Domain analysis of lipoprotein LppQ in Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides SC.
The lipoprotein LppQ is the most prominent antigen of Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides small colony type (SC) during infection of cattle. This pathogen causes contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP), a devastating disease of considerable socio-economic importance in many countries worldwide. The dominant antigenicity and high specificity for M. mycoides subsp. mycoides SC of lipoprotein LppQ have been exploited for serological diagnosis and for epidemiological investigations of CBPP. Scanning electron microscopy and immunogold labelling were used to provide ultrastructural evidence that LppQ is located to the cell membrane at the outer surface of M. mycoides subsp. mycoides SC. The selectivity and specificity of this method were demonstrated through discriminating localization of extracellular (i.e., in the zone of contact with host cells) vs. integral membrane domains of LppQ. Thus, our findings support the suggestion that the accessible N-terminal domain of LppQ is surface exposed and such surface localization may be implicated in the pathogenesis of CBPP.
Division of Veterinary Anatomy, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Postfach, 3001, Bern, Switzerland.
Laetitia
L
Bonvin-Klotz
Edy M
EM
Vilei
Kathrin
K
Kühni-Boghenbor
Nadine
N
Kapp
Joachim
J
Frey
Michael H
MH
Stoffel
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001665:Binding Sites / Q000235:genetics; D002417:Cattle; D015151:Immunoblotting; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008954:Models, Biological; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009176:Mycoplasma mycoides / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011002:Pleuropneumonia, Contagious / Q000382:microbiology; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D008074:Lipoproteins