Pangenomic Characterization of Campylobacter Plasmids for Enhanced Molecular Typing, Risk Assessment and Source Attribution

Plasmid-mediated dissemination of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and virulence genes plays a critical role in enhancing the adaptive potential of Campylobacter spp. While Campylobacter plasmids of concern are commonly classified as pTet, pVir, pCC42 or a large plasmid encoding a T6SS (pT6SS), existing classification systems often lack the resolution to capture intra-group diversity. Here we demonstrate a plasmid typing approach with enhanced discriminatory power that categorizes these major plasmid groups into discrete subgroups and strengthens risk-assessment investigations. Pangenomic analysis of 424 Campylobacter plasmid sequences revealed 30 distinct plasmid groups. The four major groups above accounted for 74.3% of the dataset. Within these major groups, 177 plasmid type-specific loci were used to define 16 subgroups. pTet plasmids were subdivided into 5 subgroups, with subgroup 3 enriched in C. coli. pVir plasmids formed 3 subgroups, with only subgroup 3 harboring the tet(O) genes. The 5 pCC42 subgroups displayed Campylobacter species specificity while the 3 pT6SS subgroups encoded distinct AMR profiles. This high-resolution typing approach provides a unified and scalable method to characterize Campylobacter plasmid diversity and identifies genetic markers critical for pathogen surveillance, source attribution and mitigation strategies employed to safeguard human and animal health.