PORCINE CONTAGIOUS PLEUROPNEUMONIA. 3. INTERRELATIONSHIP OF HEMOPHILUS PLEUROPNEUMONIAE TO OTHER SPECIES OF HEMOPHILUS: NUTRITIONAL, METABOLIC, TRANSFORMATION, AND ELECTRON MICROSCOPY STUDIES

Evolution of competence and DNA uptake specificity in the Pasteurellaceae

BACKGROUND

Many bacteria can take up DNA, but the evolutionary history and function of natural competence and transformation remain obscure. The sporadic distribution of competence suggests it is frequently lost and/or gained, but this has not been examined in an explicitly phylogenetic context. Additional insight may come from the sequence specificity of uptake by species such as Haemophilus influenzae, where a 9 bp uptake signal sequence (USS) repeat is both highly overrepresented in the genome and needed for efficient DNA uptake. We used the distribution of competence genes and DNA uptake specificity in H. influenzae's family, the Pasteurellaceae, to examine the ancestry of competence.

RESULTS

A phylogeny of the Pasteurellaceae based on 12 protein coding genes from species with sequenced genomes shows two strongly supported subclades: the Hin subclade (H. influenzae, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Pasteurella multocida, Mannheimia succiniciproducens, and H. somnus), and the Apl subclade (A. pleuropneumoniae, M. haemolytica, and H. ducreyi). All species contained homologues of all known H. influenzae competence genes, consistent with an ancestral origin of competence. Competence gene defects were identified in three species (H. somnus, H. ducreyi and M. haemolytica); each appeared to be of recent origin. The assumption that USS arise by mutation rather than copying was first confirmed using alignments of H. influenzae proteins with distant homologues. Abundant USS-like repeats were found in all eight Pasteurellacean genomes; the repeat consensuses of species in the Hin subclade were identical to that of H. influenzae (AAGTGCGGT), whereas members of the Apl subclade shared the consensus ACAAGCGGT. All species' USSs had the strong consensus and flanking AT-rich repeats of H. influenzae USSs. DNA uptake and competition experiments demonstrated that the Apl-type repeat is a true USS distinct from the Hin-type USS: A. pleuropneumoniae preferentially takes up DNA fragments containing the Apl-type USS over both H. influenzae and unrelated DNAs, and H. influenzae prefers its own USS over the Apl type.

CONCLUSION

Competence and DNA uptake specificity are ancestral properties of the Pasteurellaceae, with divergent USSs and uptake specificity distinguishing only the two major subclades. The conservation of most competence genes over the approximately 350 million year history of the family suggests that lineages that lose competence may be evolutionary dead ends.

Biofilm formation is prevalent among field isolates of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae

A total of 77 field isolates and 15 reference strains of the porcine respiratory pathogen Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae were tested for their ability to form biofilms in a polystyrene microtiter plate assay. More than half of all field isolates, which included strains representing serotypes 1, 5 and 7, but only two reference strains (serotypes 5B and 11) exhibited biofilm formation. Strains that formed biofilms in microtiter plates also formed thick biofilms at the air-liquid interface when cultured in glass tubes with agitation. The biofilm formation phenotype was maintained indefinitely when cultures were passaged on agar but was lost after one or two passages in broth. Our findings indicate that biofilm formation is a prevalent phenotype among A. pleuropneumoniae field isolates, and that this phenotype may have been previously overlooked because of its tendency to be lost upon subculturing in broth. Biofilm formation may have relevance to the colonization, pathogenesis and transmission of this bacterium.

Development of a shuttle vector and a conjugative transfer system for Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae

An original genetic system for Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae has been developed. A shuttle cloning vector, pYG53, was constructed from the wild-type plasmid pYG10. It permits, in conjunction with electroporation, the introduction of cloned genes into this species. A conjugal transfer system between Escherichia coli and A. pleuropneumoniae involving pYG54, a mobilizable derivative of pYG53, is also described. Conjugation efficiencies of 8.3 x 10(-3) exconjugants per donor can be obtained.

Electron microscopic examination of capsular material from various serotypes of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae

The capsular material on PPLO broth-grown cells of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae representing serotypes 1 to 10 was visualized by transmission electron microscopy after polycationic ferritin labeling and also after stabilization with specific antibodies. All the isolates examined were covered with a layer of capsular material whose thickness varied between 80 to 90 nm and 210 to 230 nm when examined by immunostabilization. We were also able to visualize A. pleuropneumoniae in lungs of infected pigs and to estimate the amount of capsular material covering the cells. Our results indicate that differences in capsular structure exist among the different A. pleuropneumoniae serotypes, and this result may explain in part why the serotypes are not equally virulent.

Porcine Hemophilus parahemolyticus pneumonia in Saskatchewan. I. Natural occurrence and findings

An outbreak of fibrinous pleuropneumonia was observed in October 1971 in Saskatchewan on a farm of 900 feeder pigs. Morbidity and mortality were low. Pathologic-anatomic findings included fibrinous pleuritis, pulmonary vascular thrombosis and necrotizing fibrinous pneumonia. Hemophilus parahemolyticus was isolated from the lungs of affected animals. In addition pulmonary lesions were found which suggested an adenovirus infection. It was speculated that the viral infection possibly predisposed the pigs to the Hemophilus infection. The H. parahemolyticus isolate was sensitive to common antibiotics.

A stable L-form of Haemophilus pleuropneumoniae

A stable L-form of Haemophilus pleuropneumoniae (Shope) was isolated from primary pig kidney cell tissue cultures which had been inoculated 28 days previously with glycine induced spheroplasts of this organism.H. pleuropneumoniae was definitely cytopathic in primary pig kidney cell cultures, producing cell rounding, cytoplasmic vacuolation and nuclear enlargement with peripheral condensation of nuclear DNA. By contrast, the effect of spheroplasts was much less distinct, producing only loss of cytoplasmic granularity coincident with apparent loss of some cytoplasmic RNA, and slight nuclear enlargement. Both the organism and its L-form were shown to be related by cultural methods, antibiotic sensitivity tests, immunofluorescence and immunodiffusion. The L-form remained stable after 90 serial passages on agar and 45 in broth, each medium being capable of supporting the growth of both forms of the organism.