The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Genome database (part of the United States National Library of Medicine [NLM], a branch of the National Institutes of Health [NIH])has listed the Leptospira interrogates strain FMAS_AW1, the first complete, circularized genome of Leptospira from Sri Lanka as the Reference Genome for Leptospira interrogates.

L.interrogans is the most important species of genus Leptospira causing human leptospirosis around the Globe. Until April 2020, the reference genome for L.interrogans was serovar Lai str. 56601, first published in the Journal Nature in 2003.

The Leptospirosis research team from the Rajarata University in collaboration with the Yale University researchers published the whole genome sequence of FMAS_AW1 in March 2020 in Journal of Genomes. This isolate was unique due to its large genome size and having two plasmid. The isolation was a results of a large group work involving academics, researchers and clinicians from Rajarata University.

Leptospirosis research team of Rajarata University is involved in leptospirosis research since 2009. The ongoing research work on the leptospirosis genome by the team will expand the global understanding on Leptospira and Leptospirosis.