Subject(s)
Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins/physiology , Lipoproteins/physiology , Spirochaeta/pathogenicity , Adaptation, Physiological , Animals , Antigenic Variation/immunology , Antigens, Bacterial/immunology , Antigens, Bacterial/metabolism , Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins/chemistry , Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins/metabolism , Escherichia coli/metabolism , Humans , Immunity, Innate , Lipoproteins/chemistry , Lipoproteins/metabolism , Spirochaeta/chemistry , Spirochaetaceae/pathogenicity , Spirochaetales Infections/immunology , Vaccines, Synthetic/immunologyABSTRACT
Recent findings challenge the assumption that pathogen-related oral spirochetes (PROS) are related to Treponema pallidum. Treponema vincentii, grown in OMIZ-Pat media, cross-reacted with monoclonal antibody H9-2 against T. pallidum, and cultivable PROS had 16S rRNA gene sequences similar to those of T. vincentii (C.-B. Choi, C. Wyss, and U. B. Göbel. J. Clin. Microbiol. 34:1922-1925, 1996). Aims of the present study were to determine whether antigen phenotypes of oral treponemas were influenced by growth conditions and to evaluate the genetic relatedness of cultivable PROS to T. pallidum and T. vincentii. Results show that three T. pallidum monoclonal antibodies (H9-1, H9-2, and F5) cross-reacted with whole cells from four Treponema species grown in modified OMIZ-Pat medium, but not with treponemas grown in NOS medium. Only H9-2 reacted in immunoblots with reduced proteins from cultivable PROS and T. vincentii. Three of five PROS isolates were amplified by T. vincentii-specific PCR, and one was amplified by Treponema medium-specific PCR. None were amplified by T. pallidum-specific PCR. Three of five PROS isolates had 16S ribosomal DNA restriction fragment length polymorphism patterns identical to that of T. vincentii, and the patterns of two isolates resembled that of T. medium. Arbitrarily primed-PCR profiles from whole genomic DNA were distinct among five PROS isolates and two T. vincentii strains. Thus, PROS isolates represent a heterogeneous group of treponemas that share some 16S rRNA gene sequences with T. vincentii and T. medium, but not with T. pallidum. It is proposed that the PROS nomenclature be dropped.
Subject(s)
Mouth/microbiology , Spirochaetaceae/classification , Spirochaetaceae/genetics , Treponema/classification , Treponema/genetics , Antibodies, Monoclonal , Antigens, Bacterial , Bacterial Typing Techniques , Base Sequence , Cross Reactions , Culture Media , DNA Primers/genetics , Genotype , Humans , Immunoblotting , Phenotype , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length , RNA, Bacterial/genetics , RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics , Species Specificity , Spirochaetaceae/pathogenicity , Treponema/pathogenicity , Treponema pallidum/classification , Treponema pallidum/genetics , Treponema pallidum/pathogenicityABSTRACT
The 16S rRNA genes from spirochaetes associated with digital dermatitis of British cattle were amplified by polymerase chain reaction from digital dermatitis lesion biopsies using one universal and one treponeme-specific primer. Two treponemal sequences were identified both of which shared a high degree of homology with the oral pathogen Treponema denticola (98%). Two further 16S rRNA gene sequences were obtained and shared similarity to Bacteroides levii (99%) and Mycoplasma hyopharyngis (98%). Polymerase chain reaction with T. denticola-specific primers amplified a potential virulence gene from digital dermatitis lesions which shared a high degree of homology to the 46-kDa haemolysin gene of T. denticola. The significance of the presence of organisms in digital dermatitis lesions of the bovine foot which are closely related to oral pathogens is discussed.
Subject(s)
Cattle Diseases/microbiology , Foot Diseases/veterinary , Spirochaetaceae/isolation & purification , Spirochaetaceae/pathogenicity , Spirochaetales Infections/veterinary , Amino Acid Sequence , Animals , Bacteroides/genetics , Base Sequence , Cattle , DNA Primers/genetics , Female , Foot Diseases/microbiology , Genes, Bacterial , Hemolysin Proteins/genetics , Molecular Sequence Data , Mouth/microbiology , Mycoplasma/genetics , Phylogeny , Polymerase Chain Reaction , RNA, Bacterial/genetics , RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics , Sequence Homology, Amino Acid , Species Specificity , Spirochaetaceae/genetics , Spirochaetales Infections/microbiology , Treponema/genetics , Treponema/isolation & purification , Treponema/pathogenicityABSTRACT
The systematics od spirochetes must from now own fulfil the genomic criteria recently laid down. Formerly, these parasites were classified on the basis of various phenotypic features, among which the pathogenicity and epidemiological criteria played the predominant role. At present, the order of Spirochaetales is divided into two families: Spirochaetaceae and Leptospiraceae. Two of the four genera of Spirochaetaceae, Treponema and Borrelia, include species that are pathogenic to man. Among Leptospiraceae, only one genus, Leptospira, has pathogenic species. The phenotypic characteristics of the various taxons are detailed, the role of each actor (causative agent, vector, reservoir) in the main pathological complexes and the progress of genotypic studies are briefly described.
