Project description:Bordetella bronchiseptica is a gram-negative respiratory pathogen that causes a diverse spectrum of respiratory disease in a wide-range of hosts. We sought to determine if strains of B. bronchiseptica differed in virulence using the mouse model of infection. Mean lethal doses (LD50) of different B. bronchiseptica strains varied widely in the murine model. B. bronchiseptica strain 253 had a LD50 that was 10-fold lower than the prototypical and fully sequenced B. bronchiseptica strain RB50. Using whole genomic transcriptome analysis covering 100% of B. bronchisetpctica strain RB50ÃÂs predicted open reading frames (ORFs), 253 was identified as lacking expression of adenylate cyclase toxin (ACT). Using whole genomic comparative genomic hybridization analysis and whole genome sequencing, we determined that the cya operon, which is required for ACT production, was absent from the 253 genome.
