title: Identification of Brucella ovis exclusive genes in field isolates from Argentina.
abstract: Brucellosis caused by Brucella ovis is one of the most important infectious diseases of sheep. The aim of this study was to determine the presence of genes both inside and outside the specific B. ovis pathogenicity island 1 (BOPI-1) in a large collection of field isolates of B. ovis and other Brucella spp. from Argentina. The BOV_A0500 gene from B. ovis BOPI-1 was identified in all 104 B. ovis isolates studied. The BOPI-1 complete sequence was found to be conserved in 10 B. ovis strains from the collection, for which whole genome sequencing was performed. The BOV_0198 gene, which is outside BOPI-1 and considered exclusive to B. ovis, showed 90-100% identity with genomic regions of B. ovis, B. melitensis, B. abortus, B. canis, B. suis, B. microti, B. ceti and B. pinnipedialis. The results demonstrate that BOPI-1 is the only exclusive genetic region of B. ovis and marine Brucella spp. and that it is highly conserved in B. ovis field isolates from Argentina.
authors.affiliation: Animal Health Group, National Institute for Agricultural Technology (INTA), Modesta Victoria 4450, 8400 Bariloche, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Av. Rivadavia 1917, 1033 Buenos Aires, Argentina. Electronic address: alvarez.lucia@inta.gob.ar.
authors.forename: Lucía Paula
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.affiliation: Mycology and Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory, National University of Litoral, Bv. Pellegrini 2750, 3000 Santa Fe, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Av. Rivadavia 1917, 1033 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: García-Effrón
authors.affiliation: Animal Health Group, National Institute for Agricultural Technology (INTA), Modesta Victoria 4450, 8400 Bariloche, Argentina.
authors.forename: Carlos Alejandro
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Robles
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001118:Argentina; D002002:Brucella / Q000235:genetics; D042061:Brucella ovis / Q000235:genetics*; D002006:Brucellosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D044404:Genomic Islands; D008297:Male; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000662:veterinary; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology
keywords: BOPI-1; Brucella ovis; PCR; Ram epididymitis; Sheep