Population structure and virulence gene profiles of Streptococcus agalactiae collected from different hosts worldwide

Streptococcus agalactiae is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among neonates and causes severe infections in pregnant women and nonpregnant predisposed adults, in addition to various animal species worldwide. Still, information on the population structure of S. agalactiae and the geographical distribution of different clones is limited. Further data are urgently needed to identify particularly successful clones and obtain insights into possible routes of transmission within one host species and across species borders. We aimed to determine the population structure and virulence gene profiles of S. agalactiae strains from a diverse set of sources and geographical origins. To this end, 373 S. agalactiae isolates obtained from humans and animals from five different continents were typed by DNA microarray profiling. A total of 242 different S. agalactiae strains were identified and further analyzed. Particularly successful clonal lineages, hybridization patterns, and strains were identified that were spread across different continents and/or were present in more than one host species. In particular, several strains were detected in both humans and cattle, and several canine strains were also detected in samples from human, bovine, and porcine hosts. The findings of our study suggest that although S. agalactiae is well adapted to various hosts including humans, cattle, dogs, rodents, and fish, interspecies transmission is possible and occurs between humans and cows, dogs, and rabbits. The virulence and resistance gene profiles presented enable new insights into interspecies transmission and make a crucial contribution to the identification of suitable targets for therapeutic agents and vaccines

Shiga Toxin: Expression, Distribution, and Its Role in the Environment

In this review, we highlight recent work that has increased our understanding of the production and distribution of Shiga toxin in the environment. Specifically, we review studies that offer an expanded view of environmental reservoirs for Shiga toxin producing microbes in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. We then relate the abundance of Shiga toxin in the environment to work that demonstrates that the genetic mechanisms underlying the production of Shiga toxin genes are modified and embellished beyond the classical microbial gene regulatory paradigms in a manner that apparently “fine tunes” the trigger to modulate the amount of toxin produced. Last, we highlight several recent studies examining microbe/protist interactions that postulate an answer to the outstanding question of why microbes might harbor and express Shiga toxin genes in the environment

Human Milk Secretory Antibodies against Attaching and Effacing Escherichia coli Antigens

Secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) is a primary factor responsible for preventing attachment of enteropathogens to gut epithelium in breastfeeding infants. We compared the frequency of sIgA to major surface antigens of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) in milk of 123 women from the United States and Mexico to determine whether regional differences existed in the frequency of antibodies to these surface antigens. In both groups of women, milk commonly has sIgA against various EHEC lipopolysaccharides, EspA, EspB, intimin, and less frequently against Shiga toxin. The study suggests that persons living in the U.S. are exposed to attaching/effacing enteropathogens more frequently than is generally assumed. The low frequency of antibodies to Stx1 (in 12% of Mexican and in 22% of U.S. samples) suggests that the rare appearance of hemolytic uremic syndrome in adults is not due to neutralization of toxin at the gut level. Only anti-EspA is found in most milk samples from both populations of women. EspA may represent a useful target for an immunization strategy to prevent EHEC disease in humans

Technical note: Occurrence and prevalence of bacterial pathogens in bovine mastitis in Jalisco, Mexico

[No abstract available

Technical note: Occurrence and prevalence of bacterial pathogens in bovine mastitis in Jalisco, Mexico

[No abstract available

Penicillin G and oxacillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from bovine subclinical mastitis [Resistencia a penicilina G y oxacilina, de cepas de Staphylococcus aureus aisladas de mastitis bovina subclinical]

Sixty-eigth out of 530 different S. aureus field strains isolated from subclinical cases of bovine mastitis from Germany (n = 26), Indonesia (n = 16), Mexico (n = 16) and Brazil (n = 10), respectively, were selected to be studied in the present work. The strains were tested phenotypically as well as genotypically for the presence of penicillin G and oxacillin-resistance. For the primary phenotypical species identification of the 530 S. aureus strains, plasmacoagulase-test and Api 32 Staph system was applied. This was confirmed by molecular detection of the S. aureus specific genes encoding 23 S rRNA, thermostable nuclease (nuc), clumping factor (clfA), coagulase (coa) and protein A region Xr (spa). The selection of the 68 strains was carried out by the random selection of one strain per herd; additionally, only strains with different macrorestriction profiles were included here. Genotypic resistance to semisynthetic penicillins (methicillin/oxacillin) and penicillin G was studied through the identification of mecA and blaZ-genes, respectively. The mecA gene was detected in only one S. aureus isolate from Brazil, which was not phenotypically resistant against methcillin, as shown by the use of standard disc diffusion method, BBL-Chromoagar and MIC-determination by Vitek II. In contrast penicillin-resistance of strains based on the presence of the blaZ-gene could be observed in 50 (73.5%) of the investigated strains. However, only 40 (58.8%) of these 50 blaZ-positive strains were phenotypically penicillin-resistant. According to the presented data, resistance to semisynthetic penicillins in S. aureus field strains seems to be not a major problem in dairy herds of the investigated countries despite the long-term use of these antibiotics in the field

Genotyping of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from dairy herds in Mexico

In the present work, Staphyloccous aureus field strains were isolated from 27 mastitic cows representing 12 dairy herds. This was selected of almost 3,000 field strains of mastitic cows. The strains were subjected to different Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) to detect the toxin encoding genes SEA, SEB, SEC, SED, SEE, SEG, SEJ and TST genes. The investigated strains were then subjected to fingerprinting by the means of Pulse Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE). The screening for the previously mentioned toxin encoding genes revealed the absence of all toxin encoding genes with the exception of SEI which could be detected in a single strain. Meanwhile, the data obtained through the PFGE analysis indicated the close relationship of S. aureus field strains responsible for the induction of mastitis in western Mexico

Comparative sequence analysis of spa gene of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from bovine mastitis: Characterization of an unusual spa gene variant

The protein A encoding gene spa of four Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from bovine clinical mastitis was amplified by PCR and sequenced. The four strains were selected after an initial screening of spa gene of 41 strains isolated from mastitic cows and were subjected to detailed investigations. According to the sequencing results the spa gene of three strains (M1, M2, M3) appeared with gene segments encoding five (E, D, A, B and C) and four (E, A, B and C) IgG binding domains for two (M1, M3) and one (M2) strain, respectively and with gene segments encoding four, two and two repeats of the octapeptide Xr-repeats for the strains M1, M2 and M3, respectively. For the remaining Staph. aureus strain (M4) gene segments encoding IgG binding domains E, D and A and a new domain BC with a size of 219 bp could be observed. The BC domain appears, with a deletion of a 123 bp segment from the border region between both domains, as fused domain of both previously characterized domains. The Xr-region of this strain had 11 octapeptide repeats. � Proprietors of Journal of Dairy Research 2006