Link to bioRxiv paper: http://biorxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2020.08.13.249219v1?rss=1 Authors: Hwang, J.-H., Kim, J., Sun, I. O., Lee, T. H., Chung, K. M., Lee, C.-S. Abstract: Orientia tsutsugamushi , an obligate intracellular organism, is the causative agent of scrub typhus, which is endemic in the Asia-Pacific region. No comparative studies on the genotypic properties of O. tsutsugamushi have been performed using multilocus sequence typing (MLST) in South Korea. Here, we characterized 51 clinical isolates from Jeonju, in southwestern Korea, and we compared them to isolates from Thailand, Laos, and Japan. We also identified 10 new alleles and six novel sequence types. Overall, our results suggest that the relative genetic stability and the clonal populations of O. tsutsugamushi strains in South Korea have remained mostly conserved. Copy rights belong to original authors. Visit the link for more info