Project description:Streptococcus equi subsp. equi (SEE) is a host-restricted bacterium that causes the common infectious upper respiratory disease known as strangles in horses. Perpetuation of SEE infection appears attributable to inapparent carrier horses because it does not persist long-term in the environment, infect other host mammals or vectors, and result in short-lived immunity. Whether pathogen factors enable SEE to remain in horses without causing clinical signs remains poorly understood. Thus, our objective was to use next-generation sequencing technologies to characterize the transcriptome of isolates of SEE from horses with acute clinical strangles and inapparent carrier horses to assess pathogen-associated changes that might reflect adaptions of SEE to the host contributing to inapparent carriage. RNA sequencing of SEE isolates from Pennsylvania demonstrated no genes that were differentially expressed between acute clinical and inapparent carrier isolates of SEE.
Project description:Staphylococcus aureus is recognized worldwide as a major pathogen causing clinical or subclinical intramammary infections in all the dairy species (sheep, goats and cows). The present study was designed to comparatively investigate 65 S. aureus isolates recovered from dairy sheep and S. aureus suclinical mastitis from cows (n=21) and goats (n=22), for the presence of 190 putative virulence determinants with a single-dye DNA microarray and PCR. The probes (65 mer) were mainly designed from the S. aureus Mu50. The extracted DNA of each strain was labelled with Cy5. The microarray results were validated with PCR.The genomic comparative study with the DNA microarrays showed lineage and species specificity genes leading to the host-specific pathogenic traits of S. aureus in dairy species.
Project description:Streptococcus equi subspecies equi (S. equi) is a major pathogen which cause strangles, a highly contagious respiratory infection, in horses and other equines. In this study, we purified the extracellular vesicles (EVs) of S. equi ATCC 39506 and evaluated them as vaccine candidates against S. equi infections in mice. Through immunization in an animal model and immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry, we evaluated EV as vaccine candidates against S. equi infections and identified novel immunogenic proteins.
Project description:Streptococcus equi subspecies equi (S. equi) is a major pathogen which cause strangles, a highly contagious respiratory infection, in horses and other equines.In this study, we discovered potential vaccine candidates using comprehensive proteomics and reverse vaccinology. As the initial step, we divided proteome of S. equi ATCC 39506 into whole cell lysate, secretory proteome, membrane proteome and extracellular vesicle and then, comparative proteomic analysis was performed to characterize the functional features of the proteome. Especially, extracellular vesicle of S. equi was evaluated at the first time. Total 114 potential vaccine candidates (PVCs) were selected using reverse vaccinology and knowledge based annotations. Comprehensive proteomic analysis confirmed that 60 PVCs were identified in S. equi ATCC 39506. Particularly, 32 PVCs were enriched in the EV proteome, suggesting that this cellular fraction may serve as vaccine.
Project description:The differential expression profile of the pathogenic bacteria Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis was evaluated under three stress conditions, based on the environment found inside the host, compared to control condition. Those stress conditions were undertaken in order to better understand the behavior of this bacteria and to discover which genes could be involved with the infectious process. Based on the analysis performed through the use of the next-generation sequencer SOLiD 3 Plus System, we intended to identify potential vaccine and drug targets that could be used to develop new treatments against the disease caseous lymphadenitis, which causes several economic losses worldwide in goats and sheep raising.
Project description:aCGH performed to identify copy number variants in Quarter Horses and perform casec-control GWAS Two-condition experiment, All samples were compared to a single Quarter Horse reference to identify copy number variants to be used in the CNV GWAS
Project description:Rhodococcus equi is an intracellular bacterium that affects young foals and immuno-compromised individuals causing severe pneumonia. Currently, the genetic mechanisms which confer susceptibility and or resistance to R. equi are not fully understood. Previously, using a SNP-based genome-wide association study, we identified a region on equine chromosome 26 associated with clinical pneumonia. To better characterize this region and understand the relationship of the SNPs associated with disease, we performed RNA-Seq on 12 horses representing the 3 allelic states of the SNP identified. Differential expression analyses identified differentially expressed genes in the innate immune response pathway when comparing homozygous A allele horses with the AB and BB horses. Isoform analyses of the RNA-Seq data predicted multiple transcripts with evidence of differential expression to exist at the TRPM2 locus. This finding is consistent with previously demonstrated work in human cell lines in which isoform specific expression of TRPM2 was critical to cell viability. This work demonstrates that SNPs in TRPM2 are associated with differences in gene expression, suggesting that modulation of expression of this innate immune gene contributes to susceptibility to R. equi pneumonia.