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Smallman TR, Perlaza-Jiménez L, Wang X, Korman TM, Kotsanas D, Gibson JS, Turni C, Harper M, Boyce JD. Pathogenomic analysis and characterization of Pasteurella multocida strains recovered from human infections. Microbiol Spectr 2024; 12:e0380523. [PMID: 38426766 PMCID: PMC10986470 DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.03805-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 02/03/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Pasteurella multocida is an upper respiratory tract commensal in several mammal and bird species but can also cause severe disease in humans and in production animals such as poultry, cattle, and pigs. In this study, we performed whole-genome sequencing of P. multocida isolates recovered from a range of human infections, from the mouths of cats, and from wounds on dogs. Together with publicly available P. multocida genome sequences, we performed phylogenetic and comparative genomic analyses. While isolates from cats and dogs were spread across the phylogenetic tree, human infections were caused almost exclusively by subsp. septica strains. Most of the human isolates were capsule type A and LPS type L1 and L3; however, some strains lacked a capsule biosynthesis locus, and some strains contained a novel LPS outer-core locus, distinct from the eight LPS loci that can currently be identified using an LPS multiplex PCR. In addition, the P. multocida strains isolated from human infections contained novel mobile genetic elements. We compiled a curated database of known P. multocida virulence factor and antibiotic resistance genes (PastyVRDB) allowing for detailed characterization of isolates. The majority of human P. multocida isolates encoded a reduced range of iron receptors and contained only one filamentous hemagglutinin gene. Finally, gene-trait analysis identified a putative L-fucose uptake and utilization pathway that was over-represented in subsp. septica strains and may represent a novel host predilection mechanism in this subspecies. Together, these analyses have identified pathogenic mechanisms likely important for P. multocida zoonotic infections.IMPORTANCEPasteurella multocida can cause serious infections in humans, including skin and wound infections, pneumonia, peritonitis, meningitis, and bacteraemia. Cats and dogs are known vectors of human pasteurellosis, transmitting P. multocida via bite wounds or contact with animal saliva. The mechanisms that underpin P. multocida human predilection and pathogenesis are poorly understood. With increasing identification of antibiotic-resistant P. multocida strains, understanding these mechanisms is vital for developing novel treatments and control strategies to combat P. multocida human infection. Here, we show that a narrow range of P. multocida strains cause disease in humans, while cats and dogs, common vectors for zoonotic infections, can harbor a wide range of P. multocida strains. We also present a curated P. multocida-specific database, allowing quick and detailed characterization of newly sequenced P. multocida isolates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas R. Smallman
- Department of Microbiology, Infection Program, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Laura Perlaza-Jiménez
- Monash Bioinformatics Platform, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Xiaochu Wang
- Department of Microbiology, Infection Program, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Tony M. Korman
- Monash University and Monash Health, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Despina Kotsanas
- Monash University and Monash Health, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Justine S. Gibson
- School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland, Gatton, Queensland, Australia
| | - Conny Turni
- Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Marina Harper
- Department of Microbiology, Infection Program, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - John D. Boyce
- Department of Microbiology, Infection Program, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Rycroft AN, Smith KC, Noad R, Werling D. Is the production of a Covid-19 vaccine using transformed Pasteurella plausible? Vet Rec 2021; 187:e2. [PMID: 33638539 PMCID: PMC7456680 DOI: 10.1136/vr.m2423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew N Rycroft
- Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead Lane, North Mymms, Hertfordshire, AL9 7TA
| | - Ken C Smith
- Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead Lane, North Mymms, Hertfordshire, AL9 7TA
| | - Rob Noad
- Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead Lane, North Mymms, Hertfordshire, AL9 7TA
| | - Dirk Werling
- Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead Lane, North Mymms, Hertfordshire, AL9 7TA
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Abstract
In a world where most emerging and reemerging infectious diseases are zoonotic in nature and our contacts with both domestic and wild animals abound, there is growing awareness of the potential for human acquisition of animal diseases. Like other Pasteurellaceae, Pasteurella species are highly prevalent among animal populations, where they are often found as part of the normal microbiota of the oral, nasopharyngeal, and upper respiratory tracts. Many Pasteurella species are opportunistic pathogens that can cause endemic disease and are associated increasingly with epizootic outbreaks. Zoonotic transmission to humans usually occurs through animal bites or contact with nasal secretions, with P. multocida being the most prevalent isolate observed in human infections. Here we review recent comparative genomics and molecular pathogenesis studies that have advanced our understanding of the multiple virulence mechanisms employed by Pasteurella species to establish acute and chronic infections. We also summarize efforts being explored to enhance our ability to rapidly and accurately identify and distinguish among clinical isolates and to control pasteurellosis by improved development of new vaccines and treatment regimens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brenda A Wilson
- Department of Microbiology and Host-Microbe Systems Theme of the Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.
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Tatum FM, Briggs RE. Construction of in-frame aroA deletion mutants of Mannheimia haemolytica, Pasteurella multocida, and Haemophilus somnus by using a new temperature-sensitive plasmid. Appl Environ Microbiol 2005; 71:7196-202. [PMID: 16269759 PMCID: PMC1287724 DOI: 10.1128/aem.71.11.7196-7202.2005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
A temperature-sensitive (TS) plasmid was generated from the endogenous streptomycin resistance plasmid of Mannheimia hemolytica and used to engineer in-frame aroA deletion mutants of Mannheimia hemolytica, Pasteurella multocida, and Haemophilus somnus. TS replacement plasmids carrying in-frame aroA deletions were constructed for each target species and introduced into host cells by electroporation. After recovery in broth, cells were spread onto plates containing antibiotic and incubated at 30 degrees C, the permissive temperature for autonomous plasmid replication. Transfer of transformants to selective plates cultured at a nonpermissive temperature for plasmid replication selected for single-crossover mutants consisting of replacement plasmids that had integrated into host chromosomes by homologous recombination. Transfer of the single-crossover mutants back to a permissive temperature without antibiotic selection drove plasmid resolution, and, depending on where plasmid excision occurred, either deletion mutants or wild-type cells were generated. The system used here represents a broadly applicable means for generating unmarked mutants of Pasteurellaceae species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fred M Tatum
- National Animal Disease Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Ames, IA 50010, USA.
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Hunt ML, Boucher DJ, Boyce JD, Adler B. In vivo-expressed genes of Pasteurella multocida. Infect Immun 2001; 69:3004-12. [PMID: 11292718 PMCID: PMC98254 DOI: 10.1128/iai.69.5.3004-3012.2001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2000] [Accepted: 02/14/2001] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Pasteurella multocida is the causative agent of infectious diseases of economic importance such as fowl cholera, bovine hemorrhagic septicemia, and porcine atrophic rhinitis. However, knowledge of the molecular mechanisms and determinants that P. multocida requires for virulence and pathogenicity is still limited. To address this issue, we developed a genetic expression system, based on the in vivo expression technology approach first described by Mahan et al. (Science 259:686--688, 1993), to identify in vivo-expressed genes of P. multocida. Numerous genes, such as those encoding outer membrane lipoproteins, metabolic and biosynthetic enzymes, and a number of hypothetical proteins, were identified. These may prove to be useful targets for attenuating mutation and/or warrant further investigation for their roles in immunity and/or pathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- M L Hunt
- Bacterial Pathogenesis Research Group, Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
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Hunt ML, Cox AJ, Ruffolo CG, Rajakumar K, Adler B. Characterisation of a Pasteurella multocida esterase gene which confers a hemolytic phenotype in Escherichia coli under anaerobic conditions. FEMS Microbiol Lett 2000; 192:249-56. [PMID: 11064203 DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2000.tb09390.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Investigation of the hemolytic phenotype under anaerobic growth conditions of an avian Pasteurella multocida strain, PBA100, resulted in the identification and characterisation of a gene encoding an esterase enzyme, mesA, that conferred a hemolytic phenotype in Escherichia coli under anaerobic conditions. MesA appeared to be expressed and functional under anaerobic and aerobic conditions in both E. coli and P. multocida. A P. multocida mesA mutant was generated which resulted in the loss of acetyl esterase activity under anaerobic conditions. However, this mutation did not cause any attenuation of virulence for mice nor a detectable change to the anaerobic hemolytic phenotype of P. multocida. In E. coli MesA appeared to cause hemolysis indirectly by the induction of the latent E. coli K-12 cytolysin, sheA.
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Affiliation(s)
- M L Hunt
- Bacterial Pathogenesis Research Group, Department of Microbiology, Monash University, 3800, Clayton, Vic., Australia
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Abstract
Pasteurella multocida is an important veterinary and opportunistic human pathogen. The species is diverse and complex with respect to antigenic variation, host predeliction and pathogenesis. Certain serological types are the aetiologic agents of severe pasteurellosis, such as fowl cholera in domestic and wild birds, bovine haemorrhagic septicaemia and porcine atrophic rhinitis. The recent application of molecular methods such as the polymerase chain reaction, restriction endonuclease analysis, ribotyping, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, gene cloning, characterisation and recombinant protein expression, mutagenesis, plasmid and bacteriophage analysis and genomic mapping, have greatly increased our understanding of P. multocida and has provided researchers with a number of molecular tools to study pathogenesis and epidemiology at a molecular level.
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Affiliation(s)
- M L Hunt
- Bacterial Pathogenesis Research Group, Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Australia
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Abstract
Several naturally occurring antibiotic resistance plasmids were isolated from Pasteurella multocida type D strains. One plasmid, pPM1, was used to study transfer of DNA among P. multocida strains, and could be transferred into Escherichia coli and some P. multocida isolates. However, pPM1 could only be transferred into the toxigenic P. multocida LFB3 at very low frequency. Plasmid recovered from the electrotransformants could be transferred to LFB3 at high frequency. These plasmid DNAs were resistant to PstI, and sensitive to DpnI digestion. Sensitivity to DpnI was common to all the P. multocida DNAs, but resistance to PstI was confined to LFB3. Plasmid pPM1 treated with PstI methylase was able to transform LFB3 at an increased frequency compared to unmethylated DNA, suggesting that LFB3 has a restriction system which cleaves at or near PstI sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- I C Hoskins
- Institute for Animal Health, Compton, Berks, UK
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Lee MD, Henk AD. RSF1010-based shuttle vectors for cloning and expression in Pasteurella multocida. Vet Microbiol 1997; 54:369-74. [PMID: 9100336 DOI: 10.1016/s0378-1135(96)01294-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
The broad host-range cloning vectors, pJRD215 and pMMB67EH, were evaluated for stability and cloning efficiency in Pasteurella multocida. Transformation of P. multocida by electroporation was unreliable and poorly efficient regardless of whether the transforming DNA was isolated from E. coli or P. multocida. Both vectors contain a mob site that enabled transfer by conjugation from E. coli to P. multocida with high efficiency. Kanamycin, streptomycin, and ampicillin resistance encoded by the vectors were expressed in P. multocida. LacZ was cloned in pMMB67EH, an expression vector, and was transferred to P. multocida by conjugation. The transconjugants expressed a functional beta-galactosidase as determined by o-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside (ONPG) test. We propose the use of these cosmid and expression vectors as a shuttle vectors for cloning in P. multocida.
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Affiliation(s)
- M D Lee
- College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens 30601, USA.
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Homchampa P, Strugnell RA, Adler B. Cross protective immunity conferred by a marker-free aroA mutant of Pasteurella multocida. Vaccine 1997; 15:203-8. [PMID: 9066039 DOI: 10.1016/s0264-410x(96)00139-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
The aroA gene from Pasteurella multocida serotype A:1 (X-73) was cloned by complementation of the Escherichia coli aroA mutant AB2829 with a DNA library constructed in pUC18. The cloned aroA gene was inactivated by deletion of a 300 bp internal sequence and reintroduced by homologous recombination into the chromosome of X-73 and P-1059 (serotype A:3) using a Pasteurella-E. coli shuttle vector pPBA1100. By subjecting the transformed cells to repeated subculturing in the presence of antibiotic selection coupled with auxotrophic enrichment, marker-free aroA mutants of X-73 and of P-1059 were isolated and designated PMP1 and PMP3, respectively. PMP1 and PMP3 were highly attenuated and capable of conferring complete protection against subsequent lethal challenge infection in a mouse model. Moreover, PMP3-immunized mice were protected against heterologous challenge infection with serotype A:1 or A:4.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Homchampa
- Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Australia
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Wright CL, Strugnell RA, Hodgson AL. Characterization of a Pasteurella multocida plasmid and its use to express recombinant proteins in P. multocida. Plasmid 1997; 37:65-79. [PMID: 9073583 DOI: 10.1006/plas.1996.1276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
The complete nucleotide sequence of a naturally occurring 5.36-kb streptomycin and sulphonamide resistance plasmid, designated pIG1, isolated from type D Pasteurella multocida was determined. A 1.6-kb noncoding region and a 1.4-kb region encoding three putative proteins were shown by sequence homologies and functional characterizations to be involved in the replication and mobilization of pIG1, respectively. The remaining sequence carried an unusual arrangement of streptomycin- and sulphonamide-resistant genes when compared to various other plasmids. It appears that the antibiotic resistance region of pIG1 may have evolved by recombination between three different short direct repeat DNA sequences. A 4.5-kb recombinant plasmid was constructed by replacing the antibiotic resistance genes of pIG1 with a kanamycin resistance gene and seven unique restriction sites. The resulting plasmid, designated pIG112, stably replicates in P. multocida, Pasteurella haemolytica, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, and Escherichia coli and can be introduced into these organisms by either transformation or conjugation. This vector exists at approximately 70 copies per cell in P. multocida and approximately 20 copies per cell in E. coli. To demonstrate plasmid-borne gene expression in P. multocida, the P. multocida dermonecrotic toxin gene, toxA, and a genetically modified form of this gene were cloned into pIG112 and expressed in high amounts in a nontoxigenic P. multocida strain. Cell culture assays demonstrated that nontoxigenic P. multocida expressing toxA was cytopathic, whereas a strain expressing the modified toxA derivative was not.
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Affiliation(s)
- C L Wright
- CSIRO Division of Animal Health, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
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