Development and evaluation of an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the detection of antibodies against Campylobacter fetus in cattle

Antibacterial MccM as the Major Microcin in Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 against Pathogenic Enterobacteria

Probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) possesses excellent antibacterial effects on pathogenic enterobacteria. The microcins MccM and MccH47 produced in EcN played critical roles, but they are understudied and poorly characterized, and the individual antibacterial mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, three EcN mutants (ΔmcmA, ΔmchB, and ΔmcmAΔmchB) were constructed and compared with wild-type EcN (EcN wt) to test for inhibitory effects on the growth of Escherichia coli O157: H7, Salmonella enterica (SE), and Salmonella typhimurium (ST). The antibacterial effects on O157: H7 were not affected by the knockout of mcmA (MccM) and mchB (MccH47) in EcN. However, the antibacterial effect on Salmonella declined sharply in EcN mutants ΔmcmA. The overexpressed mcmA gene in EcN::mcmA showed more efficient antibacterial activity on Salmonella than that of EcN wt. Furthermore, the EcN::mcmA strain significantly reduced the abilities of adhesion and invasion of Salmonella to intestinal epithelial cells, decreasing the invasion ability of ST by 56.31% (62.57 times more than that of EcN wt) while reducing the adhesion ability of ST by 50.14% (2.41 times more than that of EcN wt). In addition, the supernatant of EcN::mcmA culture significantly decreased the mRNA expression and secretion of IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6 on macrophages induced by LPS. The EcN::mcmA strain generated twice as much orange halo as EcN wt by CAS agar diffusion assay by producing more siderophores. MccM was more closely related to the activity of EcN against Salmonella, and MccM-overproducing EcN inhibited Salmonella growth by producing more siderophores-MccM to compete for iron, which was critical to pathogen growth. Based on the above, EcN::mcmA can be developed as engineered probiotics to fight against pathogenic enterobacteria colonization in the gut.

A Novel and Efficient High-Yield Method for Preparing Bacterial Ghosts

Bacterial ghosts (BGs) are empty cell envelopes possessing native extracellular structures without a cytoplasm and genetic materials. BGs are proposed to have significant prospects in biomedical research as vaccines or delivery carriers. The applications of BGs are often limited by inefficient bacterial lysis and a low yield. To solve these problems, we compared the lysis efficiency of the wild-type protein E (E_W) from phage ΦX174 and the screened mutant protein E (E_M) in the Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) strain. The results show that the lysis efficiency mediated by protein E_M was improved. The implementation of the pLysS plasmid allowed nearly 100% lysis efficiency, with a high initial cell density as high as OD₆₀₀ = 2.0, which was higher compared to the commonly used BG preparation method. The results of Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence indicate that the expression level of protein E_M was significantly higher than that of the non-pLysS plasmid. High-quality BGs were observed by SEM and TEM. To verify the applicability of this method in other bacteria, the T7 RNA polymerase expression system was successfully constructed in Salmonella enterica (S. Enterica, SE). A pET vector containing E_M and pLysS were introduced to obtain high-quality SE ghosts which could provide efficient protection for humans and animals. This paper describes a novel and commonly used method to produce high-quality BGs on a large scale for the first time.

Diagnosis of Bovine Genital Campylobacteriosis in South America

Bovine genital campylobacteriosis (BGC) is a venereal infectious disease that affects reproduction. It is caused by the Gram-negative bacillus Campylobacter fetus subspecies venerealis (Cfv), which may include the biotype intermedius. The bull is a lifelong asymptomatic carrier and transmitter of the disease. In females Cfv may cause infertility and sporadic abortion. The objective of this study is to review and discuss methods for the diagnosis of BGC, its prevalence and economic impact in South America. BGC is a worldwide distributed disease and can cause a pregnancy rate decrease of 15-25%. The farm prevalence of BGC in different regions of South American countries shows a variation between 2.3 and 100%. Discrepancies may depend on the differences on sanitary, management, and reproductive practices between farms and regions, but also on the interpretation of different diagnostic tests. Currently known laboratory tests include bacterial culture, direct immunofluorescence, immunoenzymatic assays, vaginal mucus agglutination test, PCR-based methods, histology and immunohistochemistry, which are applied and interpreted in diagnostic laboratories at different scales. Epidemiologic data of BGC in South America should be interpreted with caution. High prevalence has been reported in some studies, although the low specificity of the diagnostic tests used could lead to an overestimation of the results.

Versatile nano-platform for tailored immuno-magnetic carriers

Custom immuno-magnetic devices are desirable tools for biomedical and biotechnological applications. Herein, surface active maghemite nanoparticles (SAMNs) are proposed as a versatile platform for developing tailored immuno-magnetic nano-carriers by simple wet reactions. Two examples for conjugating native and biotinylated antibodies were presented along with their successful applications in the recognition of specific foodborne pathogens. Nanoparticles were functionalized with rhodamine B isothiocyanate (RITC), leading to a fluorescent nano-conjugate, and used for binding anti-Campylobacter fetus antibodies (SAMN@RITC@Anti-Cf). The microorganism was selectively captured in the presence of two other Campylobacter species (C. jejuni and C. coli), as verified by PCR. Alternatively, SAMNs were modified with avidin, forming a biotin-specific magnetic nano-carrier and used for the immobilization of biotinylated anti-Listeria monocytogenes antibodies (SAMN@avidin@Anti-Lm). This immuno-magnetic carrier was integrated in piezoelectric quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor for the detection of L. monocytogenes in milk, showing a detection limit of 3 bacterial cells. The present work presents a new category of customized immuno-magnetic nano-carriers as a competitive option for suiting specific applications. Graphical abstract ᅟ.

Prevalence of bovine genital campylobacteriosis and trichomonosis of bulls in northern Nigeria

BACKGROUND

A survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of campylobacteriosis and trichomonosis, and their concurrence with brucellosis, in cattle in three states of northern Nigeria.

METHODS

A total of 602 preputial samples was collected from bulls in 250 herds and tested using culture and identification. Various indigenous and exotic breeds were studied and four major management systems were encountered. Age of the cattle was estimated using dentition, farm records or cornual rings.

RESULTS

The estimated true animal-level prevalence of Campylobacter fetus infection was 16.4% (95% CI: 13.0-20.7), of which 18.5% was C. f. fetus and 81.5% was C. f. venerealis. Of the latter, 92% were C. f. venerealis biovar intermedius strains. Animal-level prevalences in Adamawa, Kano and Kaduna states were 31.8%, 11.6% and 8.3% respectively, and were highest in bulls>7 years old (33.4%) and in the Gudali breed (28.8%). Of the 250 herds, 78 (25.5%, 95% CI: 19.4-32.7) had at least one infected bull, and herd prevalence was highest in the pastoral management system (43.5%). After adjustment for confounding using multivariable analysis, the odds of C. fetus infection were highest in Adamawa state (P<0.01), in the pastoral management system (P<0.01), and in bulls>7 years old (P=0.01), and tended to be higher in Bos taurus breeds (P=0.06). There was a strong positive association between the presence of campylobacteriosis and brucellosis (P<0.01), both within bulls (OR=8.3) and within herds (OR=16.0). Trichomonosis was not detected in any herds.

CONCLUSION

Bovine genital campylobacteriosis is prevalent particularly in the pastoral management system in northern Nigeria, with C. f. venerealis biovar intermedius as the major aetiology. There was a strong positive correlation between the occurrence of campylobacteriosis and brucellosis. No evidence of trichomonosis was found in herds in this study.

Production and characterization of mouse monoclonal antibodies against lysis protein E of phiX174

Bacterial ghosts offer a new avenue for the study of inactivated vaccines. However, for many years the mechanism of genetic inactivation was controversial. To obtain mouse monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against protein E will allow the observation of its location and dynamic expression to expand understanding of the lysis mechanism. In this study, a His-tagged ΔE fusion protein expressed in bacteria was used as the immunogen, and mAbs targeting protein E were produced by the hybridoma technique and selected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using GST-E and GST-ΔE as coating proteins. Purified mAbs from mouse ascites were screened against a phage-displayed random dodecapeptide library (Ph.D.-12). After three rounds of biopanning, 30 phage clones were randomly selected and sequenced, and their amino acids were deduced. One epitope showed a good match with protein E at 57-63aa (KPLN--R) and the synthetic decapeptide Epep (VRLKPLNCSR) strongly inhibited combination of E-A5 with E fusion proteins. Immunofluorescence microscopy indicated specific immunoreactivity of E-A5 with Escherichia coli-expressed native protein E. The novel mAbs may be of great potential value in analysis of the function and lysis pathway of protein E and other relative phages and in evaluation of E as potential marker of bacterial ghosts.

Identification of antigenic epitopes of the SapA protein of Campylobacter fetus using a phage display peptide library

In this study, we immunized mice with prokaryotically expressed recombinant surface layer protein, SapA, of Campylobacter fetus, generated hybridomas secreting mouse monoclonal antibodies (mAb) targeting SapA, and purified the mAb A2D5 from mouse ascites using saturated ammonium sulfate solution. The mAb A2D5, coated onto ELISA plates, was used to screen the phage random 12-peptide library through three rounds of panning. Following panning, 15 phage clones were randomly chosen and tested for reactivity with mAb A2D5 by indirect ELISA. Single-stranded DNA from positive clones was sequenced and compared with the sequence of SapA to predict the key epitope. ELISA and/or Western blot analyses further validated that synthetic peptides and recombinant peptide mimotopes all interact with mAb A2D5. Nine of ten positive phage clones identified by screening were sequenced successfully. Seven clones shared the same sequence HYDRHNYHWWHT; one had the sequence LSKNLPLTALGN; and the final one had the sequence SGMKEPELRSYS. These three sequences shared high homology with SapA J05577 in the region GNEKDFVTKIYSIALGNTSDVDGINYW, in which the underlined amino acids may serve as key residues in the epitope. ELISA and/or Western blot analyses showed that mAb A2D5 not only interacted with the four synthetic peptide mimotopes, but also with 14 prokaryotically expressed recombinant peptide mimotopes. The mimotopes identified in this study will aid future studies into the pathological processes and immune mechanisms of the SapA protein of C. fetus.