Zugl.: Berlin, Freie Universiẗat, Diss., 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Bovine tuberculosis (BTB), caused by bacteria of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex is reported to cause economic and public health negative impact in countries where it is prevalent. The control of the disease has been a difficult task worldwide. The main object of this thesis was to use molecular tools to generate useful information to contribute to the design of appropriate BTB control measures in Mozambique. To do so we considered a deep knowledge of the BTB history in Mozambique to be essential. The search was largely based on the reports produced annually by the Veterinary Services and other available information. We found reports of BTB in Mozambique as early as 1940. These cases were mainly identified as a result of post-mortem meat inspection. The higher numbers of cases reported were from 8 locations, namely Maputo, Magude, Vilanculos, Beira, Chimoio, Tete, Quelimane and Nampula, and served as a basis to decide the locations to perform prevalence and molecular epidemiologic studies. Prevalence studies were done in 10 districts selected based on the history of a high number of BTB case reports (intentionally biased towards locations presumably with higher prevalence), a high cattle density, but also to represent districts from the south, centre and north of Mozambique. A representative sample was defined, based on all livestock areas or villages in Massingir and Govuro Districts or by randomly selecting small-scale and commercial herds in 8 districts, specifically Manhiça, Chibuto, Buzi, Gondola, Mutarara, Mogovolas, Angoche and Mecanhelas. Results were obtained from 6983 cattle tested using tuberculin testing. Apparent prevalence varied from 0.98% in Massingir to 39.6% in the Govuro, with prevalence as high as 71.4% in some livestock areas/herds. The analysis of risk factors showed no noteworthy difference with respect to the sex of the animal. Younger age had significantly lower odds of infection compared to the older age class. There was a tendency of cattle from small-scale herds to have lower prevalence when compared to the commercial herds. From the prevalence studies, 187 tissue and 41 milk samples from BTB reactors were collected. Additionally 220 tissue samples were obtained from the Central Veterinary Laboratory routine diagnostic work. Samples were subject to bacteriological culture and a collection of 170 M. bovis isolates were obtained. Eight additional isolates were supplied from another study. All isolates were subjected to molecular typing using spoligotyping, and a sub-sample using MIRU-VNTR and regions of difference (RD) analysis. Fifteen different spoligotype patterns were identified of which 8 were not previously registered in the Mbovis.org database. The pattern SB0961 accounted for 61% of the isolates and was found in all areas of the country investigated. We hypothesize that this was one of the first clones to be introduced in Mozambique. Twenty-nine isolates had the pattern SB0140, which is specific for the European 1 (Eu1) clonal complex. Eleven isolates with this spoligotype were subjected to RD analysis, and all isolates had the Eu1 specific deletion. These were all isolated from cattle from the south of Mozambique and the majority from commercial farms that imported cattle, mainly from South Africa, where the Eu1 clonal complex is common. There were no isolates of the African 1 (Af1) or African 2 (Af2) clonal complexes that are frequent in Central-West Africa and East Africa, respectively. The clones identified from different farms and districts, strongly suggest routes of transmission and/or common source of infection. In conclusion, our results show a potential increase in the prevalence of BTB in Mozambique even taking into consideration i) that the selection of locations in our study was biased towards locations with a history of higher BTB prevalence and ii) the use of a more sensitive technique i.e. the testing in the middle neck region as opposed to the testing in the caudal fold as used in previous studies. Even if no cattle to human transmission was found in studies done in Mozambique so far, the evidence of M. bovis shedding through milk and the lack of correct practices to prevent animal to human transmission (consumption of raw milk), strongly suggests that there is zoonotic risk; a subject that needs to be investigated. The results presented in this work also strengthen the need to reinforce the current regulations that require a negative BTB test result before cattle importation. The same should be enforced for the internal movements, as the frequency of shared genotypes (Spoligotype and MIRU) from cattle originating from different parts of the country strongly suggest intra-contry transmission of BTB. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Beestering (BTB), wat veroorsaak word deur bakterieë van die Mycobacterium tuberculosis kompleks, het ‘n negatiewe impak op die ekonomiese en publike gesondheid in lande waar dit voorkom. Die beheer van die siekte is ‘n moeilike taak wêreldwyd. Die hoofdoel van hierdie tesis was om molekulêre toetse te gebruik om nuttige inligting te genereer wat sal bydra tot die ontwikkeling van toepaslike BTB beheermaatrëels in Mosambiek. Om dit te kon doen, was dit noodsaaklik om ‘n indiepte kennies te hê van BTB geskiedenis in Mosambiek. Die soektog was gebaseer op jaarlikse verslae van Veearts Dienste en ander beskikbare inligting. Ons het verslae gevind van BTB in Mosambiek so vroeg as 1940. Hierdie gevalle is hoofsaaklik geïdentifiseer as gevolg van roetine na-doodse inspeksie van vleis. Hoër getalle van sulke gevalle is geïdentifiseer in 8 distrikte, naamlik Maputo, Magude, Vilanculos, Beira, Chimoio, Tete, Quelimane en Nampula; en het gedien as ‘n basis vir die seleksie van studieareas vir die voorkoms studies. Voorkoms studies is uitgevoer in 10 distrikte gekies op grond van die geskiedenis van 'n hoër aantal BTB gevalle in hierdie areas (doelbewus bevooroordeeld teenoor plekke vermoedelik met 'n hoër voorkoms), asook‘n hoë digtheid beeste, maar ook om distrikte in die suide, middel en noorde van Mosambiek te verteenwoordig. ‘n Verteenwoordigende steekproef is geïdentifiseer gebaseer op al die vee-gebiede of dorpe in Massingir and Govuro distrikte óf deur kleinskaalse en kommersiële kuddes lukraak te kies in 8 distrikte, spesifiek Manhica, Chibuto, Busi, Gondola, Mutarara, Mogovolas, Angoche en Mecanhelas. Resultate is verkry deur 6983 beeste te toets met behulp van die tuberkulien vel toets. Skynbare voorkoms het gewissel van 0,98 % in Massingir tot 39,6 % in Govuro, met voorkoms so hoog as 71,4 % in sommige vee gebiede/ kuddes. Die ontleding van risiko faktore het geen noemenswaardige verskil met betrekking tot die geslag van die dier gewys nie. Jonger ouderdom diere het ‘n aansienlike laer kans van infeksie gehad in vergelyking met die ouer ouderdom klas. Daar was 'n neiging van beeste van kleinskaalse kuddes om ‘n laer voorkoms te hê in vergelyking met die kommersiële kuddes. Van die voorkoms studies, is 187 weefsel- en 41 melkmonsters van BTB reaktors ingesamel. ‘n Addisionele 220 weefselmonsters is verkry vanaf die Sentrale Veterinêre Laboratorium se roetine diagnostiese werk. Monsters was onderhewig aan bakteriologiese kweking en 'n versameling van 170 M. bovis isolate is verkry. Agt bykomende isolate is voorsien deur 'n ander studie. Alle isolate was onderhewig aan molekulêre-tipering met behulp van spoligotipering en ‘n subgroep met behulp van MIRU-VNTR en analise van genomies diverse areas. Vyftien verskillende spoligotipering patrone is geïdentifiseer, waarvan 8 nie voorheen in die Mbovis.org databasis geregistreer is nie. Die SB0961 patroon is geïdentifiseer vir 61% van die isolate en gevind in alle dele van die land wat ondersoek was. Ons hipotese is dat hierdie een van die eerste klone was wat voorgestel is in Mosambiek. Nege en twintig isolate het die SB0140 patroon gehad wat spesifiek is aan die Europese 1 (EU1) klonale kompleks. Elf isolate met hierdie spoligotipering patroon is verder geanaliseer om genomies diverse areas te identifiseer, waarvan almal die Eu1 spesifieke delesie getoon het. Hierdie isolate is almal geïsoleer uit beeste van die suide van Mosambiek, asook beeste gevind op kommersiele plase wat hoofsaaklik vanuit Suid Afrika invoer- waar die EU1 klonale kompleks algemeen is. Daar is geen isolate van die Afrikaans 1 (AF1) of Afrikaans 2 (AF2) klonale komplekse nie, dikwels gevind in onderskeidelik Sentraal-Wes-Afrika en Oos- Afrika. Isolate wat in verskillende plase en distrikte geïdentifiser is dui roetes van transmissie en/ of a gemeenskaplike bron van infeksie aan. Ten slotte, ons resultate dui op 'n moontlike toename in die voorkoms van BTB in Mosambiek, selfs met inagneming dat i) die keuse van areas in ons studie is bevooroordeeld teenoor areas met 'n geskiedenis van hoër BTB voorkoms en ii) die gebruik van 'n meer sensitiewe tegniek d.w.s. toetsing in die middel nekgebied i.p.v. toetsing in die stert vou soos gebruik in vorige studies. Selfs al is geen bees-na-mens-oordrag gevind nie, is die bewys van M. bovis oordrag deur melk en die gebrek aan korrekte prosedures om dier-na-mens-oordrag te voorkom (verbruik van nie-gepasturiseerde melk), ‘n sterk bewys van die soönotiese risiko; ‘n onderwerp wat ondersoek moet word. Die resultate van hierdie ondersoek beklemtoon die behoefte om die huidige regulasies wat ‘n negatiewe BTB toetsuitslag vereis voor beeste ingevoer word, te versterk. Dieselfde maatreëls moet ingestel word vir interne beweging van beeste, omdat die frekwensie van gedeelde genotipes (Spoligotipering en MIRU) tussen beeste met oorsprong uit verskillende dele van die land aandui dat interne oordrag van BTB plaasvind.

Bacteriophage therapy has been exploited for the control of bacterial diseases in fauna, flora and humans. However, the advent of antibiotic therapy lead to a cessation of most phage research. Recently, the problem of antibiotic resistance has rendered many commonly used antibiotics ineffective, thereby renewing interest in phage therapy as an alternative source of control. This is particularly relevant in the case of bovine mastitis, an inflammatory disease of bovine mammary glands, caused by strains such as Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus Rosenbach 1884. Antibiotic resistance (primarily towards penicillin and methicillin) by staphylococcal strains causing mastitis is regularly reported. Phage therapy can provide a stable, effective and affordable system of mastitis control with little to no deleterious effect on the surrounding environment or the affected animal itself. Several studies have delved into the field of biocontrol of bovine mastitis using phages. Results are variable. While some phage-based products have been commercialized for the treatment of S. aureus-associated infections in humans, no products have yet been formulated specifically for the strains responsible for bovine mastitis. If the reliability of phage therapy can be resolved, then phages may become a primary form of control for bovine mastitis and other bacterial diseases. This study investigated the presence of S. aureus and its phages in a dairy environment, as well as the lytic ability of phage isolates against antibiotic-resistant strains of mastitic S. aureus. The primary goals of the thesis were to review the available literature on bovine mastitis and its associated control, and then to link this information to the use of phages as potential control agents for the disease, to conduct in vitro bioassays on the selected phages, to conduct phage sensitivity assays to assess phage activity against different chemical and environmental stresses, to morphologically classify the selected phages using transmission electron microscopy, to characterize the phage proteins using one-dimensional electrophoresis, and lastly, to characterize phage genomes, using both electrophoresis as well as full genome sequencing. Twenty-eight phages were isolated and screened against four strains of S. aureus. Only six phages showed potential for further testing, based on their wide host range, high titres and common growth requirements. Optimal growth conditions for the host S. aureus strain was 37°C for 12hr. This allowed for optimal phage replication. At an optimal titre of between 6.2x10⁷ to 2.9x10⁸ pfu.mlˉ¹(at 10ˉ⁵ dilution of phage stock), these phages were able to reduce live bacterial cell counts by 64-95%. In addition, all six phages showed pathogenicity towards another 18 S. aureus strains that were isolated from different milk-producing regions during a farm survey. These six phages were named Sabp-P1, Sabp-P2, Sabp-P3, Sabp-P4, Sabp-P5 and Sabp-P6. Sensitivity bioassays, towards simulated environmental and formulation stresses were conducted on six identified phages. Phages Sabp-P1, Sabp-P2 and Sabp-P3 showed the most stable replication rates at increasing temperatures (45-70°C), in comparison to phages Sabp-P4, Sabp-P5 and Sabp-P6. The effect of temperature on storage of phages showed that 4ºC was the minimum temperature at which phages could be stored without a significant reduction in their lytic and replication abilities. Furthermore, all phages showed varying levels of sensitivity to chloroform exposure, with Sabp-P5 exhibiting the highest level of reduction in activity (74.23%) in comparison to the other phages. All six phages showed optimal lytic ability at pH 6.0-7.0 and reduced activity at any pH above or below pH 6.0-7.0. Exposure of phages to varying glycerol concentrations (5-100%) produced variable results. All six phages were most stable at a glycerol concentration of 10-15%. Three of the six isolated phages, Sabp-P1, Sabp-P2 and Sabp-P3, performed optimally during the in vitro assays and were used for the remainder of the study. Morphological classification of phages Sabp-P1, Sabp-P2 and Sabp-P3 was carried out using transmission electron microscopy. All three phages appeared structurally similar. Each possessed an icosahedral head separated from a striated, contractile tail region by a constricted neck region. The head capsules ranged in diameter between 90-110nm with the tail length ranging from 150-200nm in the non-contractile state and 100-130nm in the contractile state. Rigid tail fibres were also visible below the striated tail. The major steps in the virus replicative cycle were also documented as electron micrographs. Ultra-thin sections through phage plaques were prepared through a modification of traditional methods to speed up the process, with no negative effects on sample integrity. The major steps that were captured in the phage replicative cycle were (1) attachment to host cells, (2) replication within host cells, and, (3) release from cells. Overall results suggested that all three phages are strains from the order Caudovirales and are part of the Myoviridae family. A wealth of information can be derived about an organism based on analysis of its proteomic data. In the current study, one-dimensional electrophoretic methods, sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), and ultra-thin layer isoelectric focusing (UTLIEF), were used to analyse the proteins of three phages, Sabp-P1, Sabp-P2 and Sabp-P3, in order to determine whether these strains differed from each other. SDS-PAGE analysis produced unique protein profiles for each phage, with band fragments ranging in size from 8.86-171.66kDa. Combined similarity matrices showed an 84.62% similarity between Sabp-P1 and Sabp-P2 and a 73.33% similarity between Sabp-P1 and Sabp-P3. Sabp-P2 showed a 69.23% similarity to Sabp-P3. UTLIEF analysis showed protein isoelectric charges in the range of pI 4.21-8.13, for all three phages. The isoelectric profiles for each phage were distinct from each other. A combined similarity matrix of both SDS-PAGE and UTLIEF data showed an 80.00% similarity between phages Sabp-P1 and Sabp-P2, and a 68.29% similarity between Sabp-P1 and Sabp-P3. Sabp-P2 showed a 70.59% similarity to Sabp-P3. Although the current results are based on putative protein fragments analysis, it can be confirmed that phages Sabp-P1, Sabp-P2 and Sabp-P3 are three distinct phages. This was further confirmed through genomic characterization of the three staphylococcal phages, Sabp-P1, Sabp-P2 and Sabp-P3, using restriction fragment length analysis and whole genome sequencing. Results showed that the genomes of phages Sabp-P1, Sabp-P2 and Sabp-P3 were all different from each other. Phages Sabp-P1 and Sabp-P3 showed sequence homology to a particular form of Pseudomonas phages, called "giant" phages. Phage Sabp-P3 showed sequence homology to a Clostridium perfringens phage. Major phage functional proteins (the tail tape measure protein, virion structural proteins, head morphogenesis proteins, and capsid proteins) were identified in all three phages. However, although the level of sequence similarity between the screened phages and those already found on the databases, enabled preliminary classification of the phages into the order Caudovirales, family Myoviridae, the level of homology was not sufficient enough to assign each phage to a particular type species. These results suggest that phage Sabp-P1 might be a new species of phage within the Myoviridae family. One longer-term objective of the study is to carry out complete assembly and annotation of all the contigs for each phage. This will provide definitive conclusions in terms of phage relatedness and classification. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

Thesis (MSc)--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (MSc (Microbiology))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / Mastitis is considered to be the most costly disease affecting the dairy industry. Management strategies involve the extensive use of antibiotics to treat and prevent this disease. Prophylactic dosages of antibiotics used in mastitis control programmes could select for strains with resistance to antibiotics. In addition, a strong drive towards reducing antibiotic residues in animal food products has lead to research in finding alternative antimicrobial agents. Streptococcus macedonicus ST91KM, isolated from bulgarian goat yoghurt, produces the bacteriocin macedocin ST91KM with a narrow spectrum of activity against Grampositive bacteria. These include mastitis pathogens Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus dysgalactiae, Streptococcus uberis, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis as well as Lactobacillus sakei and Micrococcus varians. Macedocin ST91KM is, according to tricine-SDS PAGE, between 2.0 and 2.5 kDa in size. The activity of macedocin ST91KM remained unchanged after 2 h of incubation at pH 2.0 to 10.0 and 100 min at 100 °C. The peptide was inactivated after 20 min at 121 °C and when treated with pronase, pepsin and trypsin. Treatment with α-amylase had no effect on activity, suggesting that the mode of action does not depend on glycosylation. Precipitation with 60 % saturated ammonium sulphate, followed by Sep-Pak C18 separation recovered 43 % of macedocin ST91KM. Amplification of the genome of strain ST91KM with primers designed from the sequence of the macedocin prescursor gene (mcdA) produced two fragments (approximately 375 and 220 bp) instead of one fragment of 150 bp recorded for macedocin produced by S. macedonicus ACA-DC 198. Strain ACA-DC 198 was not available. However, the DNA fragment amplified from strain LMG 18488 (ACA-DC 206), genetically closely related to strain ACADC 198, revealed 99 % homology to the mcdA of S. macedonicus ACA-DC 198 (accession number DQ835394). Macedocin ST91KM may thus be a related bacteriocin described for S. macedonicus. The peptide adsorbed equally well (66 %) to L. sakei LMG13558 and insensitive cells, e.g. Enterococcus faecalis BFE 1071 and FAIR E92, and Streptococcus caprinus ATCC 700066. Optimal adsorption of macedocin ST91KM was recorded at 37 °C and 45 °C and at pH of 8 - 10. Addition of solvents decreased adsorption by 50%, suggesting that the receptors to which the bacteriocin binds have lipid moieties. The addition of MgCl2, KI and Na2CO3 completely prevented adsorption of macedocin ST91KM to the target cells, possibly due to competitive ion adsorption on the bacterial cell surface. The peptide has a bacteriocidal mode of action, resulting in lysis and the release of DNA and β-galactosidase. Atomic force microscopy of sensitive cells treated with macedocin ST91KM have shown deformation of the cell structure and developing of irregular surface areas. Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns were evaluated against eighteen mastitis pathogens. All isolates tested were resistant to methicillin and oxacillin, but had minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) falling in the intermediate and susceptible range against erythromycin. S. agalactiae and S. epidermidis had the highest sensitivity to macedocin ST91KM. A teat seal preparation containing macedocin ST91KM effectively released bacteriocin inhibiting the growth of the bacterial pathogen. Macedocin ST91KM could form the basis for an alternative dry cow therapy to prevent mastitis infections in dairy cows, as it is effective against pathogens that display resistance to conventional antibiotic therapy.