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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Mississippi State, Mississippi » Poultry Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #246488
Title: Proteomics inference of genes involved in host adaptation of Mycoplasma gallinarum

Author
item WAN, XIU-FENG - Mississippi State University
item Branton, Scott
item Collier, Stephanie
item Evans, Jeffrey - Jeff
item Leigh, Spencer
item PHARR, G - Mississippi State University

Submitted to: Veterinary Microbiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/10/2010
Publication Date: 6/15/2010
Citation: Wan, X., Branton, S.L., Collier, S.D., Evans, J.D., Leigh, S.A., Pharr, G.T. 2010. Proteomics inference of genes involved in host adaptation of Mycoplasma gallinarum. Veterinary Microbiology. 145(1-2):177-184.

Interpretive Summary: Mycoplasma species as a rule tend to be highly host specific; however, this is not true for the avian mycoplasmal commensal, Mycoplasma gallinarum. This organism has been isolated from various hosts including turkeys, chickens, pigs, cattle and sheep. Because of this wide host distribution and the organisms low pathogenesis together with the weak immunological response it induces, the study of its protein profiles may aid in our understanding of why other poultry mycoplasmas are very pathogenic. The results of this study suggest that there are perhaps many genes which code for aminopeptidases which in turn, aid in the nutrient acquisition of Mycoplasma gallinarum. This information will be useful in future comparative studies between Mycoplasma gallinarum and other pathogenic poultry mycoplasma such as Mycoplasma gallisepticum to identify and compare genes which are responsible for colonization and host adaptation properties.

Technical Abstract: Different from most other host-specific mycoplasmas, Mycoplasma gallinarum has been isolated from various hosts, such as poultry, pig, cattle, and sheep. The wide distribution among different hosts, the low pathogenesis, and the weak host immunological responses suggest this mycoplasma has a unique host adaptation mechanism. In this study, we applied two-dimensional liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (2D LC-MS/MS) to characterize the protein profiles of M. gallinarum. Our results suggest that M. gallinarum possesses homologs of cytadhesin proteins found in other mycoplasmas lacking an organized tip organelle. Our results showed that there are possibly multiple aminopeptidase gene homologs present in M. gallinarum, which suggests an important role for these genes in the nutrient acquisition of M. gallinarum. The information present here would be useful for future studies to identify genes responsible for the colonization and host adaptation properties of M. gallinarum.