Project description:Leptospirosis is a neglected zoonotic disease of global importance. Despite its prevalence, pathogenesis is still poorly understood. Our aim was to discover transcripts responsable for pathogenicity of leptospirosis. We compared the transcriptome profiles of saprophyte, attenuated and virulent strain of Leptospira spp.
Project description:Whole genome DNA microarray of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B strain MC58 and the isogenic mutant strain deficient of the transcriptional regulator FarR, MC58 ∆farR.
Project description:Pathogenic Leptospira spp. are the causative agents of the zoonotic disease leptospirosis. During infection, Leptospira are confronted with deadly reactive oxygen species (ROS). Withstanding ROS produced by the host innate immunity is an important strategy evolved by pathogenic Leptospira for persisting in and colonizing hosts. The peroxide stress regulator, PerRA, represses genes involved in ROS defenses in L. interrogans. We have identified an ORF encoding a putative second PerR in pathogenic Leptospira that we named PerRB. We have determined the transcriptomic profil of a single perRB and a double perRAperRB mutants. The concomitant inactivation of perRA and perRB has a pleiotropic effect on the transcriptomic profil of L. interrogans. The lack of both PerRA and PerRB regulators led to the differential expression of several virulence-associated genes and a loss of virulence. Our findings provide new insights into a new regulatory network that controls virulence and host colonization.
Project description:Neisseria meningitidis is the leading cause of bacterial meningitis and septicemia worldwide. The novel ST-4821 clonal complex caused several serogroup C meningococcal outbreaks unexpectedly during 2003–2005 in China. We fabricated a whole-genome microarray of Chinese N. meningitidis serogroup C representative isolate 053442 and characterized 27 ST-4821 complex isolates which were isolated from different serogroups using comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) analysis. This paper provides important clues which are helpful to understand the genome composition and genetic background of different serogroups isolates, and possess significant meaning to the study of the newly emerged hyperinvasive lineage. Keywords: comparative genomic hybridization
