Characterization of the ompL1 gene of pathogenic Leptospira species in China and cross-immunogenicity of the OmpL1 protein

Leptospirosis is a serious bacterial disease that affects both humans and animals. A wide range of symptoms have been described in humans; the disease in dogs is commonly associated with kidney and/or liver disease. In Malaysia, information about the common serovars infecting dogs is limited. Therefore, we investigated the occurrences of leptospirosis in 124 pet dogs diagnosed with kidney and/or liver disease. Blood, urine, abdominal effusion, and/or kidney and liver were collected from the dogs. Based on microscopic agglutination testing, 53 of 124 (42.7%) dogs were seropositive for leptospiral exposure. Sera were frequently positive to serovars Bataviae ( n = 12), Javanica ( n = 10), and Icterohaemorrhagiae ( n = 10). Direct detection using PCR showed that 42 of 124 (33.9%) of the whole blood and 36 of 113 (31.9%) urine samples were positive for pathogenic Leptospira spp. By PCR, 2 of 23 (9.1%) kidney and 2 of 23 (9.1%) liver were positive for pathogenic Leptospira spp. Abdominal effusion from 4 dogs were PCR-positive for pathogenic Leptospira spp. The species detected were L. interrogans, L. borgpetersenii, L. kirschneri, and L. kmetyi by partial 16S rRNA sequencing. We further identified and characterized 11 Leptospira spp. isolates from 8 dogs as serovars Bataviae, Javanica, and Australis. The mortality rate of the Leptospira-infected dogs was high (18 of 53; 34%).

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Distribution of the leptospiral immunoglobulin-like (lig) genes in pathogenic Leptospira species and application of ligB to typing leptospiral isolates

Journal of Medical Microbiology ◽

10.1099/jmm.0.009175-0 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 58 (9) ◽

pp. 1173-1181 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Gustavo M. Cerqueira ◽

Alan J. A. McBride ◽

Mathieu Picardeau ◽

Samuel G. Ribeiro ◽

Ângela N. Moreira ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Isolates ◽

Pathogenic Leptospira ◽

Reliable Identification ◽

Specific Pcr ◽

The Family ◽

Leptospira Species

The family of leptospiral immunoglobulin-like (lig) genes comprises ligA, ligB and ligC. This study used PCR to demonstrate the presence of lig genes among serovars from a collection of leptospiral strains and clinical isolates. Whilst ligA and ligC appeared to be present in a limited number of pathogenic serovars, the ligB gene was distributed ubiquitously among all pathogenic strains. None of the lig genes were detected among intermediate or saprophytic Leptospira species. It was also shown that, similar to the previously characterized secY gene, a short specific PCR fragment of ligB could be used to correctly identify pathogenic Leptospira species. These findings demonstrate that ligB is widely present among pathogenic strains and may be useful for their reliable identification and classification.

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Protein typing of major outer membrane lipoproteins from Chinese pathogenic Leptospira spp. and characterization of their immunogenicity

Vaccine ◽

10.1016/j.vaccine.2009.09.089 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

pp. 243-255 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Dongjiao Luo ◽

Feng Xue ◽

David M. Ojcius ◽

Jinfang Zhao ◽

Yafei Mao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Outer Membrane ◽

Pathogenic Leptospira ◽

Leptospira Spp ◽

Membrane Lipoproteins

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First Isolation and Molecular Typing of Pathogenic and Intermediate Leptospira Species from Urine of Symptomatic Dogs

Veterinary Sciences ◽

10.3390/vetsci8120304 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (12) ◽

pp. 304

Author(s):

Ivana Piredda ◽

Loris Bertoldi ◽

Giuseppe Benvenuto ◽

Bruna Palmas ◽

Aureliana Pedditzi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Phylogenetic Analysis ◽

Zoonotic Risk ◽

Leptospira Spp ◽

Blood And Urine Samples ◽

Healthy Dogs ◽

Polymerase Chain ◽

Sequence Types ◽

Leptospira Species

Aim of this study was to evaluate, the presence and diversity of Leptospira spp. in blood and urine samples collected from 175 owned-dogs from Sardinia, Italy. After determination of leptospiral infection by microscopic agglutination test (MAT), urine from MAT-positive dogs were examined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (lipL32 rt-PCR) and then isolated by culture. In order to characterize obtained serovars, positive cultures were then subjected to 16S rRNA and secY sequencing, phylogenetic analysis and Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST). Results showed that seven dogs (4%; 95% CI: 0–55) had Leptospira DNAs in their urine and five strains were isolated from urine cultures. The three different sequence types (ST17, ST198 and ST24) belonging to Leptospira interrogans genomospecies identified by MLST analyses in this study, confirmed that the leptospiral infection was widespread in Sardinian dogs. We also reported the first characterization of a new Leptospira spp. isolated from urine of one dog living in the study area. Whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis, confirmed that this genospecies was closely related to Leptospira hovindhougenii, an intermediate Leptospira spp. with unknown pathogenicity previously isolated from a rat in Denmark. Further studies are required to clarify whether healthy dogs that shed leptospires in their urine could represent a zoonotic risk for humans in this region.

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Characterization, Comparison Study of Outer Membrane Protein OMPL1 of Pathogenic Leptospira Species for Disease Diagnosis

Research Journal of Microbiology ◽

10.3923/jm.2015.54.65 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 54-65

Author(s):

Bavanilatha Muthiah ◽

Senthil Kumar ◽

Ramadass .

Keyword(s):

Membrane Protein ◽

Outer Membrane ◽

Outer Membrane Protein ◽

Disease Diagnosis ◽

Comparison Study ◽

Pathogenic Leptospira ◽

Leptospira Species

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Potentially Pathogenic Leptospira in the Environment of an Elephant Camp in Thailand

Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease ◽

10.3390/tropicalmed5040183 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

pp. 183

Author(s):

Somjit Chaiwattanarungruengpaisan ◽

Wasinee Thepapichaikul ◽

Weena Paungpin ◽

Kanokwan Ketchim ◽

Sarin Suwanpakdee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Samples ◽

Gene Sequencing ◽

Shared Environment ◽

High Similarity ◽

Sampling Area ◽

Pathogenic Leptospira ◽

Recreational Activities ◽

Infection Source ◽

Culture Positive ◽

Leptospira Species

Leptospira is the causative agent of leptospirosis, a globally emerging zoonotic disease. The infection is commonly acquired through contact with the contaminated environment. To extend the knowledge on environmental source of leptospirosis, we investigated the presence of Leptospira in an elephant camp setting where the interaction between humans, animals, and the shared environment occur particularly when engaging in recreational activities. In this study, a total of 24 environmental samples were collected from an elephant camp area in western Thailand. All samples were processed for Leptospira isolation using the EMJH medium. The identification of Leptospira species was carried out by partial 16S rRNA and secY gene sequencing. Of those 24 samples, 18 samples (75%) were culture-positive for Leptospira. The recovered leptospires were mostly derived from water and soil sampled from a river and a mud pond, the main areas for recreational activities. The majority of the isolates were classified into “Pathogens” clade (89%, 16/18) and more than half of the isolates (61%, 11/18) contained species of the “Saprophytes” clade. Notably, two soil isolates from the river beach sampling area were found to contain leptospiral DNA with high similarity to the pathogenic L. interrogans and L. santarosai. The evidence of diverse Leptospira species, particularly those belonging to the “Pathogens” clade, suggest that the shared environments of an elephant camp can serve as potential infection source and may pose a risk to the elephant camp tourists and workers.

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In Silico Analysis of Genetic VapC Profiles from the Toxin-Antitoxin Type II VapBC Modules among Pathogenic, Intermediate, and Non-Pathogenic Leptospira

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms7020056 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 56

Author(s):

Alexandre Lopes ◽

Bruna Azevedo ◽

Rebeca Emídio ◽

Deborah Damiano ◽

Ana Nascimento ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pathogenic Bacteria ◽

In Silico Analysis ◽

Amino Acid Sequences ◽

Protein Alignment ◽

Pathogenic Leptospira ◽

Leptospira Spp ◽

Unique Species ◽

Silico Analysis ◽

Leptospira Species ◽

Complex Manner

Pathogenic Leptospira spp. is the etiological agent of leptospirosis. The high diversity among Leptospira species provides an array to look for important mediators involved in pathogenesis. Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems represent an important survival mechanism on stress conditions. vapBC modules have been found in nearly one thousand genomes corresponding to about 40% of known TAs. In the present study, we investigated TA profiles of some strains of Leptospira using a TA database and compared them through protein alignment of VapC toxin sequences among Leptospira spp. genomes. Our analysis identified significant differences in the number of putative vapBC modules distributed in pathogenic, saprophytic, and intermediate strains: four in L. interrogans, three in L. borgpetersenii, eight in L. biflexa, and 15 in L. licerasiae. The VapC toxins show low identity among amino acid sequences within the species. Some VapC toxins appear to be exclusively conserved in unique species, others appear to be conserved among pathogenic or saprophytic strains, and some appear to be distributed randomly. The data shown here indicate that these modules evolved in a very complex manner, which highlights the strong need to identify and characterize new TAs as well as to understand their regulation networks and the possible roles of TA systems in pathogenic bacteria.

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