This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Fuchslocher, B.
Right arrow Articles by Cotter, P. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Fuchslocher, B.
Right arrow Articles by Cotter, P. A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, June 2003, p. 3043-3052, Vol. 71, No. 6
0019-9567/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.71.6.3043-3052.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Comparison of bipA Alleles within and across Bordetella Species

Bryna Fuchslocher, Laura L. Millar, and Peggy A. Cotter*

Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California—Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106-9610

Received 9 October 2002/ Returned for modification 23 December 2002/ Accepted 26 February 2003

The Bordetella BvgAS signal transduction system controls the expression of at least three phenotypic phases, the Bvg+ or virulent phase, the Bvg- or avirulent phase, and the Bvgi or Bvg intermediate phase, which has been hypothesized to be important for transmission. bipA, the first identified Bvgi-phase gene, encodes a protein with similarity to the well-characterized bacterial adhesins intimin and invasin. Proteins encoded by the bipA genes present in Bordetella pertussis Tohama I and Bordetella bronchiseptica RB50 differ in the number of 90-amino-acid repeats which they possess and in the sequence of the C-terminal domain. To investigate the possibility that bipA alleles segregate according to host specificity and to gain insight into the role of BipA and the Bvgi phase in the Bordetella infectious cycle, we compared bipA alleles across members of the B. bronchiseptica cluster, which includes both human-infective (B. pertussis and B. parapertussishu) and non-human-infective (B. bronchiseptica and B. parapertussisov) strains. bipA genes were present in most, but not all, strains. All bipA genes present in B. bronchiseptica strains were identical to bipA of RB50 (at least with regard to the DNA sequence of the 3' C-terminal-domain-encoding region, the number of 90-amino-acid repeats encoded, and expression patterns). Although all bipA genes present in the other Bordetella strains were identical in the 3' C-terminal-domain-encoding region to bipA of B. pertussis Tohama I, they varied in the number of 90-amino-acid repeats that they encoded and in expression level. Notably, the genes present in B. parapertussishu strains were pseudogenes, and the genes present in B. parapertussisov strains were expressed at significantly reduced levels compared with the levels in B. pertussis and B. bronchiseptica strains. Our results indicate that there is a correlation between specific bipA alleles and specific hosts. They also support the hypothesis that both horizontal gene transfer and fine-tuning of gene expression patterns contribute to the evolution of host adaptation in lineages of the B. bronchiseptica cluster.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9610. Phone: (805) 893-5176. Fax: (805) 893-4724. E-mail: cotter{at}lifesci.ucsb.edu.

Editor: V. J. DiRita

Infection and Immunity, June 2003, p. 3043-3052, Vol. 71, No. 6
0019-9567/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.71.6.3043-3052.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Williams, C. L., Cotter, P. A. (2007). Autoregulation Is Essential for Precise Temporal and Steady-State Regulation by the Bordetella BvgAS Phosphorelay. J. Bacteriol. 189: 1974-1982 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Cummings, C. A., Bootsma, H. J., Relman, D. A., Miller, J. F. (2006). Species- and Strain-Specific Control of a Complex, Flexible Regulon by Bordetella BvgAS.. J. Bacteriol. 188: 1775-1785 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Julio, S. M., Cotter, P. A. (2005). Characterization of the Filamentous Hemagglutinin-Like Protein FhaS in Bordetella bronchiseptica. Infect. Immun. 73: 4960-4971 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Mattoo, S., Cherry, J. D. (2005). Molecular Pathogenesis, Epidemiology, and Clinical Manifestations of Respiratory Infections Due to Bordetella pertussis and Other Bordetella Subspecies. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 18: 326-382 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Vergara-Irigaray, N., Chavarri-Martinez, A., Rodriguez-Cuesta, J., Miller, J. F., Cotter, P. A., Martinez de Tejada, G. (2005). Evaluation of the Role of the Bvg Intermediate Phase in Bordetella pertussis during Experimental Respiratory Infection. Infect. Immun. 73: 748-760 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lindahl, G., Stalhammar-Carlemalm, M., Areschoug, T. (2005). Surface Proteins of Streptococcus agalactiae and Related Proteins in Other Bacterial Pathogens. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 18: 102-127 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»