Project description:A multiplex PCR method for rapid and sensitive diagnosis, differentiating three pathogenic Yersinia groups such as the highly pathogenic Y. enterocolitica, including serotype O8, low pathogenic Y. enterocolitica, and Y. pseudotuberculosis, was developed. Four primer pairs were chosen to detect the genes fyuA, ail, inv, and virF, responsible for the virulence in pathogenic Yersinia species. Under the multiplex PCR conditions, the unique band patterns for the highly pathogenic Y. enterocolitica, low pathogenic Y. enterocolitica, and Y. pseudotuberculosis were generated from Yersinia strains. The detection limit of this method was 101-103 CFU per reaction tube. This multiplex PCR method could detect highly pathogenic Y. enterocolitica O8 from the wild rodent fecal samples that were culture-positive. Therefore, the new multiplex PCR method developed in this study is a useful tool for rapid and sensitive diagnosis, distinguishing three pathogenic Yersinia groups.
Project description:To study phage-mediated gene transfer in Yersinia, the ability of Yersinia phages to transduce naturally occurring plasmids was investigated. The transduction experiments were performed with a temperate phage isolated from a pathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica strain and phage mixtures isolated from sewage. Small plasmids (4.3 and 5.8 kb) were transduced at a frequency of 10(-5) to 10(-7)/PFU. However, we could not detect the transduction of any indigenous virulence plasmid (ca. 72 kb) in pathogenic Yersinia strains. Transductants obtained by infection with the temperate phage were lysogenic and harbored the phage genome in their chromosomes.
Project description:To assess the effects of rfaH mutation on gene expression, RNA sequencing was carried out using the RNA extracted from rfaH mutant and wild type bacteria cultivated at both 22˚C and 37˚C. Additionally, to differentiate between genes affected directly by the rfaH mutation and those affected by the O-antigen negative phenotype, the Y. enterocolitica O:3 strain YeO3-R1 missing the O-antigen was included in the RNA-sequencing study. At RT-grown bacteria altogether 77 (45 up- and 32 down-regulated) differentially expressed genes were identified. At 37ºC, on the other hand, 44 genes were differentially expressed; 14 genes up- and 30 genes down-regulated. The RNA-sequencing data of YeO3-R1 was available only for bacteria grown at 22˚C and the comparison revealed that 22 of the 102 genes were similarly differentially expressed both in rfaH and YeO3-R1 mutants. To detect genes regulated directly or indirectly by Hfq, deep RNA-seq was performed with RNA isolated from Y. enterocolitica wild-type strain 6471/76 and the YeO3-hfq::Km strain. Total RNA was isolated from two biological replicas of bacteria grown in LB to logarithmic phase (OD600 = 0.6) at two different temperatures, RT and 37°C. knocking out of Hfq affected the transcription of 346 genes at RT and 541 genes at 37°C, i.e., ca. 8 and 12.5 % of the Y. enterocolitica genes, respectively. At RT, of the 346 genes 216 genes were down- and 132 up-regulated, and at 37°C, of the 541 genes, 96 were down- and 445 up-regulated. A total of 95 genes were differentially expressed both at RT and 37°C; 27 showed down- and 59 up-regulated. For 9 genes opposite changes took place depending on the growth temperature.
Project description:To gain a comprehensive view of the host response to pathogens within these tissues, we determined the transcriptional profiles of intestinal lymphatic tissue infected with Y. enterocolitica. Expression analysis using Affymetrix GeneChips revealed a complex host response in the Peyer’s patches (PP) and mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) following oral infection with Y. enterocolitica. Keywords: Disease state analysis
Project description:In order to detect genes that are directly or indirectly affected by the inactivation of the ybeY gene the transcriptomes of the WT and ybeY bacteria grown at 22°C and 37°C were determined. The two temperatures were chosen since temperature is an important cue regulating the virulence genes. When comparing the WT and ybeY mutant strain transcriptomes of bacteria grown at 22°C we found changes in the expression of 350 genes in the ybeY bacteria, out of which 121 (34.6%) were up-regulated and 229 (65.4%) down-regulated. At 37°C 334 genes in the ybeY bacteria showed changes, out of which 48 (14.4%) were up-regulated and 286 (85.6%) down-regulated. Expression of 92 genes was changed at both temperatures, of these 92 genes, 12 were up- and 80 down-regulated.
Project description:Yersinia enterocolitica, an important cause of human gastroenteritis generally caused by the consumption of livestock, has traditionally been categorized into three groups with respect to pathogenicity, i.e., nonpathogenic (biotype 1A), low pathogenicity (biotypes 2 to 5), and highly pathogenic (biotype 1B). However, genetic differences that explain variation in pathogenesis and whether different biotypes are associated with specific nonhuman hosts are largely unknown. In this study, we applied comparative phylogenomics (whole-genome comparisons of microbes with DNA microarrays combined with Bayesian phylogenies)to investigate a diverse collection of 94 strains of Y.enterocolitica consisting of 35 human, 35 pig, 15 sheep, and 9 cattle isolates from nonpathogenic, low-pathogenicity, and highly pathogenic biotypes. Analysis confirmed three distinct statistically supported clusters composed of a nonpathogenic clade, a low-pathogenicity clade, and a highly pathogenic clade. Genetic differences revealed 125 predicted coding sequences (CDSs) present in all highly pathogenic strains but absent from the other clades. These included several previously uncharacterized CDSs that may encode novel virulence determinants including a hemolysin, a metalloprotease, and a type III secretion effector protein. Additionally, 27 CDSs were identified which were present in all 47 low-pathogenicity strains and Y.enterocolitica 8081 but absent from all nonpathogenic 1A isolates. Analysis of the core gene set for Y.enterocolitica revealed that 20.8% of the genes were shared by all of the strains, confirming this species as highly heterogeneous, adding to the case for the existence of three subspecies of Y.enterocolitica. Further analysis revealed that Y.enterocolitica does not cluster according to source (host). Data is also available from http://bugs.sgul.ac.uk/E-BUGS-36
Project description:We developed a multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme and used it to study the population structure and evolutionary relationships of three pathogenic Yersinia species. MLST of these three Yersinia species showed a complex of two clusters, one composed of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia pestis and the other composed of Yersinia enterocolitica. Within the first cluster, the predominant Y. pestis sequence type 90 (ST90) was linked to Y. pseudotuberculosis ST43 by one locus difference, and 81.25% of the ST43 strains were from serotype O:1b, supporting the hypothesis that Y. pestis descended from the O:1b serotype of Y. pseudotuberculosis. We also found that the worldwide-prevalent serotypes O:1a, O:1b, and O:3 were predominated by specific STs. The second cluster consisted of pathogenic and nonpathogenic Y. enterocolitica strains, two of which may not have identical STs. The pathogenic Y. enterocolitica strains formed a relatively conserved group; most strains clustered within ST186 and ST187. Serotypes O:3, O:8, and O:9 were separated into three distinct blocks. Nonpathogenic Y. enterocolitica STs were more heterogeneous, reflecting genetic diversity through evolution. By providing a better and effective MLST procedure for use with the Yersinia community, valuable information and insights into the genetic evolutionary differences of these pathogens were obtained.
Project description:Pectin methylesterases (PMEs) are family 8 carbohydrate esterases (CE8s) which remove the methyl group from methylesterified galacturonic acid (GalA) residues within pectin. Although the role of pectinases such as PMEs within dedicated phytopathogens has been well established, the significance of homologous enzymes found within the genomes of human enteropathogens remains to be determined. Presented here is the low-resolution (3.5 Å) structure of the CE8 from Yersinia enterocolitica (YeCE8). The high degree of structural conservation in the topology of the active-site cleft and catalytic apparatus that is shared with a characterized PME from a bacterial phytopathogen (i) indicates that YeCE8 is active on methylated pectin and (ii) highlights a more prominent role for pectin utilization in Yersinia than in other enteropathogenic species.