ARS | Publication request: Replacement of adenylate cyclase toxin in a lineage of Bordetella bronchiseptica

Submitted to: Journal of Bacteriology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: June 13, 2008
Publication Date: August 12, 2008
Citation: Buboltz, A.M., Nicholson, T.L., Parette, M.R., Hester, S.E., Parkhill, J., Harvill, E. 2008. Replacement of adenylate cyclase toxin in a lineage of Bordetella bronchiseptica. Journal of Bacteriology. 190(15):5502-5511.

Interpretive Summary: Bordetella bronchiseptica is a respiratory bacterial pathogen that causes disease in a wide-range of animals. These respiratory infections vary in disease severity. We identified a B. bronchiseptica strain with a 10-fold lower infectious dose than the prototypical and fully sequenced B. bronchiseptica strain RB50. Using comparative genomic techniques, we determined that that this strain lacked the genes that are required for the production of adenylate cyclase toxin (ACT). Since ACT is believed to be a critical toxin shared by all Bordetella species that infect mammals, it was unexpectedly determined that all other related B. bronchiseptica strains are also missing these genes. All of these related strains were clinical in origin and associated with disease. This report strongly suggests that ACT was lost by an entire lineage of B. bronchiseptica and is not required for the success of this bacterium as a respiratory pathogen.

Technical Abstract: Bordetella bronchiseptica is a respiratory bacterial pathogen that causes disease in a wide-range of animals. These respiratory infections vary in disease severity. We identified a B. bronchiseptica strain with a 10-fold lower infection dose than the prototypical and fully sequenced B. bronchiseptica strain RB50. Using comparative genomic techniques, we determined that that this strain lacked the genes that are required for the production of adenylate cyclase toxin (ACT). Since ACT is believed to be a critical toxin shared by all Bordetella species that infect mammals, it was unexpectedly determined that all other related B. bronchiseptica strains also are missing these genes. Our data strongly suggests that ACT was lost by an entire lineage of B. bronchiseptica and is not required for the success of this bacterium as a respiratory pathogen.