Biochemical and biological characterizations and ribotyping of Actinomyces pyogenes and Actinomyces pyogenes-like organisms from liver abscesses in cattle

An assessment of the effectiveness of virginiamycin on liver abscess incidence and growth performance in feedlot cattle: a comprehensive statistical analysis

The judicious use of commercial products in livestock operations can be part of a sustainable and environmentally friendly production scenario. This study was designed to gather published data of virginiamycin (VM) used in feedlot conditions of the United States and analyze its effectiveness and optimum dosage in reducing the liver abscess incidence (LAI). The dataset contained 26 studies that evaluated more than 7,156 animals of diverse breeds fed in several regions in the United States under different management. Statistical analyses included contingency tables to assess the nonparametric independence of the LAI, meta regression analysis to remove study effects and to evaluate LAI and animal performance, broken-line analysis to determine thresholds of VM dosage on LAI, and residual-based shading mosaic plots to illustrate the contingency analysis. There were 1,391 of 5,430 animals with LAI scores 1, 2, or 3 (LAI1-3) and 651 of 4,690 animals with LAI A+ (score 3). Our analyses suggested that there was a significant dependency (χ2P-value < 0.001) and significant asymmetry (McNemar's test P-value < 0.001) between LAI and VM treatment for both LAI1-3 and LAI A+. For the LAI1-3 group, only 22.5% of the treated animals had liver abscesses compared with 31.7% of the control animals. The metaregression analysis indicated that LAI1-3 was linearly reduced (P < 0.001) by about 0.42% per mg/kg of DM of VM. The lower 95% confidence interval of the intercept for LAI1-3 and LAI A+ obtained with a generalized nonlinear mixed regression was 18.7 and 20.3 mg/kg of DM, respectively. The broken-line regression analysis identified 2 thresholds for LAI (23.9 and 12.3 mg/kg of DM) at which the reduction in total LAI1-3 and LAI A+, respectively, would decrease faster as VM dosage increases (from 2.14% to 6% and from 1.91% to 4.33% per mg of VM per kg of DM, respectively). Additionally, our analyses indicated that after accounting for the study effects, VM significantly increased ADG at 2.08 g BW/d per mg/kg DM compared with 0.92 g BW/d per mg/kg DM for monensin (P < 0.001), suggesting that VM was about 2.3 times more effective in increasing ADG for the same dosage and feeding period length. All analyses yielded consistent results that led us to conclude that VM is effective in reducing LAI when fed between approximately 12 and 24 mg/kg of DM, and the maximum reduction might occur at approximately 24 mg/kg of DM or higher.

Antimicrobial Resistance in Corynebacterium spp., Arcanobacterium spp., and Trueperella pyogenes

There is currently only limited information on the antimicrobial susceptibility and resistance of Corynebacterium spp., Arcanobacterium spp., and Trueperella pyogenes from animals. The comparability of the data is hampered by the use of different antimicrobial susceptibility testing methods and interpretive criteria. To date, standard broth microdilution methods and clinical breakpoints that are approved by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute and are applicable to Corynebacterium spp., Arcanobacterium spp., and T. pyogenes are available. The lack of species-specific clinical breakpoints for the different animal species reduces the explanatory power of the data. Among the isolates of the three genera, elevated MICs for different classes of antimicrobial agents (e.g., β-lactams, macrolides, lincosamides, tetracyclines, aminoglycosides, phenicols, sulfonamides/diaminopyrimidines, and fluoroquinolones) have been described. The most comprehensive data set is available for T. pyogenes, which also includes information about genes and mutations involved in antimicrobial resistance. In T. pyogenes isolates, the macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B resistance genes erm(B) and erm(X) were identified. Tetracycline resistance in T. pyogenes was based on the resistance genes tet(W), tet(Z), and tet(33), whereas the aminoglycoside resistance genes aacC, aadA1, aadA2, aadA5, aadA24, and aadB have been described in T. pyogenes. So far, only single genes conferring either phenicol resistance (cmlA6), trimethoprim resistance (dfrB2a), or β-lactam resistance (blaP1) are known to occur in T. pyogenes isolates. Various 23S rRNA mutations, including A2058T, A2058G, and G2137C, were identified in macrolide/lincosamide-resistant T. pyogenes.

Complete Genome Sequence of Trueperella pyogenes, an Important Opportunistic Pathogen of Livestock

Here, we report the complete genome sequence of Trueperella pyogenes TP6375, a strain isolated from the uterus of a dairy cow affected with metritis. The complete circular genome is 2,338,390 bp and contains several genes needed for pathogenicity.

Influence of systemic fluoroquinolone administration on the presence of Pasteurella multocida in the upper respiratory tract of clinically healthy calves

The influence of enrofloxacin administration (5 mg/kg) for five consecutive days on the occurrence of Pasteurella multocida in the upper respiratory tract of two healthy calves was monitored over a 10-day period. From nasal swabs of two additional healthy control calves, which received a placebo saline administration, P. multocida was isolated throughout the study period. In the enrofloxacin treated calves, P. multocida was not demonstrated in the nasopharynx from 48 h after the first injection until two days after the last administration, when P. multocida reappeared and proved to be clonal in nature to the original isolates. During the experiment, no change in minimal inhibitory concentration for enrofloxacin of the P. multocida isolates was detected (MIC < or = 0.015 microg/mL). Enrofloxacin concentrations were determined in the plasma by a high-performance liquid chromatography method with fluorescence detection. The PK/PD indices AUC/MIC and Cmax/MIC ratio were calculated and found to be 1157.7 and 129.8, respectively. Remarkably, the respiratory pathogen Arcanobacterium pyogenes became the predominant recovered organism in the nasopharynx of one animal following enrofloxacin therapy throughout the remaining of the experiment.

Molecular genetic basis of ribotyping

Nearly 2,000 ribotyping-based studies exist, ranging from epidemiology to phylogeny and taxonomy. None precisely reveals the molecular genetic basis, with many incorrectly attributing detected polymorphisms to rRNA gene sequences. Based on in silico genomics, we demonstrate that ribotype polymorphisms result from sequence variability in neutral housekeeping genes flanking rRNA operons, with rRNA gene sequences serving solely as conserved, flank-linked tags. We also reveal that from such an informatics perspective, it is readily feasible a priori to design an interpretable ribotyping scheme for a genomically sequenced microbial species, and we discuss limitations to the basic restriction fragment length polymorphism-based method as well as alternate PCR ribotyping-based schemes.

The Arcanobacterium pyogenes collagen-binding protein, CbpA, promotes adhesion to host cells

Arcanobacterium pyogenes is an opportunistic pathogen associated with suppurative diseases in economically important food animals such as cattle, pigs, and turkeys. A. pyogenes adheres to host epithelial cells, and adhesion is promoted by the action of neuraminidase, which is expressed by this organism. However, a neuraminidase-deficient mutant of A. pyogenes only had a reduced ability to adhere to host epithelial cells, indicating that other factors are involved in adhesion. Far Western blotting revealed the presence of an approximately 120-kDa A. pyogenes cell wall protein that binds collagen type I. The 3.5-kb gene that encodes the 124.7-kDa CbpA protein was cloned, and sequence analysis indicated that CbpA contains a typical MSCRAMM protein domain structure. Recombinant, six-His-tagged CbpA (HIS-CbpA) was capable of binding collagen types I, II, and IV but not fibronectin. In addition, CbpA was involved in the ability of A. pyogenes to adhere to HeLa and 3T6 cells, as a cbpA knockout strain had 38.2 and 57.0% of wild-type adhesion, respectively. This defect could be complemented by providing cbpA on a multicopy plasmid. Furthermore, HIS-CbpA blocked A. pyogenes adhesion to HeLa or 3T6 cells in a dose-dependent manner. cbpA was only present in 48% of the A. pyogenes strains tested (n = 75), and introduction of plasmid-encoded cbpA into a naturally cbpA-deficient strain increased the ability of this strain to bind to HeLa and 3T6 cells 2.9- and 5.7-fold, respectively. These data indicate that CbpA, a collagen-binding protein of A. pyogenes, plays a role in the adhesion of this organism to host cells.

Susceptibility of Arcanobacterium pyogenes from different sources to tetracycline, macrolide and lincosamide antimicrobial agents

Chlortetracycline, oxytetracycline, and the macrolide, tylosin, are extensively used for growth promotion and disease prophylaxis in the cattle and swine industries in the US. Arcanobacterium pyogenes, a common inhabitant of the mucosal surfaces of cattle and swine, is also a pathogen associated with a variety of infections in these animals. A broth microdilution technique was used to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility of 48 A. pyogenes isolates to macrolides, lincosamides and tetracyclines. The MIC50 and MIC90 for chlortetracycline were 0.12 and 8 mg/l, respectively. Similarly, the MIC50 and MIC90 for oxytetracycline were 0.25 and 8 mg/l, while the MIC50 and MIC90 for tetracycline were 0.25 and 16 mg/l, respectively. The MIC50 and the MIC90 were < or = 0.06 and >64 mg/l, respectively, for erythromycin, tylosin and clindamycin. This resistance pattern indicated that some of these A. pyogenes isolates may carry an MLS(B) resistance determinant. A. pyogenes isolates (12.5%) were resistant to erythromycin, and this percentage doubled when MICs were performed following induction with erythromycin. Of the 48 A. pyogenes isolates, 25 and 41.7% were resistant to MLS(B) antimicrobial agents and the tetracycline derivatives, respectively. MLS(B) resistance was present in 22.2 and 35.3% of A. pyogenes isolates of bovine (n=27) or porcine (n=17) origin. In contrast, 70.6% of porcine isolates were resistant to the tetracyclines, compared with 25.9% of bovine isolates. These data suggest that a large proportion of A. pyogenes field isolates may be resistant to these commonly used antimicrobial agents.

Antimicrobial susceptibility of Arcanobacterium pyogenes isolated from cattle and pigs

The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 18 antimicrobial agents were determined for 49 Arcanobacterium pyogenes isolates (42 bovine isolates and 7 porcine isolates). Benzylpenicillin and ampicillin were the most active antibiotics, with MIC ranges of < or = 0.0125-0.05 microgram/ml for both bovine and porcine isolates. All isolates were susceptible to penicillins and cephems. MICs for 90% of the isolates of dihydrostreptomycin, gentamicin and oxytetracycline for bovine isolates were > 100 micrograms/ml, 1.56 micrograms/ml and 25 micrograms/ml, respectively. More resistance to dihydrostreptomycin appeared among porcine isolates (85.7%) than among bovine isolates (52.4%). Resistance to gentamicin occurred in only 3 (7.1%) of the bovine isolates. Resistance to oxytetracycline also appeared more frequent among porcine isolates (85.7%) than among bovine isolates (57.1%). All bovine isolates were susceptible to erythromycin, tilmocosin and lincomycin, but two porcine isolates (28.6%) were simultaneously resistant to these antibiotics. Tiamulin was as active as tilmicosin, with an MIC for 50% of the isolates (MIC50) of 0.05 microgram/ml for both bovine and porcine isolates. The MIC50s of chloramphenicol and its derivatives florfenicol and thiamphenicol were all 1.56 micrograms/ml. The fluoroquinolones enrofloxacin and ofloxacin were not so active as penicillins and macrolides, with MIC50s of 0.78 microgram/ml and 1.56 micrograms/ml, respectively, for both bovine and porcine isolates.