Project description:Mycobacterium ulcerans subsp. shinshuense produces mycolactone and causes Buruli ulcer. Here, we report the complete sequence of its genome, which comprises a 5.9-Mb chromosome and a 166-kb plasmid (pShT-P). The sequence will represent the essential data for future phylogenetic and comparative genome studies of mycolactone-producing mycobacteria.
Project description:Transcriptional profile comparison among Beijing and non-Beijing M. tuberculosis isolates. Three M. tuberculosis strains were compared. The laboratory reference strain, H37Rv, belongs to the Euro-American or lineage 4. Two clinical isolates of the East-Asian or lineage 2: 98_1663 is a pre-Beijing or Group 1 isolate, and HN878 is a Beijing or Group 5 isolate. Three replicates were performed for each comparison using two different biological samples.
Project description:Bacterial persister cells are phenotypic variants of regular cells that are tolerant to antibiotics. Analysis of clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis showed that strains vary substantially in their tolerance to antibiotics. The level of persisters was very high is some isolates, suggesting that these are hip mutants. We investigated gene expression differences in eight clinical isolates, four of which we characterized as high-persister strains and four as low-persister, or regular, strains. Comparison of gene expression patterns may provide clues as to the genetic mechanisms underlying persister formation.
Project description:We focused on how Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis influences the subsequent host response to investigate the host immunopathology accompanying the host anti-mycobacterial immune response during Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis infection in spleen of mice.
Project description:The host response to mycobacterial infections was studied after infection of macrophages derived from primary human monocytes. mRNA and miRNA expression studies were performed to identify key regulators of immune defence and their targets.
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:We focused on how Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis influences the subsequent host response to investigate the host immunopathology accompanying the host anti-mycobacterial immune response during Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis infection in spleen of mice. We analyzed altered transcription in the spleen of mice at 3, 6, and 12 weeks following Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis infection.
Project description:Whole genome sequencing of isolates of Mycobacterium ulcerans to trace effectively the evolutionary history of the bacteria and understand its dissemination and evolution at a local scale (villages).
