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Unterweger C, Koch M, Winkler S, Hammer S, Oppeneder A, Ladinig A. Chlamydia suis survival in dust: First insights. Res Vet Sci 2024; 166:105109. [PMID: 38103533 DOI: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2023.105109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2023] [Revised: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
Chlamydia (C.) suis, a zoonotic intracellular bacterium, is described as a causative agent for conjunctivitis, particularly in nursery and fattening pigs. Chlamydiaceae are claimed to survive drying and to persist in dust. The objective of this study was to evaluate the viability of Chlamydia in dust sampled in a fattening pig farm with a high appearance of chlamydial-induced conjunctivitis. Dust was collected and stored at room temperature. To evaluate bacterial load and survival over time, quantitative PCR (Chlamydiaceae, C. suis) and isolation in cell culture were performed every week for up to 16 weeks. While qPCR results remained highly positive with consistent bacterial loads between 103 and 104 copy numbers/100 μL eluate over a period of 16 weeks and even after 40 weeks, it was not possible to isolate Chlamydia except for the initial sample. These results show only short-term viability of C. suis in dust. This is an important information regarding reduction of chlamydial loads in pig farms and risk for pigs and people to get infected via dust.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine Unterweger
- University Clinic for Swine, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Michaela Koch
- University Clinic for Swine, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Simona Winkler
- University Clinic for Swine, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Sabine Hammer
- Institute of Immunology, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
| | - Alexander Oppeneder
- Traunkreis Vet Clinic GmbH, Grossendorf 3, 4551 Ried im Traunkreis, Austria.
| | - Andrea Ladinig
- University Clinic for Swine, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
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DIENSTHUBER D, SIMNACHER U, PETERS S, WALTHER P, ESSIG A, HAGEMANN JB. Clearing Chlamydia abortus infection in epithelial cells and primary human macrophages by use of antibiotics and the MDM2-p53-inhibitor nutlin-3. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis 2022; 103:115715. [DOI: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2022.115715] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2021] [Revised: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 04/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Ravichandran K, Anbazhagan S, Karthik K, Angappan M, Dhayananth B. A comprehensive review on avian chlamydiosis: a neglected zoonotic disease. Trop Anim Health Prod 2021; 53:414. [PMID: 34312716 PMCID: PMC8313243 DOI: 10.1007/s11250-021-02859-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2020] [Accepted: 07/09/2021] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Avian chlamydiosis is one of the important neglected diseases with critical zoonotic potential. Chlamydia psittaci, the causative agent, affects most categories of birds, livestock, companion animals, and humans. It has many obscured characters and epidemiological dimensions, which makes it unique among other bacterial agents. Recent reports on transmission from equine to humans alarmed the public health authorities, and it necessitates the importance of routine screening of this infectious disease. High prevalence of spill-over infection in equines was associated with reproductive losses. Newer avian chlamydial species are being reported in the recent years. It is a potential biological warfare agent and the disease is an occupational hazard mainly to custom officers handling exotic birds. Prevalence of the disease in wild birds, pet birds, and poultry causes economic losses to the poultry industry and the pet bird trade. Interestingly, there are speculations on the ‘legal’ and ‘illegal’ bird trade that may be the global source of some of the most virulent strains of this pathogen. The mortality rate generally ranges from 5 to 40% in untreated cases, but it can sometimes be higher in co-infection. The intracellular lifestyle of this pathogen makes the diagnosis more complicated and there is also lack of accurate diagnostics. Resistance to antibiotics is reported only in some pathogens of the Chlamydiaceae family, but routine screening may assess the actual situation in all pathogens. Due to the diverse nature of the pathogen, the organism necessitates the One Health partnerships to have complete understanding. The present review focuses on the zoonotic aspects of avian chlamydiosis with its new insights into the pathogenesis, transmission, treatment, prevention, and control strategies. The review also briefs on the basic understandings and complex epidemiology of avian chlamydiosis, highlighting the need for research on emerging one health perspectives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karthikeyan Ravichandran
- Division of Public Health and Epidemiology, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, India.
| | - Subbaiyan Anbazhagan
- Division of Bacteriology and Mycology, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, India
| | - Kumaragurubaran Karthik
- Central University Laboratory, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chennai, India
| | - Madesh Angappan
- Division of Public Health and Epidemiology, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, India
| | - Balusamy Dhayananth
- Division of Public Health and Epidemiology, ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, India
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Marti H, Bommana S, Read TD, Pesch T, Prähauser B, Dean D, Borel N. Generation of Tetracycline and Rifamycin Resistant Chlamydia Suis Recombinants. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:630293. [PMID: 34276577 PMCID: PMC8278220 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.630293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2020] [Accepted: 06/03/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The Chlamydiaceae are a family of obligate intracellular, gram-negative bacteria known to readily exchange DNA by homologous recombination upon co-culture in vitro, allowing the transfer of antibiotic resistance residing on the chlamydial chromosome. Among all the obligate intracellular bacteria, only Chlamydia (C.) suis naturally integrated a tetracycline resistance gene into its chromosome. Therefore, in order to further investigate the readiness of Chlamydia to exchange DNA and especially antibiotic resistance, C. suis is an excellent model to advance existing co-culture protocols allowing the identification of factors crucial to promote homologous recombination in vitro. With this strategy, we co-cultured tetracycline-resistant with rifamycin group-resistant C. suis, which resulted in an allover recombination efficiency of 28%. We found that simultaneous selection is crucial to increase the number of recombinants, that sub-inhibitory concentrations of tetracycline inhibit rather than promote the selection of double-resistant recombinants, and identified a recombination-deficient C. suis field isolate, strain SWA-110 (1-28b). While tetracycline resistance was detected in field isolates, rifampicin/rifamycin resistance (RifR) had to be induced in vitro. Here, we describe the protocol with which RifR C. suis strains were generated and confirmed. Subsequent whole-genome sequencing then revealed that G530E and D461A mutations in rpoB, a gene encoding for the β-subunit of the bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP), was likely responsible for rifampicin and rifamycin resistance, respectively. Finally, whole-genome sequencing of recombinants obtained by co-culture revealed that recombinants picked from the same plate may be sibling clones and confirmed C. suis genome plasticity by revealing variable, apparently non-specific areas of recombination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanna Marti
- Vetsuisse Faculty, Institute of Veterinary Pathology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Sankhya Bommana
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - Timothy D Read
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States.,Department of Human Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Theresa Pesch
- Vetsuisse Faculty, Institute of Veterinary Pathology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Barbara Prähauser
- Vetsuisse Faculty, Institute of Veterinary Pathology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Deborah Dean
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, United States.,Joint Graduate Program in Bioengineering, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States.,Joint Graduate Program in Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
| | - Nicole Borel
- Vetsuisse Faculty, Institute of Veterinary Pathology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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Isolation of Tetracycline-Resistant Chlamydia suis from a Pig Herd Affected by Reproductive Disorders and Conjunctivitis. Antibiotics (Basel) 2020; 9:antibiotics9040187. [PMID: 32316412 PMCID: PMC7235844 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics9040187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2020] [Revised: 04/13/2020] [Accepted: 04/14/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Due to various challenges in diagnosing chlamydiosis in pigs, antibiotic treatment is usually performed before any molecular or antibiotic susceptibility testing. This could increase the occurrence of tetracycline-resistant Chlamydia (C.) suis isolates in the affected pig population and potentiate the reoccurrence of clinical signs. Here, we present a case of an Austrian pig farm, where tetracycline resistant and sensitive C. suis isolates were isolated from four finishers with conjunctivitis. On herd-level, 10% of the finishers suffered from severe conjunctivitis and sows showed a high percentage of irregular return to estrus. Subsequent treatment of whole-herd using oxytetracycline led to a significant reduction of clinical signs. Retrospective antibiotic susceptibility testing revealed tetracycline resistance and decreased susceptibility to doxycycline in half of the ocular C. suis isolates, and all isolates were able to partially recover following a single-dose tetracycline treatment in vitro. These findings were later confirmed in vivo, when all former clinical signs recurred three months later. This case report raises awareness of tetracycline resistance in C. suis and emphasizes the importance of preventative selection of tetracycline resistant C. suis isolates.
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Sánchez-Osuna M, Cortés P, Barbé J, Erill I. Origin of the Mobile Di-Hydro-Pteroate Synthase Gene Determining Sulfonamide Resistance in Clinical Isolates. Front Microbiol 2019; 9:3332. [PMID: 30687297 PMCID: PMC6335563 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.03332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2018] [Accepted: 12/21/2018] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Sulfonamides are synthetic chemotherapeutic agents that work as competitive inhibitors of the di-hydro-pteroate synthase (DHPS) enzyme, encoded by the folP gene. Resistance to sulfonamides is widespread in the clinical setting and predominantly mediated by plasmid- and integron-borne sul1-3 genes encoding mutant DHPS enzymes that do not bind sulfonamides. In spite of their clinical importance, the genetic origin of sul1-3 genes remains unknown. Here we analyze sul genes and their genetic neighborhoods to uncover sul signature elements that enable the elucidation of their genetic origin. We identify a protein sequence Sul motif associated with sul-encoded proteins, as well as consistent association of a phosphoglucosamine mutase gene (glmM) with the sul2 gene. We identify chromosomal folP genes bearing these genetic markers in two bacterial families: the Rhodobiaceae and the Leptospiraceae. Bayesian phylogenetic inference of FolP/Sul and GlmM protein sequences clearly establishes that sul1-2 and sul3 genes originated as a mobilization of folP genes present in, respectively, the Rhodobiaceae and the Leptospiraceae, and indicate that the Rhodobiaceae folP gene was transferred from the Leptospiraceae. Analysis of %GC content in folP/sul gene sequences supports the phylogenetic inference results and indicates that the emergence of the Sul motif in chromosomally encoded FolP proteins is ancient and considerably predates the clinical introduction of sulfonamides. In vitro assays reveal that both the Rhodobiaceae and the Leptospiraceae, but not other related chromosomally encoded FolP proteins confer resistance in a sulfonamide-sensitive Escherichia coli background, indicating that the Sul motif is associated with sulfonamide resistance. Given the absence of any known natural sulfonamides targeting DHPS, these results provide a novel perspective on the emergence of resistance to synthetic chemotherapeutic agents, whereby preexisting resistant variants in the vast bacterial pangenome may be rapidly selected for and disseminated upon the clinical introduction of novel chemotherapeuticals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miquel Sánchez-Osuna
- Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain
| | - Pilar Cortés
- Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain
| | - Jordi Barbé
- Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain
| | - Ivan Erill
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, United States
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