Inactivation of phoPQ genes attenuates Salmonella Gallinarum biovar Gallinarum to susceptible chickens

Salmonella Gallinarum is a host-restrict pathogen that causes fowl typhoid, a severe systemic disease that is one of the major concerns to the poultry industry worldwide. When infecting the bird, SG makes use of evasion mechanisms to survive and to replicate within macrophages. In this context, phoPQ genes encode a two-component regulatory system (PhoPQ) that regulates virulence genes responsible for adaptation of Salmonella spp. to antimicrobial factors such as low pH, antimicrobial peptides and deprivation of bivalent cations. The role of the mentioned genes to SG remains to be investigated. In the present study a phoPQ-depleted SG strain (SG phoPQ) was constructed and its virulence assessed in twenty-day-old laying hens susceptible to fowl typhoid. SG phoPQ did cause neither clinical signs nor mortality in birds orally challenged, being non-pathogenic. Furthermore, this strain was not recovered from livers or spleens. On the other hand, chickens challenged subcutaneously with the mutant strain had discreet to moderate pathological changes and also low bacterial counts in liver and spleen tissues. These findings show that SG phoPQ is attenuated to susceptible chickens and suggest that these genes are important during chicken infection by SG.(AU)

Contribution of flagella and motility to gut colonisation and pathogenicity of Salmonella Enteritidis in the chicken

ABSTRACT Salmonella Enteritidis causes fowl paratyphoid in poultry and is frequently associated to outbreaks of food-borne diseases in humans. The role of flagella and flagella-mediated motility into host-pathogen interplay is not fully understood and requires further investigation. In this study, one-day-old chickens were challenged orally with a wild-type strain Salmonella Enteritidis, a non-motile but fully flagellated (SE motB) or non-flagellated (SE fliC) strain to evaluate their ability to colonise the intestine and spread systemically and also of eliciting gross and histopathological changes. SE motB and SE fliC were recovered in significantly lower numbers from caecal contents in comparison with Salmonella Enteritidis at early stages of infection (3 and 5 dpi). The SE motB strain, which synthesises paralysed flagella, showed poorer intestinal colonisation ability than the non-flagellated SE fliC. Histopathological analyses demonstrated that the flagellated strains induced more intense lymphoid reactivity in liver, ileum and caeca. Thus, in the present study the flagellar structure and motility seemed to play a role in the early stages of the intestinal colonisation by Salmonella Enteritidis in the chicken.(AU)

Análise comparativa dos genomas de Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica sorovar Gallinarum biovares Gallinarum 28791 e Pullorum 44987 para identificação de regiões de diferenças (RODs)

Salmonella enterica subespécie enterica sorovar Gallinarum biovar Gallinarum (S. Gallinarum) é o agente causador do tifo aviário, uma doença septicêmica que afeta principalmente aves adultas. Enquanto que Salmonella enterica subespécie enterica sorovar Gallinarum biovar Pullorum (S. Pullorum) é o micro-organismo causador da pulorose, uma doença sistêmica de aves jovens que evolui para infecção persistente em algumas das que se recuperam da enfermidade. Essas bactérias são genética e fenotipicamente semelhantes, mas causam doenças distintas nos seus hospedeiros. Ainda não se sabe quais seriam as informações genéticas responsáveis pelas diferenças na patogenia e epidemiologia do tifo aviário e da pulorose. Com o intuito de investigar essas diferenças, realizou-se o presente estudo, o qual teve por objetivo a comparação dos genomas de S. Gallinarum 287/91, S. Pullorum 449/87 e de S. Pullorum RKS5078 para identificação de regiões de diferenças (?regions of difference? ? RODs). Foram identificadas e caracterizadas 68 RODs, buscando correlacioná-las com a patogenicidade desses micro-organismos. Além disso, verificou-se a conservação de algumas dessas RODs em 25 estirpes de S. Gallinarum e 17 de S. Pullorum, todas isoladas de aves com tifo aviário ou pulorose. De modo geral, as RODs continham genes relacionados à funções celulares (reparo de DNA e desagregação de proteínas celulares), produção de energia e virulência. No presente estudo foi observado que a maioria das RODs conservadas era gerada por deleções que, putativamente, provocaram perda de sua função em S. Pullorum. Por esse motivo, foi possível sugerir que a diferente epidemiologia de S. Pullorum poderia ser decorrente de perdas gênicas e não de características adquiridas

Salmonella enterica subspecie enterica serovar Gallinarum biovar Gallinarum (S. Gallinarum) is the causative agent of fowl typhoid, a septicaemic disease that affects mainly adult birds, whereas Salmonella enterica subespécie enterica serovar Gallinarum biovar Pullorum (S. Pullorum) causes pullorum disease, a systemic disease of young birds that can evolve for persistent infection in some of the birds that recovered. These two bacteria are genetic and phenotypically similar but cause distinct diseases. The genetic bases that would be responsible for these differences are still unknown. For this reason the present study was elaborated and aimed at comparing S. Gallinarum 287/91, S. Pullorum 449/87 and S. Pullorum RKS5078 whole genomes in order to identify regions of difference (RODs). In total, 68 RODs were identified and characterized attempting to correlate them with pathogenicity features of S. Gallinarum and S. Pullorum. Furthermore, the conservation status of some RODs was verified in 25 strains of S. Gallinarum and 17 strains of S. Pullorum, all of them isolated from birds with fowl typhoid or pullorum disease. Overall, the RODs have genes involved in cellular functions (as DNA repair and protein disaggregation), energy production and virulence. In the present study, it was noticed the majority of conserved RODs were generated by deletions in genes which, putatively, would lead to loss of their function in S. Pullorum. Consequently, it was feasible to suggest that S. Pullorum epidemiology would be a negative characteristic stemming from gene losses rather than acquired features