RESUMEN
SimplyScience.ch, the foundation and platform for the promotion of young talent in Natural Sciences and Technology with the generous support of Roche, is moving into the second round of the National School Classes Competition 'Science on the Move'. High school classes from all over Switzerland will battle it out in the lab and on stage for a top prize of a Science Week in San Francisco, California. The program promotes and requires the skills of a full class of high school students. May the best school class with the most scientific curiosity and enthusiasm and the most creative ideas win.
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Conducta Competitiva , Instituciones Académicas , Ciencia/educación , Estudiantes , HumanosRESUMEN
Mycoplasma suis belongs to the haemotrophic mycoplasmas which colonise red blood cells of a wide range of vertebrates. Adhesion to red blood cells is the crucial step in the unique lifecycle of M. suis. Due to the lack of a cultivation system, identification of adhesion structures has been difficult. So far, only one adhesion protein, i.e. MSG1 was identified. In order to determine further adhesion molecules of M. suis, we screened genomic M. suis libraries and performed Southern blot hybridisation analyses of genomic M. suis DNA. The α-enolase of M. suis was identified and analysed genetically and functionally. The encoding gene has 1623 bp in size. The deduced amino acid sequence showed an overall identity of 59.6-65.1% to α-enolases of other pathogenic mycoplasmas. The 540 aa M. suis α-enolase displays a size extension of about 90 aa in comparison to α-enolases of other mycoplasmas. Recombinant α-enolase expressed in Escherichia coli demonstrated immunogenicity in experimentally infected pigs. Immunoblot, confocal laser scanning microscopy and immune electron microscopy analysis using antibodies against recombinant α-enolase, indicate the membrane and surface localisation of native α-enolase in M. suis, though no typical signal sequences exist. Furthermore, we showed that recombinant α-enolase binds to porcine erythrocyte lysate in a dose-dependent manner. E. coli transformants which express α-enolase on their surface acquire the ability to adhere to porcine red blood cells. In conclusion, our observations indicate that α-enolase could be involved in the adhesion of M. suis to porcine red blood cells.
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Adhesinas Bacterianas/metabolismo , Eritrocitos/microbiología , Mycoplasma/enzimología , Fosfopiruvato Hidratasa/metabolismo , Adhesinas Bacterianas/genética , Animales , Anticuerpos Antibacterianos/sangre , Anticuerpos Antibacterianos/genética , Anticuerpos Antibacterianos/inmunología , Adhesión Bacteriana , Escherichia coli/genética , Infecciones por Mycoplasma/microbiología , Infecciones por Mycoplasma/veterinaria , Fosfopiruvato Hidratasa/análisis , Fosfopiruvato Hidratasa/genética , Fosfopiruvato Hidratasa/inmunología , Porcinos , Enfermedades de los Porcinos/microbiologíaRESUMEN
Mycoplasma suis, a member of the hemotrophic mycoplasma (HM) group, parasitize erythrocytes of pigs. Increasing evidence suggests that M. suis is also a zoonotic agent. Highly pathogenic strains of M. suis (e.g., M. suis KI3806) have been demonstrated to invade erythrocytes. This complete sequenced and manually annotated genome of M. suis KI3806 is the first available from this species and from the HM group. The DNA was isolated from blood samples of experimentally infected pigs due to the lack of an in vitro cultivation system. The small circular chromosome of 709,270 bp, encoding an unexpectedly high number of hypothetical proteins and limited transport and metabolic capacities, could reflect the unique lifestyle of HM on the surface of erythrocytes.
