A linfadenite caseosa é uma doença infectocontagiosas, de ocorrência mundial, que acomete caprinos e ovinos, caracterizada pela formação de abscessos em gânglios linfáticos superficiais, e alguns casos órgãos e linfonodos internos. É uma enfermidade causada pelo Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, responsável por grandes perdas econômicas na caprinocultura e ovinocultura. O presente trabalho teve por objetivo desenvolver um teste sorológico sensível e específico para detectar anticorpos anti-C. pseudotuberculosis em ovinos. Os animais foram classificados em dois grupos, com sintomatologia aparente para linfadenite caseosa (n=103) colhidos a campo, onde foram coletados amostras de soro e punção de linfonodos aumentados; e animais sem sintomatologia aparente (n=50) dos quais as amostras de soro e fragmentos de pulmão e linfonodo mediastínico foram colhidos em frigorífico. Em ambas as amostras a confirmação da presença e ausência da doença foi realizada através das provas de cultivo microbiológico e PCR, considerados nesse estudo como padrão para classificação dos animais. O resultado do cultivo microbiológico dos animais com sintomatologia aparente foi 53,5% (55/103) identificadas como C. pseudotuberculosis através de provas bioquímicas, e com a utilização da PCR, 46,5% (48/103) das amostras foram positivas para C. pseudotuberculosis. Com relação aos animais sem sintomatologia aparente, todas as amostras foram negativas no cultivo microbiológico e PCR (0/50). Na padronização do ELISA indireto foram utilizados 42 soros positivos e 43 soros negativos confirmados no cultivo microbiológico e PCR para linfadenite caseosa. A média de absorbância foi 1,88 com desvio padrão de 0,43, para as amostras positivas e, para as amostras negativas a média de 0,71 e desvio padrão 0,18. Dessa forma foram consideradas positivas, as amostras que apresentaram na reação de ELISA valor da DO> 1,1 e negativas de <1,1. A análise gráfica empregada no presente trabalho, curva ROC, permitiu encontrar o valor do ponto de corte associado à combinação dos parâmetros de sensibilidade e especificidade, assim, a acurácia do teste pôde descriminar indivíduos doentes de não doentes. A utilização de técnicas sorológicas no diagnóstico da linfadenite caseosa permitirá o controle epidemiológico da doença, porém não substitui o cultivo microbiológico, técnica considerada padrão ouro, e pode ser utilizada como teste de triagem ou mesmo na comercialização de animais, visto que a doença muitas vezes é de caráter inaparente, o que inviabiliza o diagnóstico clínico e microbiológico. / Caseous lymphadenitis is an infectious disease of worldwide occurrence that affects sheep and goats, characterized by the formation of abscesses in superficial lymph nodes, and sometimes internal organs and lymph nodes. It is caused by Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, responsible for great economic losses in goat and sheepproduction. This study aimed to develop a sensitive and specific serological test to detect anti- C. pseudotuberculosis in sheep. The animals were divided into two groups, the first one encompassing the ones with apparent caseous lymphadenitis symptoms (n = 103), where serum samples and puncture of enlarged lymph nodes were collected, and the second one with animals with no apparent symptoms (n = 50) of which samples (lung fragments, serum and and mediastinal lymph nodes) were inspected and harvested in the slaughterhouse. In both groups the presence and absence of the disease was carried through the evidence of microbiological culture and PCR, considered as the standard for the groups classification. Microbiological culture results of animals with apparent symptoms was 53.5% (55/103) identified as C. pseudotuberculosis by biochemical tests, and allied to PCR, 46.5% (48/103) of the samples were positive for C. pseudotuberculosis. Regarding animals without apparent symptoms, all samples were negative in microbiological culture and PCR (0/50). For the standardization of indirect ELISA we used 42 positive sera and 43 negative sera confirmed by microbiological culture and PCR for caseous lymphadenitis. The mean absorbance was 1.88 with standard deviation of 0.43 for the positive samples, and for negative samples the average was 0.71 and standard deviation 0.18. Thus we considered as positive, the samples with DO value > 1.1 and negative <1.1. The graphical analysis employed in this study, ROC curve, allowed us to find the cutoff value allied to the association of sensitivity and specificity parameters, thus the test accuracy was able to discriminate sick from not sick individuals. The use of serological techniques for the diagnosis of caseous lymphadenitis will allow the epidemiological control of the disease, but does not replace the microbiological culture, considered as the gold standard technique, and can be used as a screening test or animals trade, since the disease condition often is unapparent, which derails the clinical diagnosis and microbiological.

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No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Ernani Flávio Lopes Barbosa - 2016.pdf: 2105902 bytes, checksum: 07f1df5e2ebb5676e0813d7755d23347 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-22 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás - FAPEG / Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis is the etiologic agent of Caseous Lymphadenitis (CLA), a chronic infectious disease that is distributed worldwide and affects goats and sheep. The disease is characterized by the development of granulomes in superficial lymph nodes and some organs, as liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys. The occurrence of CLA in Brazilian small ruminant herds is widely spread, causing economic losses due to a reduction in productive efficiency and in leather economic value, and occasional death of affected animals. The objective of this study was to identify the seroprevalence of specific anti-C. pseudotuberculosis antibodies in goats and sheep in the state of Goiás, and to correlate the infection with breeding procedures. For this, 1815 serum samples from goats at 213 production units and 751 sera samples from sheep at 113 rural properties were analyzed. The state of Goiás was divided in regional agencies, as proposed by the state government. These samples were submitted to an indirect ELISA technique for specific antibodies detection, and a questionnaire was applied to farmers in order to correlate the presence of specific antibodies with the breeding procedures adopted by these breeders. The data were analyzed using the R software. The results showed a CLA seroprevalence of 29.4% for sheep and 51.8% for goats. From the properties included in the study, 84 and 88.2% presented positive goats or sheep, respectively. Positive animals were present in 100% of the state regional agencies. 90% of the Goiás studied municipalities presented positive sheep, and CLA positive goats were present in 84.7% of the municipalities included in this survey. From the studied goats, 54.2% of the females showed positive results, and 44.7% of the males had the presence of C. pseudotuberculosis-specific antibodies. From the animalsat more than 36 months of age, the results showed prevalence of 62.5% and 62.8% of positive sheep and goats, respectively. When considering the type of workers at the production units, sheep farms where the owners employed the breeders presented 31.3% prevalence. However, when the owner’s family was the main breeders, the sheep presented 21.7% prevalence. 53.1% of the goats that were acquired from other farms presented positive results. For sheep herds, there was no significant correlation with breeding procedures. On the other hand, 54.4% of the goats that had signalgrass as the main forage were positive at the ELISA. Considering these results, it can be concluded that this study represents the first CLA epidemiological survey in goats and sheep from Goiás state, and the occurrence of the infection with the bacteria is widespread at the state. / A Linfadenite caseosa (LC) é uma doença infectocontagiosa de caráter crônico, causada pela bactéria Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis. Este patógeno é de distribuição mundial, acomete principalmente caprinos e ovinos e a doença que caracteriza-se pela formação de granuloma em nódulos linfáticos superficiais, podendo acometer órgãos e linfonodos internos. No Brasil, a doença encontra-se presente em grande parte dos rebanhos de pequenos ruminantes, causando danos econômicos, pela perda de valor do couro, perda de eficiência produtiva e, ocasionalmente, morte dos animais infectados. O objetivo do estudo foi identificar a soroprevalência de anticorpos específicos para C. pseudotuberculosis em ovinos e caprinos do estado de Goiás e identificar fatores de risco relacionados à doença. Foram analisadas 1815 amostras de soro de ovinos oriundos de 212 propriedades e 751 amostras de caprinos de 113 propriedades. O estado de Goiás foi estratificado em 18 regionais, conforme estrutura organizacional da Agência Goiana de Defesa Agropecuária. As amostras de soro foram submetidas à técnica de ELISA indireto para a detecção de anticorpos e o questionário aplicado teve as variáveis analisadas quanto ao grau de significância do sistema produtivo, havendo relevância para sexo, faixa etária, tipo de mão de obra, procedência e pastagem. Os dados foram analisados estatisticamente pelo software R. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que 29,4% dos soros de ovinos eram sorologicamente positivos para a bactéria e 51,8% dos caprinos amostrados mostraram-se positivos. Do total de propriedades de ovinos e caprinos, 83,4% e 84,7% tiveram animais positivos em seus rebanhos, respectivamente. Pode-se afirmar que para ovinos, 90% dos 120 municípios tiveram rebanhos positivos e para caprinos, 84,7% dos 85 municípios amostrados. Em relação ao sexo, observou-se maior positividade para fêmeas (31,5%) do que para machos (23,5%), na espécie ovina. No que tange à espécie caprina, 54,2% das fêmeas foram positivas e 44,7% dos machos foram sororreagentes. Para a variável faixa etária com animais acima de 36 meses, observou-se que 62,5% dos ovinos e 62,8% de caprinos tiveram exposição ao patógeno. Analisando a variável tipo de mão de obra, pode-se afirmar que 31,3% dos ovinos manejados por funcionários contratados foram positivos. Por outro lado, ovinos cuja mão de obra correspondeu à familiar apresentaram menor percentual (21,7%). Quanto à procedência dos caprinos, 53,1% cuja origem foi externa mostraram-se positivos. Para o quesito pastagem destinada aos caprinos, observou-se que 54,4% que consumiram braquiária e outras espécies forrageiras explicitaram resultado positivo para o diagnóstico sorológico de linfadenite caseosa. Por tais resultados, pode-se afirmar que este estudo representa a primeira descrição soro epidemiológica para linfadenite caseosa em rebanhos ovinos e caprinos do estado de Goiás, sendo notória a disseminação de Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis em todas as unidades regionais.

Memoria para optar al Título Profesional de Médico Veterinario / El agente biológico Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis es un patógeno animal cosmopolita que genera infecciones supurativas crónicas en diversas especies, siendo la linfoadenitis caseosa (LAC) en pequeños rumiantes el cuadro de mayor importancia, pero también se encuentra causando lesiones absedativas en otras especies, como los equinos. En Chile este patógeno se encuentra presente, sin embargo ninguna de las enfermedades que produce son de notificación obligatoria, ya que son cuadros de tipo debilitante, que no provocan mortalidad y las pérdidas económicas asociadas son difíciles de evaluar. Esto se relaciona con un desconocimiento de las características que presenta este agente, lo que trae consigo la falta de un diagnóstico adecuado y medidas de control para las enfermedades que este produce. En esta memoria se estudiaron las características fenotípicas, mediante pruebas microbiológicas y bioquímicas, y genotípicas, utilizando la reacción de la polimerasa en cadena (PCR) y la secuenciación de un fragmento del gen rpoB ; de un total de 20 aislados nacionales de C. pseudotuberculosis obtenidas a partir de lesiones absedativas de caprinos y equinos. Se evidenció la existencia de diferencias entre los aislados equinos y caprinos en sus características fenotípicas, en la prueba de reducción de nitratos, todas las cepas caprinas fueron negativas y todas las cepas equinas positivas. También se observaron diferencias genotípicas en la secuencia del gen rpoB entre los aislados caprinos y equinos. La técnica de PCR simple como diagnóstico rápido, a partir de muestras clínicas; bajo las condiciones de este estudio, fue capaz de detectar solo el 15% de las cepas obtenidas por aislamiento bacteriológico. Sin embargo, la técnica de PCR múltiple a partir de cultivos puros, fue capaz de detectar a todas las cepas identificadas por aislamiento bacteriológico y pruebas bioquímicas, y en un menor tiempo que estas pruebas. Por lo tanto esta técnica implementada en el presente estudio se muestra como una eficiente alternativa para el diagnóstico de las enfermedades causadas por C. pseudotuberculosis

RfaH is a unique bacterial protein that enhances transcription of a select group of long operons in many Gram-negative bacteria. Operons regulated by RfaH possess an upstream operon polarity suppressor sequence, which recruits the RfaH protein to the RNA polymerase during transcription of genes, most of which are involved in the synthesis of cell-surface features. These include synthesis of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) core and O-antigen in Salmonella and Escherichia coli, as well as F-plasmid conjugation pilus and capsule in E. coli. LPS is an important virulence factor in many Gram-negative bacteria, and protects Y. pseudotuberculosis against host antimicrobial chemokines. Recently published high-throughput transposon mutant screens have also suggested a role for RfaH in the ability of Y. pseudotuberculosis to colonize mice. However, the role of RfaH in Y. pseudotuberculosis and its descendent Yersinia pestis has not been carefully examined. In these studies we investigated the effect RfaH has on the structure of the LPS in both species at different temperatures. We also identified LPS-synthesis related genes that are regulated by RfaH. We determined the effect of RfaH on bacterial resistance to host defense peptides, and the ability of Y. pseudotuberculosis to colonize mice. We found that the loss of the rfaH gene had different effects in Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. pestis. Loss of rfaH caused a truncation in the core region in Y. pseudotuberculosis strain IP32953 at both 21°C and 37°C, but only at 37°C in Y. pestis strain KIM6+. Similarly, we found that transcription of individual genes that are predicted to function in core or O-antigen synthesis were downregulated in the rfaH mutant strains in both species, but the impact of rfaH deletion was greater in Y. pseudotuberculosis. When tested for their ability to survive in the presence of antimicrobial peptides, the Y. pseudotuberculosis rfaH deficient bacteria were much more susceptible than wild-type to killing by polymyxin and by the antimicrobial chemokine CCL28. However, the Y. pestis rfaH mutant strain was equally susceptible to CCL28 as the wild-type strain. Infection of mice with Y. pseudotuberculosis show that rfaH deficient bacteria were able to survive as effectively as the wild-type following oral or intravenous inoculation, with or without the pYV virulence plasmid. Overall, our results show that while RfaH controls LPS gene expression in both Y. pseudotuberculosis and Y. pestis, its impact is much greater in Y. pseudotuberculosis. Furthermore, although loss of rfaH greatly reduces the ability of Y. pseudotuberculosis to resist antimicrobial peptides, it is not required for virulence in this species.

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis is a foodborne pathogen that is the ancestral strain to Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of Plague. Y. pseudotuberculosis invades a host through the intestinal epithelium. The bacteria resist mucosal innate immune defenses including antimicrobial chemokines and phagocytic cells, and replicate in local lymph nodes. They cause Tuberculosis-like symptoms, including necrosis of local tissue and granuloma formation. Like all bacteria, Y. pseudotuberculosis has a net negative charge, which contributes to its susceptibility to some cationic antimicrobial peptides. Y. pseudotuberculosis is able to reduce this negative charge by adding 4-amino-4-deoxy-L-arabinose (L-Ara4N) to the lipid A portion of lipopolysaccharide. The production and addition of the L-Ara4N is coded for by the pmrHFIJKLM (pmrF) operon. A previous study has shown that the Y. pseudotuberculosis pmrF operon is important for resistance against polymyxin, but is not important for virulence in mice. Several previous reports have shown a strong influence of growth temperature on resistance to antimicrobial peptides and pmrF expression in pathogenic Yersinia species, but these studies also suggest significant variability between species, and even between strains of individual species. In particular, the regulation of the Y. pseudotuberculosis pmrF operon and its effect on bacterial interactions with mucosa-associated antimicrobial chemokines and neutrophils is not understood. In these studies, we investigated the environmental influences on pmrF expression in Y. pseudotuberculosis. We found that the promoter activity of the pmrHFIJKLM operon is increased at lower temperatures (21ºC) and in the presence of human serum. A ΔpmrI mutant strain of Y. pseudotuberculosis defective for addition of L-Ara4N was found to be more susceptible to killing by the antimicrobial chemokine CCL28 compared to wild-type. This suggests that this gene is important in the bacterial defense against antimicrobial chemokines. However, when the ΔpmrI mutant strain was exposed to human neutrophils, there was a decrease in phagocytosis as compared to wild-type bacteria. Our results suggest that the regulation of L-Ara4N modifications in Yersinia is more complex than previously appreciated and varies between species. Addition of L-Ara4N to Y. pseudotuberculosis appears to enhance resistance to some antimicrobial peptides like CCL28 and promote greater phagocytic engulfment by neutrophils. These opposing effects may partly explain why there is no net apparent survival defect in mutants lacking the pmrF operon during infection.

Zugl.: Berlin, Humboldt-Univ., Diss., 2009

No description available.

Several pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria invest in sophisticated type III secretion systems (T3SS) to incapacitate their eukaryotic hosts. T3SSs can secrete protein cargo outside the bacterial cell and also target many of them into the eukaryotic cell interior. Internalized proteins promote bacterial colonization, survival and transmission, and can often cause severe disease. An example is the Ysc-Yop T3SS apparatus assembled by pathogenic Yersinia spp. A correctly assembled Ysc-Yop T3SS spans the Yersinia envelope and also protrudes from the bacterial surface. Upon host cell contact, this system is competent to secrete hydrophobic translocators that form a translocon pore in the host cell membrane to complete the delivery channel bridging both bacterial and host cells. Newly synthesized effector Yops may pass through this channel to gain entry into the host cell cytosol.As type III secretion (T3S) substrates function sequentially during infection, it is hypothesized that substrate export is temporally controlled to ensure that those required first are prioritized for secretion. On this basis three functional groups are classified as early (i.e. structural components), middle (i.e. translocators) and late (i.e. effectors). Factors considered to orchestrate the T3S of substrates are many, including the intrinsic substrate secretion signal sequences, customized chaperones, and recognition/sorting platforms at the base of the assembled T3SS. Investigating the interplay between these elements is critical for a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing export control during Yersinia T3S.To examine the composition of the N-terminal T3S signals of the YscX early substrate and the YopD middle substrate, these segments were altered by mutagenesis and the modified substrates analyzed for their T3S. Translational fusions between these signals and a signalless β-Lactamase were used to determine their optimal length required for efficient T3S. This revealed that YscX and YopD export is most efficiently supported by their first 15 N-terminal residues. At least for YopD, this is a peptide signal and not base upon information in the mRNA sequence. Moreover, features within and upstream of this segment contribute to their translational control. In parallel, bacteria were engineered to produce substrate chimeras where the N-terminal segments were exchanged between substrates of different classes in an effort to examine the temporal dynamics of T3S. In several cases, Yersinia producing chimeric substrates were defective in T3S activity, which could be a consequence of disturbing a pre-existing hierarchal secretion mechanism.YopN and TyeA regulatory molecules can be naturally produced as a 42 kDa YopN-TyeA hybrid, via a +1 frame shift event somewhere at the 5’-end of yopN. To study this event, Yersinia were engineered to artificially produce this hybrid, and these maintained in vitro T3S control of both middle and late substrates. However, modestly diminished directed targeting of effectors into eukaryotic cells correlated to virulence attenuation in vivo. Upon further investigation, a YopN C-terminal segment encompassing residues 278 to 287 was probably responsible, as this region is critical for YopN to control T3S, via enabling a specific interaction with TyeA.Investigated herein were molecular mechanisms to orchestrate substrate export by the T3SS of Yersinia. While N-terminal secretion signals may contribute to specific substrate order, the YopN and TyeA regulatory molecules do not appear to distinguish between the different substrate classes.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Univ., 2004. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Virginia, 2001. / Spine title: Yersinia uptake by mammalian cells. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 214-240). Also available online through Digital Dissertations.