title: Distribution and molecular characterization of Porphyromonas gulae carrying a new fimA genotype.
abstract: Porphyromonas gulae is a gram-negative black-pigmented anaerobe which is known to be a pathogen for periodontitis in dogs. Approximately 41kDa filamentous appendages on the cell surface (FimA) encoded by the fimA gene are regarded as important factors associated with periodontitis. The fimA genotype was classified into two major types and strains in type B were shown to be more virulent than those in type A. In the present study, we characterized a strain with a novel fimA genotype and designated it as type C. The putative amino acid sequence was shown to be similar to the genotype IV fimA of Porphyromonas gingivalis, a major pathogen of human periodontitis. Analyses using an oral squamous cell carcinoma cell line derived from tongue primary lesions revealed that the type C strain inhibited proliferation and scratch closure more than genotype A and B strains. In addition, experiments using a mouse abscess model demonstrated that the type C strain could induce much higher systemic inflammation when compared with strains of the other genotypes. Furthermore, molecular analyses of oral swab specimens collected from dogs demonstrated that the detection frequencies of P. gulae and the genotype C in the periodontitis group were significantly higher than those in the periodontally healthy group. These results suggest that FimA of P. gulae is diverse with the virulence of genotype C strains the highest and that molecular identification of genotype C P. gulae could be a possible useful marker for identifying dogs at high risk of developing periodontitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamasaki
authors.forename: Ryota
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nomura
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakano
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inaba
authors.forename: Masae
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kuboniwa
authors.forename: Norihiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hirai
authors.forename: Mitsuyuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shirai
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.forename: Shuhei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naka
authors.forename: Soichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iwai
authors.forename: Michiyo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsumoto-Nakano
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ooshima
authors.forename: Atsuo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amano
authors.forename: Fumitoshi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Asai
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D004285:Dogs; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005838:Genotype; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017861:Porphyromonas / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D036781:Fimbriae Proteins