An Extracellular Polysaccharide Locus Required for Transmission of Bordetella bronchiseptica.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The lack of animal models to experimentally study how infectious agents transmit between hosts limits our understanding of what makes some pathogens so contagious.

Methods

We recently developed a Bordetella bronchiseptica mouse model to study transmission and have used it to assess, for the first time, which of several well-studied "virulence factors" common to classical Bordetella species contribute to transmission.

Results

Among 13 mutants screened, a mutant lacking an extracellular polysaccharide (EPS) locus consistently failed to transmit. The loss of EPS had no obvious effect on in vitro characteristics of growth, adherence, cytotoxicity, or serum resistance, though it profoundly reduced the ability of the mutant to colonize the lower respiratory tract

SUBMITTER: Dewan KK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5853889 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature