Glutamate decarboxylase-dependent acid resistance in Brucella spp.: distribution and contribution to fitness under extremely acidic conditions.

ABSTRACT: Brucella is an expanding genus of major zoonotic pathogens, including at least 10 genetically very close species occupying a wide range of niches from soil to wildlife, livestock, and humans. Recently, we have shown that in the new species Brucella microti, the glutamate decarboxylase (Gad)-dependent system (GAD system) contributes to survival at a pH of 2.5 and also to infection in mice by the oral route. In order to study the functionality of the GAD system in the genus Brucella, 47 isolates, representative of all known species and strains of this genus, and 16 strains of the closest neighbor genus, Ochrobactrum, were studied using microbiological, biochemical, and genetic approaches. In agreement with the genome sequences, the GAD system of classical species was not functional, unlike t

SUBMITTER: Damiano MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4277594 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature