The oppD Gene and Putative Peptidase Genes May Be Required for Virulence in Mycoplasma gallisepticum.

ABSTRACT: Relatively few virulence genes have been identified in pathogenic mycoplasmas, so we used signature-tagged mutagenesis to identify mutants of the avian pathogen Mycoplasma gallisepticum with a reduced capacity to persist in vivo and compared the levels of virulence of selected mutants in experimentally infected chickens. Four mutants had insertions in one of the two incomplete oppABCDF operons, and a further three had insertions in distinct hypothetical genes, two containing peptidase motifs and one containing a member of a gene family. The three hypothetical gene mutants and the two with insertions in oppD₁ were used to infect chickens, and all five were shown to have a reduced capacity to induce respiratory tract lesions. One oppD₁

SUBMITTER: Tseng CW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5442611 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature