猪传染性胸膜肺炎放线杆菌apxIA基因在大肠杆菌中的融合表达与纯化

选取猪传染性胸膜肺炎放线杆菌(APP)apx1A基因序列中的抗原决定簇集中的区域,采用PCR方法从APP血清1型参考株259的基因组DNA中,扩增apxIA基因中约954 bp的片段,连接到pMD-18T载体,经测序正确后,以EcoR I和Not I双酶切,亚克隆到原核表达载体pGEX-4T-1中,转化大肠杆菌DH5α,经0.4 mmol/L IPTG诱导表达,产物通过尿素变性复性,并以Glutathione Sepharose 4B亲和层析的方法对目的蛋白进一步纯化.SDS-PAGE分析结果显示,目的基因在大肠杆菌DH5ct中以包涵体形式高效表达,经薄层凝胶扫描分析占菌体总蛋白的32%,纯化后的GST融合蛋白纯度达到95%,为亚单位疫苗和诊断抗原的研究奠定了基础.     

Hemagglutinating properties of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae

A total of 26 isolates of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae were tested for their ability to agglutinate erythrocytes of different origins. Seven different hemagglutination patterns were found. Ten (38%) isolates did not agglutinate any of the erythrocytes tested. The remaining 16 (62%) isolates agglutinated human erythrocytes, and among these, 12 also agglutinated rat, cat, dog, guinea pig, or bovine erythrocytes. No correlation was found between the seven different hemagglutination patterns observed and the serotypes. Hemagglutination activity was destroyed by heating at 100 degrees C as well as by formaldehyde treatment, but was not affected by heating at 60 degrees C, by treatment with trypsin or pronase, or by homogenization of bacterial cells. No fimbriae were observed on examination of bacterial cells negatively stained with phosphotungstate using electron microscopy. Hydrophobic surface properties of the isolates were evaluated. All the isolates appear to possess a hydrophilic cell surface. The present study provides evidence that certain isolates of A. pleuropneumoniae possess hemagglutinating properties which do not appear to be mediated by fimbriae or to involve hydrophobic interactions.     

Flagella and Motility in Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae has been considered nonmotile and nonflagellate. In this work, it is demonstrated that A. pleuropneumoniae produces flagella composed of a 65-kDa protein with an N-terminal amino acid sequence that shows 100% identity with those of Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Shigella flagellins. The DNA sequence obtained through PCR of the fliC gene in A. pleuropneumoniae showed considerable identity (93%) in its 5' and 3' ends with the DNA sequences of corresponding genes in E. coli, Salmonella enterica, and Shigella spp. The motility of A. pleuropneumoniae was observed in tryptic soy or brain heart infusion soft agar media, and it is influenced by temperature. Flagella and motility may be involved in the survival and pathogenesis of A. pleuropneumoniae in pigs.     

Comparative Genomic Characterization of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae

The Gram-negative bacterium Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae is the etiologic agent of porcine contagious pleuropneumoniae, a lethal respiratory infectious disease causing great economic losses in the swine industry worldwide. In order to better interpret the genetic background of serotypic diversity, nine genomes of A. pleuropneumoniae reference strains of serovars 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 were sequenced by using rapid high-throughput approach. Based on 12 genomes of corresponding serovar reference strains including three publicly available complete genomes (serovars 3, 5b, and 7) of this bacterium, we performed a comprehensive analysis of comparative genomics and first reported a global genomic characterization for this pathogen. Clustering of 26,012 predicted protein-coding genes showed that the pan genome of A. pleuropneumoniae consists of 3,303 gene clusters, which contain 1,709 core genome genes, 822 distributed genes, and 772 strain-specific genes. The genome components involved in the biogenesis of capsular polysaccharide and lipopolysaccharide O antigen relative to serovar diversity were compared, and their genetic diversity was depicted. Our findings shed more light on genomic features associated with serovar diversity of A. pleuropneumoniae and provide broader insight into both pathogenesis research and clinical/epidemiological application against the severe disease caused by this swine pathogen.Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, a Gram-negative facultative anaerobic encapsulated coccobacillus, belongs to the Actinobacillus genus of the Pasteurellaceae family (19). A. pleuropneumoniae is a primary bacterial etiologic agent of porcine contagious pleuropneumonia, a severe respiratory disease leading to great economic losses to the global swine industry (7). The cases usually display pleuropneumonia and pulmonary lesions characterized by serious hemorrhage and necrosis. To date, several factors involved in the virulence of A. pleuropneumoniae have been described, including Apx exotoxins, capsular polysaccharides (CPS), lipopolysaccharides (LPS), outer membrane proteins, iron-acquisition proteins and adhesin factors (11, 19, 24). However, the genetic differences of pathogenesis remain poorly characterized and are worth interpreting from the perspective of comparative genomics for this bacterium.Thus far, 15 serovars and two biotypes of A. pleuropneumoniae have been recognized, with great variations in virulence and interlocal distributions (6). The predominant serovar-specific antigens are composed of CPS, which could rigorously define serovars of A. pleuropneumoniae (6, 34). Antigenic differences in the LPS can further determine A. pleuropneumoniae subtypes within a same capsular serovar (13). The metabolic and virulent characteristics of this pathogen have been systematically described based on the prior knowledge and two complete genomes (18, 47), but the molecular basis and evolutionary mechanism of serotypic diversity are still not well explained due to the lack of sequence information. To investigate the associations of serovar diversity with the underlying genetic components, more serovar-related genomic islands involved in the biosynthesis of capsular and lipopolysaccharide antigens should be decoded at the pan-genome level of A. pleuropneumoniae. At present, through the next-generation of sequencing technique (454 GS FLX pyrosequencing platform), more and more bacterial species, subspecies or typical strains have been quickly sequenced, such as eight species in the Yersinia genus (9), 17 strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae (22), and 5 strains from different Francisella tularensis subspecies (8). Multiple genome sequences from different strains of a single species can offer comprehensive information to explore the relationship between genotypes and phenotypes and to further discover additional genetic markers for clinical purpose.In the present study, we sequenced the A. pleuropneumoniae genomes of nine reference strains of serovars 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13. Together with three public complete genome sequences of A. pleuropneumoniae serovars 3, 5b, and 7, the analysis of comparative genomics was performed to report a global genomic characterization of this pathogenic bacterium. The acquisition and loss of genome compositions that contribute to virulence and serovar diversity were identified. The genetic loci involved in the biogenesis of capsule and O-specific polysaccharide were compared, and their vital roles in serotypic diversity were investigated.     

Screening of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae LuxS Inhibitors

LuxS, a conserved bacterial enzyme involved in the activated methyl cycle, catalyzes S-ribosylhomocysteine (SRH) into homocysteine and AI-2 (the inter-species quorum-sensing signal molecule). This enzyme has been reported to be essential for the survival of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae in its natural host. Therefore, it is a potential drug target against A. pleuropneumoniae, an important swine respiratory pathogen causing great economic losses in the pig industry worldwide. In this study, the enzymatic activity determination method was established using the recombinant LuxS of A. pleuropneumoniae. Thirty-five compounds similar to the shape of SRH were screened from the Specs compound library by the software vROCS and were evaluated for LuxS inhibition. Three compounds could inhibit LuxS activity. Two of them were confirmed to be competitive inhibitors and the third one was uncompetitive. All the three compounds displayed inhibitory effects on the growth of A. pleuropneumoniae and two other important swine pathogens, Haemophilis parasuis and Streptococcus suis, with MIC₅₀ values ranging from 11 to 51 μg/ml. No significant cytotoxic effect of the compounds was detected on porcine PK-15 cells at the concentration which showed inhibitory effect on bacterial growth. These results suggest that LuxS is an ideal target to develop antimicrobials for porcine bacterial pathogens. The three LuxS inhibitors identified in this study can be used as lead compounds for drug design.     

Natural competence in strains of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae

The fatty acid (FA) profiles of myxobacteria contain FA species with double bonds at the Δ⁵ and Δ¹¹ positions, the latter being rather unusual among bacteria. Despite this knowledge, the mechanism for introduction of these double bonds has never been described before in myxobacteria. Searches for candidate genes in the genome of the model organism Myxococcus xanthus revealed 16 genes, which have been annotated as FA desaturases. However, due to redundant substrate specificity, functional analyses of these enzymes by construction of inactivation mutants did not lead to the identification of their function or substrate specificity. Therefore, we elucidated the regioselectivity of the desaturation reactions by heterologous expression of eight desaturases from M. xanthus in Pseudomonas putida and thus could prove five of them to be indeed active as desaturases, with three (MXAN_1742, MXAN_3495 and MXAN_5461) and two (MXAN_0317 and MXAN_6306) acting as Δ⁵ and Δ¹¹ desaturases, respectively. This is the first report about the heterologous expression and regioselectivity of FA desaturases in myxobacteria.     

The lipopolysaccharide core of Actinobacillus suis and its relationship to those of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae

The Gram-negative bacteria Actinobacillus suis colonizes the upper respiratory and genital tracts of swine. Along with capsular polysaccharides, lipopolysaccharides (O-chain→core→lipid A~cell) are a main cell-surface component of A.?suis. In this study, we determined that A.?suis lipopolysaccharide incorporates a conserved core that shares some structural features with several core types of A.?pleuropneumoniae . These common core structural features likely account for the observed serological cross-reactivity between A.?suis and A.?pleuropneumoniae, and the data suggest that the structural epitopes responsible for immunogenicity are those in the outer core domain.     

构建胸膜肺炎放线杆菌apxIC基因插入突变株

目的：构建胸膜肺炎放线杆菌（APP）apxIC基因插入突变菌株,以鉴定ApxⅠ毒素的生物学特性。方法：根据apxⅠ核酸序列（U05042）设计1对引物,用于自APP血清10型参考菌株（D13039）基因组DNA中扩增apxIC基因及其上下游约2．8kb的基因片段,经克隆测序后在apxIC基因下游xbI酶切位点处插入约0．9kb的氯霉素（Chl）抗性基因表达盒,构建用于转化的转移载体pUIC-Chl^r,将转移载体DNA经电转化导入APP血清10型参考菌株中进行同源重组,以获得突变菌株。结果：在含有氯霉素的培养基中经筛选获得2株丧失溶血活性的突变菌株（D13039C-Chl^r）;利用PCR和Southern blot对突变菌株鉴定,显示氯霉素抗性基因已被插入细菌基因组中。结论：利用电转化和同源重组技术构建成功APP apxIC基因插入突变菌株,为分析ApxⅠ毒素的生物学特性,进而研制APP基因工程减毒活疫苗奠定了基础。     

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae: pathobiology and pathogenesis of infection

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae causes porcine pleuropneumonia, a highly contagious disease for which there is no effective vaccine. This review considers how adhesins, iron-acquisition factors, capsule and lipopolysaccharide, RTX cytotoxins and other potential future vaccine components contribute to colonisation, to avoidance of host clearance mechanisms and to damage of host tissues.     

Transcriptional profiling of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae under iron-restricted conditions

Background

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a central role in innate immunity. TLRs are membrane glycoproteins and contain leucine rich repeat (LRR) motif in the ectodomain. TLRs recognize and respond to molecules such as lipopolysaccharide, peptidoglycan, flagellin, and RNA from bacteria or viruses. The LRR domains in TLRs have been inferred to be responsible for molecular recognition. All LRRs include the highly conserved segment, LxxLxLxxNxL, in which "L" is Leu, Ile, Val, or Phe and "N" is Asn, Thr, Ser, or Cys and "x" is any amino acid. There are seven classes of LRRs including "typical" ("T") and "bacterial" ("S"). All known domain structures adopt an arc or horseshoe shape. Vertebrate TLRs form six major families. The repeat numbers of LRRs and their "phasing" in TLRs differ with isoforms and species; they are aligned differently in various databases. We identified and aligned LRRs in TLRs by a new method described here.

Results

The new method utilizes known LRR structures to recognize and align new LRR motifs in TLRs and incorporates multiple sequence alignments and secondary structure predictions. TLRs from thirty-four vertebrate were analyzed. The repeat numbers of the LRRs ranges from 16 to 28. The LRRs found in TLRs frequently consists of LxxLxLxxNxLxxLxxxxF/LxxLxx ("T") and sometimes short motifs including LxxLxLxxNxLxxLPx(x)LPxx ("S"). The TLR7 family (TLR7, TLR8, and TLR9) contain 27 LRRs. The LRRs at the N-terminal part have a super-motif of STT with about 80 residues. The super-repeat is represented by STTSTTSTT or _TTSTTSTT. The LRRs in TLRs form one or two horseshoe domains and are mostly flanked by two cysteine clusters including two or four cysteine residue.

Conclusion

Each of the six major TLR families is characterized by their constituent LRR motifs, their repeat numbers, and their patterns of cysteine clusters. The central parts of the TLR1 and TLR7 families and of TLR4 have more irregular or longer LRR motifs. These central parts are inferred to play a key role in the structure and/or function of their TLRs. Furthermore, the super-repeat in the TLR7 family suggests strongly that "bacterial" and "typical" LRRs evolved from a common precursor.     

Characterization of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae riboflavin biosynthesis genes.

In this paper, we report the identification, cloning, and complete nucleotide sequence of four genes from Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae that are involved in riboflavin biosynthesis. The cloned genes can specify production of large amounts of riboflavin in Escherichia coli, can complement several defined genetic mutations in riboflavin biosynthesis in E. coli, and are homologous to riboflavin biosynthetic genes from E. coli, Haemophilus influenzae, and Bacillus subtilis. The genes have been designated A. pleuropneumoniae ribGBAH because of their similarity in both sequence and arrangement to the B. subtilis ribGBAH operon.     

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae metalloprotease: cloning and in vivo expression

The complete amino acid and nucleotide sequence of a secreted metalloprotease produced by Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serotype 1 is reported. A clone showing proteolytic activity in cell-free culture media was selected from a genomic library of A. pleuropneumoniae serotype 1 in pUC 19. The sequence obtained contained an open reading frame encoding a protein with 869 amino acids. This protein was identified as a zinc neutral-metalloprotease belonging to the aminopeptidase family, with a predicted molecular weight of approximately 101 kDa. This sequence showed high homology with other predicted or sequenced aminopeptidases reported for different Gram-negative bacteria. Expression of the protease was observed in lung tissue from pigs that died of porcine pleuropneumonia suggesting a role in pathogenesis.     

Pathway deregulation and expression QTLs in response to Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae infection in swine

Actinobacillus (A.) pleuropneumoniae is among the most important pathogens in pig. The agent causes severe economic losses due to decreased performance, the occurrence of acute or chronic pleuropneumonia, and an increase in death incidence. Since therapeutics cannot be used in a sustainable manner, and vaccination is not always available, new prophylactic measures are urgently needed. Recent research has provided evidence for a genetic predisposition in susceptibility to A. pleuropneumoniae in a Hampshire × German Landrace F2 family with 170 animals. The aim of the present study is to characterize the expression response in this family in order to unravel resistance and susceptibility mechanisms and to prioritize candidate genes for future fine mapping approaches. F2 pigs differed distinctly in clinical, pathological, and microbiological parameters after challenge with A. pleuropneumoniae. We monitored genome-wide gene expression from the 50 most and 50 least susceptible F2 pigs and identified 171 genes differentially expressed between these extreme phenotypes. We combined expression QTL analyses with network analyses and functional characterization using gene set enrichment analysis and identified a functional hotspot on SSC13, including 55 eQTL. The integration of the different results provides a resource for candidate prioritization for fine mapping strategies, such as TF, TFRC, RUNX1, TCN1, HP, CD14, among others.     

Modulation of Gene Expression Made Easy

A new approach for modulating gene expression, based on randomization of promoter (spacer) sequences, was developed. The method was applied to chromosomal genes in Lactococcus lactis and shown to generate libraries of clones with broad ranges of expression levels of target genes. In one example, overexpression was achieved by introducing an additional gene copy into a phage attachment site on the chromosome. This resulted in a series of strains with phosphofructokinase activities from 1.4 to 11 times the wild-type activity level. In this example, the pfk gene was cloned upstream of a gusA gene encoding β-glucuronidase, resulting in an operon structure in which both genes are transcribed from a common promoter. We show that there is a linear correlation between the expressions of the two genes, which facilitates screening for mutants with suitable enzyme activities. In a second example, we show that the method can be applied to modulating the expression of native genes on the chromosome. We constructed a series of strains in which the expression of the las operon, containing the genes pfk, pyk, and ldh, was modulated by integrating a truncated copy of the pfk gene. Importantly, the modulation affected the activities of all three enzymes to the same extent, and enzyme activities ranging from 0.5 to 3.5 times the wild-type level were obtained.