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Orjuela AG, Parra-Arango JL, Sarmiento-Rubiano LA. Bovine leptospirosis: effects on reproduction and an approach to research in Colombia. Trop Anim Health Prod 2022; 54:251. [PMID: 35943610 PMCID: PMC9360731 DOI: 10.1007/s11250-022-03235-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Leptospirosis is the most widespread zoonosis worldwide, causing severe effects on beef and dairy cattle farming and other livestock. Colombia geographical location in the tropical zone, high biodiversity, and climatic conditions promote Leptospira growth and prevalence. This review article presents state-of-the-art knowledge about the effects of leptospirosis on bovine reproduction and a critical analysis of the research carried out in Colombia. The analysis of the information allows us to infer a sustained increase in prevalence over the last decade in the densest livestock production areas and a high serovar diversity of circulating pathogenic Leptospira. Given the zoonotic nature of leptospirosis, an inter-institutional effort is required to implement prevention, control, and monitoring programs under one-health concept.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agustín Góngora Orjuela
- Grupo de Investigación en Reproducción y Genética Animal (Reproduction and Animal Genetics Research Group, GIRGA), Universidad de los Llanos, Villavicencio, Meta Colombia
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Rajeev L, Garber ME, Mukhopadhyay A. Tools to map target genes of bacterial two-component system response regulators. ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY REPORTS 2020; 12:267-276. [PMID: 32212247 PMCID: PMC7318608 DOI: 10.1111/1758-2229.12838] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2020] [Revised: 03/17/2020] [Accepted: 03/18/2020] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Studies on bacterial physiology are incomplete without knowledge of the signalling and regulatory systems that a bacterium uses to sense and respond to its environment. Two-component systems (TCSs) are among the most prevalent bacterial signalling systems, and they control essential and secondary physiological processes; however, even in model organisms, we lack a complete understanding of the signals sensed, the phosphotransfer partners and the functions regulated by these systems. In this review, we discuss several tools to map the genes targeted by transcriptionally acting TCSs. Many of these tools have been used for studying individual TCSs across diverse species, but systematic approaches to delineate entire signalling networks have been very few. Since genome sequences and high-throughput technologies are now readily available, the methods presented here can be applied to characterize the entire DNA-binding TCS signalling network in any bacterial species and are especially useful for non-model environmental bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lara Rajeev
- Biological Systems and Engineering DivisionLawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryBerkeleyCA94720USA
| | - Megan E. Garber
- Biological Systems and Engineering DivisionLawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryBerkeleyCA94720USA
- Department of Comparative BiochemistryUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCA94720USA
| | - Aindrila Mukhopadhyay
- Biological Systems and Engineering DivisionLawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryBerkeleyCA94720USA
- Department of Comparative BiochemistryUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCA94720USA
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology DivisionLawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryBerkeleyCA94720USA
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3
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Rawle RA, Kang YS, Bothner B, Wang G, McDermott TR. Transcriptomics analysis defines global cellular response of Agrobacterium tumefaciens 5A to arsenite exposure regulated through the histidine kinases PhoR and AioS. Environ Microbiol 2019; 21:2659-2676. [PMID: 30815967 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.14577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2018] [Revised: 01/28/2019] [Accepted: 02/26/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In environments where arsenic and microbes coexist, microbes are the principal drivers of arsenic speciation, which directly affects bioavailability, toxicity and bioaccumulation. Speciation reactions influence arsenic behaviour in environmental systems, directly affecting human and agricultural exposures. Arsenite oxidation decreases arsenic toxicity and mobility in the environment, and therefore understanding its regulation and overall influence on cellular metabolism is of significant interest. The arsenite oxidase (AioBA) is regulated by a three-component signal transduction system AioXSR, which is in turn regulated by the phosphate stress response, with PhoR acting as the master regulator. Using RNA-sequencing, we characterized the global effects of arsenite on gene expression in Agrobacterium tumefaciens 5A. To further elucidate regulatory controls, mutant strains for histidine kinases PhoR and AioS were employed, and illustrate that in addition to arsenic metabolism, a host of other functional responses are regulated in parallel. Impacted functions include arsenic and phosphate metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, solute transport systems and iron metabolism, in addition to others. These findings contribute significantly to the current understanding of the metabolic impact and genetic circuitry involved during arsenite exposure in bacteria. This informs how arsenic contamination will impact microbial activities involving several biogeochemical cycles in nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel A Rawle
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA
| | - Yoon-Suk Kang
- Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA
| | - Brian Bothner
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA
| | - Gejiao Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Timothy R McDermott
- Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA
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Zhao Z, Peng T, Oh JI, Glaeser J, Weber L, Li Q, Klug G. A response regulator of the OmpR family is part of the regulatory network controlling the oxidative stress response of Rhodobacter sphaeroides. ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY REPORTS 2019; 11:118-128. [PMID: 30451391 DOI: 10.1111/1758-2229.12718] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2017] [Accepted: 11/12/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
As a free-living bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides needs to respond to many environmental stresses. Oxidative stress, membrane stress or heat stress induce the ompR-1 gene encoding a protein of the OmpR family. Overexpression of OmpR-1 results in increased resistance to organic peroxides and diamide. Our data demonstrate that OmpR-1 positively affects expression of several sRNAs with an established role in R. sphaeroides stress defences and negatively affects the promoter of the rpoHI gene. The RpoHI sigma factor has a main role in the activation of many stress responses. Thus OmpR-1 has a balancing effect on the activation of the RpoHI regulon. We present a model with OmpR-1 as part of a regulatory network controlling stress defences in R. sphaeroides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiping Zhao
- Institut für Mikrobiologie und Molekularbiologie, Interdiziplinäres Forschungszentrum, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Giessen, Germany
- Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering, Sichuan University of Science and Engineering, Zigong, China
| | | | - Jeong-Il Oh
- Department of Microbiology, Pusan National University, Busan, South Korea
| | - Jens Glaeser
- Institut für Mikrobiologie und Molekularbiologie, Interdiziplinäres Forschungszentrum, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Lennart Weber
- Institut für Mikrobiologie und Molekularbiologie, Interdiziplinäres Forschungszentrum, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Qingfeng Li
- Institut für Mikrobiologie und Molekularbiologie, Interdiziplinäres Forschungszentrum, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Giessen, Germany
| | - Gabriele Klug
- Institut für Mikrobiologie und Molekularbiologie, Interdiziplinäres Forschungszentrum, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Giessen, Germany
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cis-Acting Determinant Limiting Expression of Sphingomyelinase Gene sph2 in Leptospira interrogans, Identified with a gfp Reporter Plasmid. Appl Environ Microbiol 2018; 84:AEM.02068-18. [PMID: 30266732 DOI: 10.1128/aem.02068-18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2018] [Accepted: 09/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Many strains of the spirochete Leptospira interrogans serovar Pomona express the osmotically inducible sphingomyelinase gene sph2 at much higher levels than strains from other serovars. We developed a new green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter plasmid to examine sph2 gene expression determinants. The vector enables the fusion of the test promoter to the ribosome-binding site and coding region of gfp We fused the sph2 promoters from the L. interrogans serovar Lai strain 56601 and from the L. interrogans serovar Pomona strain LC82-25 to gfp to examine the molecular determinants of differential sph2 expression between the two strains. Similar to what was observed with the native sph2 genes, the introduction of the plasmids into the Lai 56601 strain resulted in near background levels of gfp expression from the Lai sph2 promoter, while the expression from the Pomona sph2 promoter was high. The expression of both fusions increased at physiologic levels of osmolarity achieved by adding sodium chloride to the culture medium. We examined the role of a 17-bp upstream element found in all L. interrogans strains expressing low basal levels of sph2 and missing from Pomona strains that express sph2 at high levels. When the 17-bp sequence present upstream of the Lai sph2 promoter was deleted or scrambled, the fusion expression increased substantially. Conversely, the insertion of the 17-bp sequence upstream of the Pomona sph2 promoter diminished fusion expression. In contrast, the removal of an insertion sequence-like element that is found only in the Pomona sph2 upstream sequence had no effect on the expression from the Pomona sph2 fusion in the Lai strain. These findings demonstrate the utility of the gfp reporter plasmid in analyzing gene expression in L. interrogans IMPORTANCE Genetic tools are needed to examine gene expression in the pathogen Leptospira interrogans We developed a reporter plasmid that replicates in L. interrogans with green fluorescent protein (GFP) as the readout of promoter activity. We demonstrated an application of the new reporter plasmid by identifying an upstream element responsible for the poor basal expression of the sph2 sphingomyelinase gene in an L. interrogans serovar Lai strain. This new tool is useful for the discovery of the molecular determinants of L. interrogans gene expression.
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Zhang JJ, Hu WL, Yang Y, Li H, Picardeau M, Yan J, Yang XF. The sigma factor σ 54 is required for the long-term survival of Leptospira biflexa in water. Mol Microbiol 2018; 109:10.1111/mmi.13967. [PMID: 29633391 PMCID: PMC6174002 DOI: 10.1111/mmi.13967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Leptospira spp. comprise both pathogenic and free-living saprophytic species. Little is known about the environmental adaptation and survival mechanisms of Leptospira. Alternative sigma factor, σ54 (RpoN) is known to play an important role in environmental and host adaptation in many bacteria. In this study, we constructed an rpoN mutant by allele exchange, and the complemented strain in saprophytic L. biflexa. Transcriptome analysis revealed that expression of several genes involved in nitrogen uptake and metabolism, including amtB1, glnB-amtB2, ntrX and narK, were controlled by σ54 . While wild-type L. biflexa could not grow under nitrogen-limiting conditions but was able to survive under such conditions and recover rapidly, the rpoN mutant was not. The rpoN mutant also had dramatically reduced ability to survive long-term in water. σ54 appears to regulate expression of amtB1, glnK-amtB2, ntrX and narK in an indirect manner. However, we identified a novel nitrogen-related gene, LEPBI_I1011, whose expression was directly under the control of σ54 (herein renamed as rcfA for RpoN-controlled factor A). Taken together, our data reveal that the σ54 regulatory network plays an important role in the long-term environmental survival of Leptospira spp.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun-Jie Zhang
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
| | - Wei-Lin Hu
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, P.R. China
| | - Youyun Yang
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
| | - Hongxia Li
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
| | | | - Jie Yan
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, P.R. China
| | - X. Frank Yang
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
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Adhikarla H, Wunder EA, Mechaly AE, Mehta S, Wang Z, Santos L, Bisht V, Diggle P, Murray G, Adler B, Lopez F, Townsend JP, Groisman E, Picardeau M, Buschiazzo A, Ko AI. Lvr, a Signaling System That Controls Global Gene Regulation and Virulence in Pathogenic Leptospira. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2018; 8:45. [PMID: 29600195 PMCID: PMC5863495 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2018.00045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2017] [Accepted: 02/08/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Leptospirosis is an emerging zoonotic disease with more than 1 million cases annually. Currently there is lack of evidence for signaling pathways involved during the infection process of Leptospira. In our comprehensive genomic analysis of 20 Leptospira spp. we identified seven pathogen-specific Two-Component System (TCS) proteins. Disruption of two these TCS genes in pathogenic Leptospira strain resulted in loss-of-virulence in a hamster model of leptospirosis. Corresponding genes lvrA and lvrB (leptospira virulence regulator) are juxtaposed in an operon and are predicted to encode a hybrid histidine kinase and a hybrid response regulator, respectively. Transcriptome analysis of lvr mutant strains with disruption of one (lvrB) or both genes (lvrA/B) revealed global transcriptional regulation of 850 differentially expressed genes. Phosphotransfer assays demonstrated that LvrA phosphorylates LvrB and predicted further signaling downstream to one or more DNA-binding response regulators, suggesting that it is a branched pathway. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that lvrA and lvrB evolved independently within different ecological lineages in Leptospira via gene duplication. This study uncovers a novel-signaling pathway that regulates virulence in pathogenic Leptospira (Lvr), providing a framework to understand the molecular bases of regulation in this life-threatening bacterium.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haritha Adhikarla
- Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Elsio A Wunder
- Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Ariel E Mechaly
- Laboratory of Molecular & Structural Microbiology, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Sameet Mehta
- Yale Centre for Genome Analysis, West Haven, CT, United States
| | - Zheng Wang
- Department of Biostatistics, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Luciane Santos
- Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, United States.,Gonçalo Moniz Research Center, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Salvador, Brazil
| | - Vimla Bisht
- Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Peter Diggle
- Lancaster Medical School, Lancaster, United Kingdom
| | - Gerald Murray
- Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Ben Adler
- Department of Microbiology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia.,Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Structural and Functional Microbial Genomics, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Francesc Lopez
- Yale Centre for Genome Analysis, West Haven, CT, United States
| | - Jeffrey P Townsend
- Department of Biostatistics, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Eduardo Groisman
- Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
| | | | - Alejandro Buschiazzo
- Laboratory of Molecular & Structural Microbiology, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay.,Department of Microbiology, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
| | - Albert I Ko
- Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, United States.,Gonçalo Moniz Research Center, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Salvador, Brazil
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Zhukova A, Fernandes LG, Hugon P, Pappas CJ, Sismeiro O, Coppée JY, Becavin C, Malabat C, Eshghi A, Zhang JJ, Yang FX, Picardeau M. Genome-Wide Transcriptional Start Site Mapping and sRNA Identification in the Pathogen Leptospira interrogans. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2017; 7:10. [PMID: 28154810 PMCID: PMC5243855 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2017.00010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2016] [Accepted: 01/06/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Leptospira are emerging zoonotic pathogens transmitted from animals to humans typically through contaminated environmental sources of water and soil. Regulatory pathways of pathogenic Leptospira spp. underlying the adaptive response to different hosts and environmental conditions remains elusive. In this study, we provide the first global Transcriptional Start Site (TSS) map of a Leptospira species. RNA was obtained from the pathogen Leptospira interrogans grown at 30°C (optimal in vitro temperature) and 37°C (host temperature) and selectively enriched for 5′ ends of native transcripts. A total of 2865 and 2866 primary TSS (pTSS) were predicted in the genome of L. interrogans at 30 and 37°C, respectively. The majority of the pTSSs were located between 0 and 10 nucleotides from the translational start site, suggesting that leaderless transcripts are a common feature of the leptospiral translational landscape. Comparative differential RNA-sequencing (dRNA-seq) analysis revealed conservation of most pTSS at 30 and 37°C. Promoter prediction algorithms allow the identification of the binding sites of the alternative sigma factor sigma 54. However, other motifs were not identified indicating that Leptospira consensus promoter sequences are inherently different from the Escherichia coli model. RNA sequencing also identified 277 and 226 putative small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) at 30 and 37°C, respectively, including eight validated sRNAs by Northern blots. These results provide the first global view of TSS and the repertoire of sRNAs in L. interrogans. These data will establish a foundation for future experimental work on gene regulation under various environmental conditions including those in the host.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Zhukova
- Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Hub, Institut Pasteur, C3BI Paris, France
| | | | - Perrine Hugon
- Biology of Spirochetes Unit, Institut PasteurParis, France; Mutualized Microbiology Platform, Institut Pasteur, Pasteur International Bioresources NetworkParis, France
| | - Christopher J Pappas
- Biology of Spirochetes Unit, Institut PasteurParis, France; Department of Biology, Manhattanville CollegePurchase, NY, USA
| | - Odile Sismeiro
- CITECH, Institut Pasteur, Plate-forme Transcriptome et Epigenome, Pole Biomics - CITECH Paris, France
| | - Jean-Yves Coppée
- CITECH, Institut Pasteur, Plate-forme Transcriptome et Epigenome, Pole Biomics - CITECH Paris, France
| | - Christophe Becavin
- Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Hub, Institut Pasteur, C3BI Paris, France
| | - Christophe Malabat
- Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Hub, Institut Pasteur, C3BI Paris, France
| | - Azad Eshghi
- Biology of Spirochetes Unit, Institut Pasteur Paris, France
| | - Jun-Jie Zhang
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Indiana University School of Medicine Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Frank X Yang
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Indiana University School of Medicine Indianapolis, IN, USA
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The EbpA-RpoN Regulatory Pathway of the Pathogen Leptospira interrogans Is Essential for Survival in the Environment. Appl Environ Microbiol 2017; 83:AEM.02377-16. [PMID: 27864172 DOI: 10.1128/aem.02377-16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2016] [Accepted: 11/14/2016] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Leptospira interrogans is the agent of leptospirosis, a reemerging zoonotic disease. It is transmitted to humans through environmental surface waters contaminated by the urine of mammals chronically infected by pathogenic strains able to survive in water for long periods. Little is known about the regulatory pathways underlying environmental sensing and host adaptation of L. interrogans during its enzootic cycle. This study identifies the EbpA-RpoN regulatory pathway in L. interrogans In this pathway, EbpA, a σ54 activator and putative prokaryotic enhancer-binding protein (EBP), and the alternative sigma factor RpoN (σ54) control expression of at least three genes, encoding AmtB (an ammonium transport protein) and two proteins of unknown function. Electrophoresis mobility shift assay demonstrated that recombinant RpoN and EbpA bind to the promoter region and upstream of these three identified genes, respectively. Genetic disruption of ebpA in L. interrogans serovar Manilae virtually abolished expression of the three genes, including amtB in two independent ebpA mutants. Complementation of the ebpA mutant restored expression of these genes. Intraperitoneal inoculation of gerbils with the ebpA mutant did not affect mortality. However, the ebpA mutant had decreased cell length in vitro and had a significantly lowered cell density at stationary phase when grown with l-alanine as the sole nitrogen source. Furthermore, the ebpA mutant has dramatically reduced long-term survival ability in water. Together, these studies identify a regulatory pathway, the EbpA-RpoN pathway, that plays an important role in the zoonotic cycle of L. interrogans IMPORTANCE: Leptospirosis is a reemerging disease with global importance. However, our understanding of gene regulation of the spirochetal pathogen Leptospira interrogans is still in its infancy, largely due to the lack of robust tools for genetic manipulation of this spirochete. Little is known about how the pathogen achieves its long-term survival in the aquatic environment. By utilizing bioinformatic, genetic, and biochemical methods, we discovered a regulatory pathway in L. interrogans, the EbpA-RpoN pathway, and demonstrated that this pathway plays an important role in environmental survival of this pathogen.
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Abstract
Recent advances in molecular genetics, such as the ability to construct defined mutants, have allowed the study of virulence factors and more generally the biology in Leptospira. However, pathogenic leptospires remain much less easily transformable than the saprophyte L. biflexa and further development and improvement of genetic tools are required. Here, we review tools that have been used to genetically manipulate Leptospira. We also describe the major advances achieved in both genomics and postgenomics technologies, including transcriptomics and proteomics.
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