title: Identification of a virulence determinant that is conserved in the Jawetz and Heyl biotypes of [Pasteurella] pneumotropica.
abstract: [Pasteurella] pneumotropica is a ubiquitous bacterium frequently isolated from laboratory rodents. Although this bacterium causes various diseases in immunosuppressed animals, little is known about major virulence factors and their roles in pathogenicity. To identify virulence factors, we sequenced the genome of [P.] pneumotropica biotype Heyl strain ATCC 12555, and compared the resulting non-contiguous draft genome sequence with the genome of biotype Jawetz strain ATCC 35149. Among a large number of genes encoding virulence-associated factors in both strains, four genes encoding for YadA-like proteins, which are known virulence factors that function in host cell adherence and invasion in many pathogens. In this study, we assessed YadA distribution and biological activity as an example of one of virulence-associated factor shared, with biotype Jawetz and Heyl. More than half of mouse isolates were found to have at least one of these genes; whereas, the majority of rat isolates did not. Autoagglutination activity, and ability to bind to mouse collagen type IV and mouse fibroblast cells, was significantly higher in YadA-positive than YadA-negative strains. To conclude, we identified a large number of candidate genes predicted to influence [P.] pneumotropica pathogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Science, School of Health and Sports Science, Juntendo University, 1-1 Hiraga-gakuendai, Inzai, Chiba 270-1695, Japan hirakus@juntendo.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hiraku
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Showa University School of Medicine, 1-5-8 Hatanodai, Tokyo 142-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Division of Basic Medical Science, Tokai University School of Medicine, 143 Shimokasuya, Isehara, Kanagawa 259-1193, Japan.
authors.forename: Hayato
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Terayama
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Bioresource Sciences, Akita Prefectural University, 41-438 Kaidobata-Nishi, Shimoshinjo-Nakano, Akita 010-0195, Japan.
authors.forename: Ryoki
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Asano
authors.affiliation: Animal Research Center, Tokyo Medical University, 6-1-1 Shinjuku, Tokyo 160-8402, Japan.
authors.forename: Eiichi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kawamoto
authors.affiliation: Animal Research Center, Tokyo Medical University, 6-1-1 Shinjuku, Tokyo 160-8402, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidetoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ishibashi
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Antonie van Leeuwenhoeklaan 9 3721 MA Bilthoven, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Boot
mesh_terms: D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D010326:Pasteurella Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D044142:Pasteurella pneumotropica / Q000145:classification / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology*; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D037521:Virulence Factors
keywords: YadA; [Pasteurella] pneumotropica; adherence