Antigenic Relationship of Brucella ovis and Brucella melitensis

Immune sera were prepared in rabbits by the injection of living and acetone-killed cells of Brucella ovis and smooth and rough B. melitensis. The use of whole-cell antigens in agglutination and agglutinin-absorption tests revealed little relationship between B. ovis and smooth B. melitensis, although there was extensive cross-agglutination between B. ovis and rough B. melitensis. The use of water-soluble antigens prepared from ultrasonically treated cells of the three strains revealed extensive cross-reactions in indirect hemagglutination, agar gel precipitation, and immunoelectrophoresis tests, as well as in allergic skin tests in rabbits. The most definitive results were obtained with the immunoelectrophoresis technique. B. ovis antigen produced at least 11 lines with its homologous serum. All were removed by absorption of the serum with rough B. melitensis antigen. All but three were removed by absorption with smooth B. melitensis antigen. Smooth B. melitensis antigen produced 11 lines with its homologous serum, and all but 3 were removed by absorption with B. ovis antigen. Rough B. melitensis produced nine lines with its homologous serum, and eight were removed by B. ovis antigen. The extensive cross-reactions between soluble antigens of B. ovis and B. melitensis are added evidence that B. ovis belongs in the genus Brucella.     

Brucella lipoproteins mimic dendritic cell maturation induced by Brucella abortus

Infection with Brucella abortus induces a pro-inflammatory response that drives T cell responses toward a Th1 profile. The mechanism by which this bacterium triggers this response is unknown. Dendritic cells (DC) are crucial mediators at the host-pathogen interface and are potent Th1-inducing antigen-presenting cells. Thus, we examined the mechanism whereby B. abortus stimulate human DC maturation. B. abortus-infected DC increased the expression of CD86, CD80, CCR7, CD83, MHCII, MHCI and CD40 and induced the production of TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-12. Both phenomena were not dependent on bacterial viability since they were also induced by heat-killed B. abortus (HKBA). B. abortus LPS was unable to induce markers up-regulation or cytokine production. We next investigated the capacity of the outer membrane protein 19 (Omp19) as a B. abortus lipoprotein model to induce DC maturation. Lipidated Omp19 (L-Omp19), but not its unlipidated form, increased the expression of cell surface markers and the secretion of cytokines. L-Omp19-matured DC also have decreased endocytic activity and displayed enhanced T cell stimulatory activity in a MLR. Pre-incubation of DC with anti-TLR2 mAb blocked L-Omp19-mediated cytokine production. These results demonstrate that B. abortus lipoproteins can stimulate DC maturation providing a mechanism by which these bacteria generate a Th1-type immune response.     

Completion of the genome sequence of Brucella abortus and comparison to the highly similar genomes of Brucella melitensis and Brucella suis

Brucellosis is a worldwide disease of humans and livestock that is caused by a number of very closely related classical Brucella species in the alpha-2 subdivision of the Proteobacteria. We report the complete genome sequence of Brucella abortus field isolate 9-941 and compare it to those of Brucella suis 1330 and Brucella melitensis 16 M. The genomes of these Brucella species are strikingly similar, with nearly identical genetic content and gene organization. However, a number of insertion-deletion events and several polymorphic regions encoding putative outer membrane proteins were identified among the genomes. Several fragments previously identified as unique to either B. suis or B. melitensis were present in the B. abortus genome. Even though several fragments were shared between only B. abortus and B. suis, B. abortus shared more fragments and had fewer nucleotide polymorphisms with B. melitensis than B. suis. The complete genomic sequence of B. abortus provides an important resource for further investigations into determinants of the pathogenicity and virulence phenotypes of these bacteria.     

犬种布鲁氏菌的遗传多样性分析

【背景】犬种布鲁氏菌是犬种布病的病原菌,主要导致犬流产和繁殖障碍。虽然犬种布鲁氏菌感染人群的病例极为少见,但是犬种布鲁氏菌对人的安全风险仍存在争议。目前,我国犬种布病的流行病学特征及犬种布鲁氏菌的遗传多样性的研究相对缺乏。开展犬种布病的流行特征及遗传多样性调查对加强犬种布病的监测防控具有重要意义。【目的】对犬种布病的流行病学特征和犬种布鲁氏菌的遗传多态性进行调查,为犬种布病的防控提供参考。【方法】采用常规鉴定方法和BCSS-PCR对63株试验菌株进行鉴定。采用HGDI (Hunter and Gaston diversity index)多态性指数调查犬种布鲁氏菌的遗传多态性,用MLVA方法基于BioNumerics5.0软件对菌株进行聚类分析,揭示犬种布病的流行病学特点。此外,基于MLVA-11采用goeBURST软件构建犬种布鲁氏菌的最小生成树(Minimum spanning tree,MST),阐述我国犬种布鲁氏菌的地理起源特征。【结果】常规鉴定方法和BCSS-PCR扩增结果显示63株试验菌株全部为犬种布鲁氏菌。BCSS-PCR与常规鉴定方法的符合率为100%,BCSS-PCR的分析敏感性为10-3 (即50 pg/μL犬种布鲁氏菌DNA)。我国犬种布鲁氏菌具有较高的遗传多样性,基于HGDI分析表明Panel 2B的5个位点具有较高的变异度,等位基因型由高到底依次为bruce09(11) bruce07(8)bruce16(7)bruce04(6)bruce30(5)。MLVA聚类分析表明北京地区出现了3次较小规模的犬种布病暴发流行,其余地区均为零星散发。我国犬种布鲁氏菌可分为5个地理集群,以MLVA-11基因26型克隆群为主导种群,该种群与来自美国、希腊、加拿大、法国、罗马尼亚和韩国等国家的菌株具有共同的地理起源,其余4个种群为中国特有。【结论】我国犬种布鲁氏菌呈现高度的遗传多样性并有广泛的地理来源,表现为输入性和中国特有血统共存的起源进化特征。     

Structure and properties of the outer membranes of Brucella abortus and Brucella melitensis.

The brucellae are Gram-negative bacteria characteristically able to multiply facultatively within phagocytic cells and which cause a zoonosis of world-wide importance. This article reviews the structure and topology of the main components (lipopolysaccharide, native hapten polysaccharide, free lipids and proteins) of the outer membranes of Brucella abortus and B. melitensis, as well as some distinctive properties (permeability and interactions with cationic peptides) of these membranes. On these data, an outer membrane model is proposed in which, as compared to other Gram-negatives, there is a stronger hydrophobic anchorage for the lipopolysaccharide, free lipids, porin proteins and lipoproteins, and a reduced surface density of anionic groups, which could be partially or totally neutralized by ornithine lipids. This model accounts for the permeability of Brucella to hydrophobic permeants and for its resistance to the bactericidal oxygen-independent systems of phagocytes.