title: A molecular survey of a captive wallaby population for periodontopathogens and the co-incidence of Fusobacterium necrophorum subspecies necrophorum with periodontal diseases.
abstract: Periodontal diseases (PD) are diseases of polymicrobial aetiology and constitute major health problems in captive macropods. Increasing knowledge of the causal pathogens is therefore crucial for effective management and prevention of these diseases. PCR survey and sequence analyses of potential periodontopathogens in captive wallaby populations revealed a co-incidence of the diseases with the detection of Fusobacterium necrophorum subsp. necrophorum (Fnn) and its encoded leukotoxin (lktA) gene. Sequence analyses showed that the outer membrane protein of Fnn in the GenBank database shared significant homology (99%) with the Fnn encoded haemagglutinin-related-protein gene fragment identified in this study. In addition, this report suggests the existence of a variant of Fnn with no detectable lktA gene and thus warrants further studies. In contrast to reports associating Porphyromonas gingivalis and F. nucleatum with PD, this study revealed that PD in macropods are associated with Porphyromonas gulae and Fnn and raises the question: is there a possible host pathogen co-evolution in the pathogenesis of PD in animals and humans? These findings contribute to the understanding of the aetiology of periodontal disease in macropods as well as opening up a new direction of research into the microbial interactions involved in the pathogenesis of PD in macropods.
authors: School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University SA, Bedford Park 5042, Australia. john.antiabong@flinders.edu.au
authors: John F
authors: JF
authors: Antiabong
authors: Wayne
authors: W
authors: Boardman
authors: Ian
authors: I
authors: Smith
authors: Melissa H
authors: MH
authors: Brown
authors: Andrew S
authors: AS
authors: Ball
authors: Amanda E
authors: AE
authors: Goodman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D016866:Bacteroidaceae Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005674:Fusobacterium Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005675:Fusobacterium necrophorum / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D018628:Gene Dosage; D005891:Gingivitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007614:Macropodidae / Q000382:microbiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009055:Mouth / Q000382:microbiology; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017861:Porphyromonas / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; C102677:lktA protein, bacteria