Differential expression of iron acquisition genes by Brucella melitensis and Brucella canis during macrophage infection.

ABSTRACT: Brucella spp. cause chronic zoonotic disease often affecting individuals and animals in impoverished economic or public health conditions; however, these bacteria do not have obvious virulence factors. Restriction of iron availability to pathogens is an effective strategy of host defense. For brucellae, virulence depends on the ability to survive and replicate within the host cell where iron is an essential nutrient for the growth and survival of both mammalian and bacterial cells. Iron is a particularly scarce nutrient for bacteria with an intracellular lifestyle. Brucella melitensis and Brucella canis share ~99% of their genomes but differ in intracellular lifestyles. To identify differences, gene transcription of these two pathogens was examined during infection of murine macrophages an

SUBMITTER: Eskra L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3293887 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature