Background and Aim. Leptospira, the causal agent of leptospirosis, has been isolated from the environment, patients, and wide spectrum of animals in Russia. However, the genetic diversity of Leptospira in natural and anthropurgic foci was not clearly defined. Methods. The recent MLST scheme was used for the analysis of seven pathogenic species. 454 pyrosequencing technology was the base of the whole genome sequencing (WGS). Results. The most wide spread and prevalent Leptospira species in Russia were L. interrogans, L. kirschneri, and L. borgpetersenii. Five STs, common for Russian strains: 37, 17, 199, 110, and 146, were identified as having a longtime and ubiquitous distribution in various geographic areas. Unexpected properties were revealed for the environmental Leptospira strain Bairam-Ali. WGS of this strain genome suggested that it combined the features of the pathogenic and nonpathogenic strains and may be a reservoir of the natural resistance genes. Results of the comparative analysis of rrs and rpoB genes and MLST loci for different Leptospira species strains and phenotypic and serological properties of the strain Bairam-Ali suggested that it represented separate Leptospira species. Conclusions. Thus, the natural and anthropurgic foci supported ubiquitous Leptospira species and the pool of genes important for bacterial adaptivity to various conditions.

Aim. Comparative typing of Leptospira spp. strain collection based on analysis of 16S RNA fragment. Materials and methods. 2 pairs of primers were used for PCR, that jointly flank 1423 b.p. sized fragment. Sequences of Leptospira spp. strain 16S rRNA, presented in the international database, were used for phylogenetic analysis. Results. A high similarity, including interspecies, of the 16S fragment in Leptospira spp. strains was shown independently of the source, serovar and serogroup. Heterogeneity ofthe primary matrix, spontaneous mutations of hotspots and erroneous nucleotide couplings, characteristic for 16S sequence of pathogenic Leptospira spp. strains, are discussed. Molecular-genetic characteristic of certain reference Leptospira spp. strains by 16S sequence is obtained. Conclusion. Results of the studies give evidence on expedience of introduction into clinical practice of identification of Leptospira spp. by 16S sequence directly from the clinical material, that would allow to significantly reduce identification time, dismiss complex type-specific sera and other labor-intensive methods.

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We present an analysis of 28 leptospirosis cases, associated with abroad traveling, and registered from 2011 to 2017 years. The relative ratio of leptospirosis with other imported infectious diseases is shown, and clinical and epidemiological features of imported leptospirosis cases were described