title: MALDI-TOF MS analysis of human and animal Brachyspira species and benefits of database extension.
abstract: Spirochaetes belonging to the genus Brachyspira are anaerobic bacteria that colonize the large intestine of humans and animals, mainly pigs. The main species are namely, B. hyodysenteriae, the etiological agent of swine dysentery, B. pilosicoli, a zoonotic agent causing colonic spirochaetosis both in humans and different animal species, B. aalborgi, exclusively infecting humans causing colonic spirochaetosis, B. intermedia, a potential animal pathogen, B. innocens and B. murdochii, generally commensal of pigs, and B. alvinipulli, found in egg laying hens with diarrhea. In this study, for the first time, MALDI-TOF MS was applied on Brachyspira strains of human and animal origins, supplementing the existing database, limited to the species B. murdochii only, with spirochaetal protein profiles and demonstrating its usefulness in the rapid, cheap and reliable identification of Brachyspira strains at the species level, overcoming the problems previously encountered in the identification of these spirochaetes when using biochemical and genetic-based methods. Moreover, a dendrogram based on protein profiles of the different spirochaetal species was generated reflecting their host spectrum, showing in the same branch the only two species able to infect humans (B. aalborgi and B. pilosicoli) and in the other branch the spirochaetes infecting exclusively animals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Parma, Viale A. Gramsci, 14-43126 Parma, Italy. adriana.calderaro@unipr.it
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Calderaro
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Piccolo
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Montecchini
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buttrini
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gorrini
authors.forename: Sabina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Maria Cristina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Arcangeletti
authors.forename: Flora
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: De Conto
authors.forename: Maria Cristina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Medici
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chezzi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017400:Brachyspira / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D030562:Databases, Protein; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000662:veterinary; D006801:Humans; D013045:Species Specificity; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins