several other projects. Dr. Andam’s laboratory focuses on microbial genomics and evolution as they apply to infectious diseases and public health. The Andam laboratory uses sequences of closely related strains to understand the evolutionary, ecological and epidemiological dynamics of bacterial pathogens, which will inform effective, more targeted public health interventions.
To date the collaborative projects have included the analysis of Listeria monocytogenes genomes and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli that were sequenced, while additional projects are in discussion. Two additional publications have been accepted or published:
Long-term persistence of diverse clones shapes the transmission landscape of invasive Listeria monocytogenes Genome Med. 2024 Sep 4;16(1):109.
Genomic epidemiology reveals statewide dispersal of clinical Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli and their antimicrobial resistome (Accepted at Spectrum October 2025).