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Microbiology Spectrum Jun 2016Pertussis is a highly infectious vaccine-preventable cough illness that continues to be a significant source of morbidity and mortality around the world. The majority of... (Review)
Review
Pertussis is a highly infectious vaccine-preventable cough illness that continues to be a significant source of morbidity and mortality around the world. The majority of human illness is caused by Bordetella pertussis, and some is caused by Bordetella parapertussis. Bordetella is a Gram-negative, pleomorphic, aerobic coccobacillus. In the past several years, even countries with high immunization rates in early childhood have experienced rises in pertussis cases. Reasons for the resurgence of reported pertussis may include molecular changes in the organism and increased awareness and diagnostic capabilities, as well as lessened vaccine efficacy and waning immunity. The most morbidity and mortality with pertussis infection is seen in infants too young to benefit from immunization. Severe infection requiring hospitalization, including in an intensive care setting, is mostly seen in those under 3 months of age. As a result, research and public health actions have been aimed at better understanding and reducing the spread of Bordetella pertussis. Studies comparing the cost benefit of cocooning strategies versus immunization of pregnant women have been favorable towards immunizing pregnant women. This strategy is expected to prevent a larger number of pertussis cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in infants <1 year old while also being cost-effective. Studies have demonstrated that the source of infection in infants usually is a family member. Efforts to immunize children and adults, in particular pregnant women, need to remain strong.
Topics: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Bordetella pertussis; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Pertussis Vaccine; Vaccination; Whooping Cough
PubMed: 27337481
DOI: 10.1128/microbiolspec.EI10-0008-2015 -
Virulence Dec 2021The highly contagious whooping cough agent has evolved as a human-restricted pathogen from a progenitor which also gave rise to and . While the latter colonizes a... (Review)
Review
The highly contagious whooping cough agent has evolved as a human-restricted pathogen from a progenitor which also gave rise to and . While the latter colonizes a broad range of mammals and is able to survive in the environment, has lost its ability to survive outside its host through massive genome decay. Instead, it has become a highly successful human pathogen by the acquisition of tightly regulated virulence factors and evolutionary adaptation of its metabolism to its particular niche. By the deployment of an arsenal of highly sophisticated virulence factors it overcomes many of the innate immune defenses. It also interferes with vaccine-induced adaptive immunity by various mechanisms. Here, we review data from , human and animal models to illustrate the mechanisms of adaptation to the human respiratory tract and provide evidence of ongoing evolutionary adaptation as a highly successful human pathogen.
Topics: Animals; Bordetella bronchiseptica; Bordetella parapertussis; Bordetella pertussis; Humans; Mammals; Virulence; Virulence Factors
PubMed: 34590541
DOI: 10.1080/21505594.2021.1980987 -
Pathogens and Disease Nov 2015Bordetella pertussis and B. bronchiseptica are Gram-negative bacterial respiratory pathogens. Bordetella pertussis is the causative agent of whooping cough and is... (Review)
Review
Bordetella pertussis and B. bronchiseptica are Gram-negative bacterial respiratory pathogens. Bordetella pertussis is the causative agent of whooping cough and is considered a human-adapted variant of B. bronchiseptica. Bordetella pertussis and B. bronchiseptica share mechanisms of pathogenesis and are genetically closely related. However, despite the close genetic relatedness, these Bordetella species differ in several classic fundamental aspects of bacterial pathogens such as host range, pathologies and persistence. The development of the baboon model for the study of B. pertussis transmission, along with the development of the swine and mouse model for the study of B. bronchiseptica, has enabled the investigation of different aspects of transmission including the route, attack rate, role of bacterial and host factors, and the impact of vaccination on transmission. This review will focus on B. pertussis transmission and how animal models of B. pertussis transmission and transmission models using the closely related B. bronchiseptica have increased our understanding of B. pertussis transmission.
Topics: Animals; Bordetella bronchiseptica; Bordetella pertussis; Disease Models, Animal; Disease Transmission, Infectious; Humans; Mice; Papio; Swine; Whooping Cough
PubMed: 26374235
DOI: 10.1093/femspd/ftv068 -
Toxins Aug 2021Production and secretion of pertussis toxin (PT) is essential for the virulence of . Due to the large oligomeric structure of PT, transport of the toxin across bacterial... (Review)
Review
Production and secretion of pertussis toxin (PT) is essential for the virulence of . Due to the large oligomeric structure of PT, transport of the toxin across bacterial membrane barriers represents a significant hurdle that the bacteria must overcome in order to maintain pathogenicity. During the secretion process, PT undergoes a two-step transport process. The first step involves transport of the individual polypeptide chains of PT across the inner membrane utilizing a generalized secretion pathway, most likely the bacterial Sec system. The second step involves the use of a specialized apparatus to transport the toxin across the outer membrane of the bacterial cell. This apparatus, which has been termed the Ptl transporter and which is unique to the PT secretion pathway, is a member of the type IV family of bacterial transporters. Here, the current understanding of the PT secretion process is reviewed including a description of the Ptl proteins that assemble to form the transporter, the general structure of type IV transporters, the known similarities and differences between canonical type IV substrate transport and Ptl-mediated transport of PT, as well as the known sequence of events in the assembly and secretion of PT.
Topics: Biological Transport; Bordetella pertussis; Membrane Transport Proteins; Pertussis Toxin; Virulence Factors, Bordetella
PubMed: 34437445
DOI: 10.3390/toxins13080574 -
Emerging Infectious Diseases Mar 2021Pertussis is a vaccine-preventable disease, and its recent resurgence might be attributable to the emergence of strains that differ genetically from the vaccine strain....
Pertussis is a vaccine-preventable disease, and its recent resurgence might be attributable to the emergence of strains that differ genetically from the vaccine strain. We describe a novel pertussis isolate-based surveillance system and a core genome multilocus sequence typing scheme to assess Bordetella pertussis genetic variability and investigate the increased incidence of pertussis in Austria. During 2018-2020, we obtained 123 B. pertussis isolates and typed them with the new scheme (2,983 targets and preliminary cluster threshold of <6 alleles). B. pertussis isolates in Austria differed genetically from the vaccine strain, both in their core genomes and in their vaccine antigen genes; 31.7% of the isolates were pertactin-deficient. We detected 8 clusters, 1 of them with pertactin-deficient isolates and possibly part of a local outbreak. National expansion of the isolate-based surveillance system is needed to implement pertussis-control strategies.
Topics: Alleles; Austria; Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; Bordetella pertussis; Humans; Pertussis Vaccine; Virulence Factors, Bordetella; Whooping Cough
PubMed: 33622477
DOI: 10.3201/eid2703.202314 -
International Journal of Infectious... Oct 2019Pertussis is a highly infectious respiratory disease caused by Bordetella pertussis. Infants and young children are particularly at risk of severe and life-threatening... (Review)
Review
Pertussis is a highly infectious respiratory disease caused by Bordetella pertussis. Infants and young children are particularly at risk of severe and life-threatening disease. Infectious older individuals may transmit Bordetella pertussis to unprotected infants. Pertussis control measures have even failed in some countries with high pertussis vaccination coverage rates, leading to increased incidence rates. In 2014, this caused the World Health Organization to declare pertussis resurgent in some countries and led to recommendations regarding pertussis surveillance and national immunization programs. Despite the resurgence of pertussis, epidemiology of the disease in Southeast Asia has received little attention. In this narrative review, we describe pertussis surveillance systems, control measures, epidemiologic trends, and region-specific pertussis research in Southeast Asia. We also make recommendations for the intensification of pertussis surveillance and research in the region.
Topics: Asia, Southeastern; Bordetella pertussis; Humans; Immunization Programs; Pertussis Vaccine; Whooping Cough
PubMed: 31369823
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2019.07.016 -
MBio May 2019encodes and expresses a flagellar apparatus. In contrast, , the causative agent of whooping cough, has historically been described as a nonmotile and nonflagellated...
encodes and expresses a flagellar apparatus. In contrast, , the causative agent of whooping cough, has historically been described as a nonmotile and nonflagellated organism. The previous statements that was a nonmotile organism were consistent with a stop codon located in the flagellar biosynthesis gene, , discovered when the Tohama I genome was sequenced and analyzed by Parkhill et al. in 2003 (J. Parkhill, M. Sebaihia, A. Preston, L. D. Murphy, et al., Nat Genet, 35:32-40, 2003, https://doi.org/10.1038/ng1227). The stop codon has subsequently been found in all annotated genomes. Parkhill et al. also showed, however, that contains all genetic material required for flagellar synthesis and function. We and others have determined by various transcriptomic analyses that these flagellar genes are differentially regulated under a variety of growth conditions. In light of these data, we tested for motility and found that both laboratory-adapted strains and clinical isolates can be motile. Upon isolation of motile , we discovered flagellum-like structures on the surface of the bacteria. motility appears to occur primarily in the Bvg(-) phase, consistent with regulation present in Motility can also be induced by the presence of fetal bovine serum. These observations demonstrate that can express flagellum-like structures, and although it remains to be determined if expresses flagella during infection or if motility and/or flagella play roles during the cycle of infection and transmission, it is clear that these data warrant further investigation. This report provides evidence for motility and expression of flagella by , a bacterium that has been reported as nonmotile since it was first isolated and studied. As with , cells can express and assemble a flagellum-like structure on their surface, which in other organisms has been implicated in several important processes that occur The discovery that is motile raises many questions, including those regarding the mechanisms of regulation for flagellar gene and protein expression and, importantly, the role of flagella during infection. This novel observation provides a foundation for further study of flagella and motility in the contexts of infection and transmission.
Topics: Bordetella bronchiseptica; Bordetella pertussis; Flagella; Flagellin; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Movement
PubMed: 31088927
DOI: 10.1128/mBio.00787-19 -
MSphere May 2019is the causative agent of whooping cough, a serious respiratory illness affecting children and adults, associated with prolonged cough and potential mortality. Whooping...
is the causative agent of whooping cough, a serious respiratory illness affecting children and adults, associated with prolonged cough and potential mortality. Whooping cough has reemerged in recent years, emphasizing a need for increased knowledge of basic mechanisms of growth and pathogenicity. While previous studies have provided insight into gene essentiality of this organism, very little is known about gene essentiality, a critical gap in knowledge, since has no previously identified environmental reservoir and is isolated from human respiratory tract samples. We hypothesize that the metabolic capabilities of are especially tailored to the respiratory tract and that many of the genes involved in metabolism would be required to establish infection In this study, we generated a diverse library of transposon mutants and then used it to probe gene essentiality in a murine model of infection. Using the CON-ARTIST pipeline, 117 genes were identified as conditionally essential at 1 day postinfection, and 169 genes were identified as conditionally essential at 3 days postinfection. Most of the identified genes were associated with metabolism, and we utilized two existing genome-scale metabolic network reconstructions to probe the effects of individual essential genes on biomass synthesis. This analysis suggested a critical role for glucose metabolism and lipooligosaccharide biosynthesis This is the first genome-wide evaluation of gene essentiality in and provides tools for future exploration. Our study describes the first transposon sequencing (Tn-seq) analysis of and identifies genes predicted to be essential for growth in a murine model of intranasal infection, generating key resources for future investigations into pathogenesis and vaccine design.
Topics: Animals; Bordetella pertussis; DNA Transposable Elements; Gene Library; Genes, Essential; Genome, Bacterial; Glucose; Lipopolysaccharides; Mice; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Whooping Cough
PubMed: 31118307
DOI: 10.1128/mSphere.00694-18 -
Scientific Reports Mar 2022Pertussis is a severe respiratory tract infection caused by Bordetella pertussis. This bacterium infects the ciliated epithelium of the human airways. We investigated...
Pertussis is a severe respiratory tract infection caused by Bordetella pertussis. This bacterium infects the ciliated epithelium of the human airways. We investigated the epithelial cell response to B. pertussis infection in primary human airway epithelium (HAE) differentiated at air-liquid interface. Infection of the HAE cells mimicked several hallmarks of B. pertussis infection such as reduced epithelial barrier integrity and abrogation of mucociliary transport. Our data suggests mild immunological activation of HAE by B. pertussis indicated by secretion of IL-6 and CXCL8 and the enrichment of genes involved in bacterial recognition and innate immune processes. We identified IL-1β and IFNγ, present in conditioned media derived from B. pertussis-infected macrophage and NK cells, as essential immunological factors for inducing robust chemokine secretion by HAE in response to B. pertussis. In transwell migration assays, the chemokine-containing supernatants derived from this HAE induced monocyte migration. Our data suggests that the airway epithelium on its own has a limited immunological response to B. pertussis and that for a broad immune response communication with local innate immune cells is necessary. This highlights the importance of intercellular communication in the defense against B. pertussis infection and may assist in the rational design of improved pertussis vaccines.
Topics: Bordetella pertussis; Epithelium; Humans; Immunity, Innate; Respiratory System; Whooping Cough
PubMed: 35256671
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-07603-8 -
Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases Jun 2019To relate genomic changes to phenotypic adaptation and evolution from environmental bacteria to obligate human pathogens, focusing on the examples within Bordetella... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
To relate genomic changes to phenotypic adaptation and evolution from environmental bacteria to obligate human pathogens, focusing on the examples within Bordetella species.
RECENT FINDINGS
Recent studies showed that animal-pathogenic and human-pathogenic Bordetella species evolved from environmental ancestors in soil. The animal-pathogenic Bordetella bronchiseptica can hijack the life cycle of the soil-living amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum, surviving inside single-celled trophozoites, translocating to the fruiting bodies and disseminating along with amoeba spores. The association with amoeba may have been a 'training ground' for bacteria during the evolution to pathogens. Adaptation to an animal-associated life style was characterized by decreasing metabolic versatility and genome size and by acquisition of 'virulence factors' mediating the interaction with the new animal hosts. Subsequent emergence of human-specific pathogens, such as Bordetella pertussis from zoonoses of broader host range progenitors, was accompanied by a dramatic reduction in genome size, marked by the loss of hundreds of genes.
SUMMARY
The evolution of Bordetella from environmental microbes to animal-adapted and obligate human pathogens was accompanied by significant genome reduction with large-scale gene loss during divergence.
Topics: Adaptation, Biological; Adaptation, Physiological; Animals; Biological Evolution; Bordetella bronchiseptica; Bordetella pertussis; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Humans; Soil Microbiology
PubMed: 30921085
DOI: 10.1097/QCO.0000000000000549