scholarly journals The Ecological and Immunological Relationships Between Salmonella and Tuatara

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Danielle Mary Rose Lea Middleton

<p>The transmission and expression of disease in wild animal populations is a complex interaction of host, pathogen and environmental factors. The individual fitness of a host may be negatively impacted by pathogenic bacteria in a number of ways including increased predation risk and reduced survival and reproductive output. Salmonellosis is an important zoonotic disease resulting in significant morbidity and mortality in populations of wild reptiles, birds and mammals throughout the world, and herpetofaunal species have often been implicated as shedders and transmitters of Salmonella globally. To better understand the unique threats to New Zealand native wildlife, I investigated spatio-temporal dynamics of Salmonella in an island ecosystem, and selected one species, tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) (an endemic New Zealand reptile), for in-depth immunological analyses. I collected cloacal swabs and faecal samples from native wildlife on Stephens Island repeatedly between October 2009 and October 2011. While Salmonella was isolated from 6.5% of native skinks and 8% of the soil samples, intestinal carriage of Salmonella was not detected in the more than 600 cloacal swabs collected from wild tuatara, despite these tuatara living in close proximity to Salmonella-positive skinks or soil. In context, the lack of Salmonella detected in tuatara in this and other studies raises the question of whether tuatara are innately resistant to Salmonella. To test this hypothesis I examined aspects of innate and adaptive immune responses in tuatara serum. Immune measurements included in vitro anti-microbial activity of serum and antibody recognition of bacterial antigens. Serum was tested against three closely related enteric pathogens, including Salmonella, in order to establish the importance of cross-reactivity in the strength of immune responses observed. I found that tuatara possess antibodies which recognise Salmonella antigens by Western blot and flow cytometry. I also determined that the anti-microbial activity of tuatara serum was approximately 6-fold higher than donkey or mouse sera, but showed similar activity to other reptilian species tested. These findings are the first report of both environmentally-induced anti-Salmonella antibodies and anti-microbial activity in tuatara serum. Taken together, these studies investigating the distribution and seasonality of Salmonella within the environment and evaluating anti-Salmonella immune responses in tuatara will help to inform decisions about disease screening and animal movements to maintain the health of native fauna.</p>

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Danielle Mary Rose Lea Middleton

<p>The transmission and expression of disease in wild animal populations is a complex interaction of host, pathogen and environmental factors. The individual fitness of a host may be negatively impacted by pathogenic bacteria in a number of ways including increased predation risk and reduced survival and reproductive output. Salmonellosis is an important zoonotic disease resulting in significant morbidity and mortality in populations of wild reptiles, birds and mammals throughout the world, and herpetofaunal species have often been implicated as shedders and transmitters of Salmonella globally. To better understand the unique threats to New Zealand native wildlife, I investigated spatio-temporal dynamics of Salmonella in an island ecosystem, and selected one species, tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) (an endemic New Zealand reptile), for in-depth immunological analyses. I collected cloacal swabs and faecal samples from native wildlife on Stephens Island repeatedly between October 2009 and October 2011. While Salmonella was isolated from 6.5% of native skinks and 8% of the soil samples, intestinal carriage of Salmonella was not detected in the more than 600 cloacal swabs collected from wild tuatara, despite these tuatara living in close proximity to Salmonella-positive skinks or soil. In context, the lack of Salmonella detected in tuatara in this and other studies raises the question of whether tuatara are innately resistant to Salmonella. To test this hypothesis I examined aspects of innate and adaptive immune responses in tuatara serum. Immune measurements included in vitro anti-microbial activity of serum and antibody recognition of bacterial antigens. Serum was tested against three closely related enteric pathogens, including Salmonella, in order to establish the importance of cross-reactivity in the strength of immune responses observed. I found that tuatara possess antibodies which recognise Salmonella antigens by Western blot and flow cytometry. I also determined that the anti-microbial activity of tuatara serum was approximately 6-fold higher than donkey or mouse sera, but showed similar activity to other reptilian species tested. These findings are the first report of both environmentally-induced anti-Salmonella antibodies and anti-microbial activity in tuatara serum. Taken together, these studies investigating the distribution and seasonality of Salmonella within the environment and evaluating anti-Salmonella immune responses in tuatara will help to inform decisions about disease screening and animal movements to maintain the health of native fauna.</p>


2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (13) ◽  
pp. 6669-6677 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina de Carvalho Nicacio ◽  
Marcelo Gonzalez Della Valle ◽  
Paula Padula ◽  
Ewa Björling ◽  
Alexander Plyusnin ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Hantaviruses are rodent-borne agents that cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome or hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in humans. The nucleocapsid protein (N) is relatively conserved among hantaviruses and highly immunogenic in both laboratory animals and humans, and it has been shown to induce efficient protective immunity in animal models. To investigate the ability of recombinant N (rN) from different hantaviruses to elicit cross-protection, we immunized bank voles with rN from Puumala (PUUV), Topografov (TOPV), Andes (ANDV), and Dobrava (DOBV) viruses and subsequently challenged them with PUUV. All animals immunized with PUUV and TOPV rN were completely protected. In the group immunized with DOBV rN, 7 of 10 animals were protected, while only 3 of 8 animals were protected in the group immunized with ANDV rN, which is more closely related to PUUV rN than DOBV rN. Humoral and cellular immune responses after rN immunization were also investigated. The highest cross-reactive humoral responses against PUUV antigen were detected in sera from ANDV rN-immunized animals, followed by those from TOPV rN-immunized animals, and only very low antibody cross-reactivity was observed in sera from DOBV rN-immunized animals. In proliferation assays, T lymphocytes from animals immunized with all heterologous rNs were as efficiently recalled in vitro by PUUV rN as were T lymphocytes from animals immunized with homologous protein. In summary, this study has shown that hantavirus N can elicit cross-protective immune responses against PUUV, and the results suggest a more important role for the cellular arm of the immune response than for the humoral arm in cross-protection elicited by rN.


2006 ◽  
Vol 55 (12) ◽  
pp. 1735-1740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachael C. Rigden ◽  
Dakshina M. Jandhyala ◽  
Chris Dupont ◽  
Dianna Crosbie-Caird ◽  
Nicolas Lopez-Villalobos ◽  
...  

An immunogenic 22 kilodalton exported Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) lipoprotein (P22) was previously identified, and found to belong to the LppX/LprAFG family of mycobacterial lipoproteins. N-terminal polyhistidine-tagged P22 was produced and purified from Escherichia coli. Antibody recognition of P22, and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) responses in vitro using blood from a sheep vaccinated with Neoparasec, confirmed its immunogenicity. To evaluate the immunogenicity of P22 in vivo, five sheep were immunized with a single dose containing 0.8 mg recombinant P22 protein in adjuvant. Blood was collected at 4, 13 and 29 weeks post-immunization (p.i.) and tested for anti-P22 antibodies and P22-specific IFN-γ production. P22-specific antibodies were detected by Western blot analysis in all five Neoparasec-immunized sheep at the three time points. Three out of five P22-immunized sheep produced P22-specific antibodies for up to 13 weeks p.i., and two gave a response at 29 weeks p.i. Recombinant P22 was able to stimulate significant IFN-γ production in blood of P22-immunized sheep at 13 and 29 weeks p.i. Recombinant P22 also elicited an IFN-γ response in blood of sheep immunized with Neoparasec.


2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (28) ◽  
pp. 7852-7857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lalita Priyamvada ◽  
Kendra M. Quicke ◽  
William H. Hudson ◽  
Nattawat Onlamoon ◽  
Jaturong Sewatanon ◽  
...  

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging mosquito-borne flavivirus of significant public health concern. ZIKV shares a high degree of sequence and structural homology compared with other flaviviruses, including dengue virus (DENV), resulting in immunological cross-reactivity. Improving our current understanding of the extent and characteristics of this immunological cross-reactivity is important, as ZIKV is presently circulating in areas that are highly endemic for dengue. To assess the magnitude and functional quality of cross-reactive immune responses between these closely related viruses, we tested acute and convalescent sera from nine Thai patients with PCR-confirmed DENV infection against ZIKV. All of the sera tested were cross-reactive with ZIKV, both in binding and in neutralization. To deconstruct the observed serum cross-reactivity in depth, we also characterized a panel of DENV-specific plasmablast-derived monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for activity against ZIKV. Nearly half of the 47 DENV-reactive mAbs studied bound to both whole ZIKV virion and ZIKV lysate, of which a subset also neutralized ZIKV. In addition, both sera and mAbs from the dengue-infected patients enhanced ZIKV infection of Fc gamma receptor (FcγR)-bearing cells in vitro. Taken together, these findings suggest that preexisting immunity to DENV may impact protective immune responses against ZIKV. In addition, the extensive cross-reactivity may have implications for ZIKV virulence and disease severity in DENV-experienced populations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 37-43
Author(s):  
Prof. Teodora P. Popova ◽  
Toshka Petrova ◽  
Ignat Ignatov ◽  
Stoil Karadzhov

The antimicrobial action of the dietary supplement Oxidal® was tested using the classic Bauer and Kirby agar-gel diffusion method. Clinical and reference strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were used in the studies. The tested dietary supplement showed a well-pronounced inhibitory effect against the microbial strains commensurable with that of the broad-spectrum chemotherapeutic agent Enrofloxacin and showed even higher activity than the broad spectrum antibiotic Thiamphenicol. The proven inhibitory effect of the tested dietary supplement against the examined pathogenic bacteria is in accordance with the established clinical effectiveness standards for antimicrobial agents.


2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 167-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Schollenberger ◽  
Tomasz M. Staniek ◽  
Elżbieta Paduch-Cichal ◽  
Beata Dasiewicz ◽  
Agnieszka Gadomska-Gajadhur ◽  
...  

Plant essential oils of six aromatic herb species and interspecies hybrids of the family Lamiaceae – chocolate mint (Mentha piperita × ‘Chocolate’), pineapple mint (Mentha suaveolens ‘Variegata’), apple mint (Mentha × rotundifolia), spearmint (Mentha spicata), orange mint (Mentha × piperita ‘Granada’) and strawberry mint (Mentha × villosa ‘Strawberry’) – were investigated for antimicrobial effects against plant pathogenic bacteria: Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae and Xanthomonas arboricola pv. corylina. The screening was carried out in vitro on agar plates filled with the target organism. All essential oils screened exhibited a higher level of antibacterial activity against A. tumefaciens and X. arboricola pv. corylina than streptomycin used as a standard in all tests. The antimicrobial effect of streptomycin and five mint oils was at the same level for P. syringae pv. syringae. There were no significant differences in the influence of the chocolate mint oil on the growth inhibition of all bacteria tested. Plant essential oils from pineapple mint, apple mint, spearmint and strawberry mint showed the weakest antimicrobial activity against P. syringae pv. syringae and the strongest towards A. tumefaciens and X. arboricola pv. corylina. The essential oils from strawberry mint, pineapple mint, spearmint and apple mint had the strongest effect on A. tumefaciens, and the lowest inhibitory activity was exhibited by the chocolate mint and orange mint essential oils. X. arboricola pv. corylina was the most sensitive to the strawberry mint, pineapple mint and spearmint oils. The chocolate mint oil showed the greatest activity against P. syringae pv. syringae.


Author(s):  
Guru Kumar Dugganaboyana ◽  
Chethankumar Mukunda ◽  
Suresh Darshini Inakanally

In recent years, green nanotechnology-based approaches using plant materials have been accepted as an environmentally friendly and cost-effective approach with various biomedical applications. In the current study, AgNPs were synthesized using the seed extract of the Eugenia uniflora L. (E.uniflora). Characterization was done using UV-Visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analyses. The formation of AgNPs has confirmed through UV-Visible spectroscopy (at 466 nm) by the change of color owing to surface Plasmon resonance. Based on the XRD pattern, the crystalline property of AgNPs was established. The functional group existing in seed of E.uniflora extract accountable for the reduction of Ag+ ion and the stabilization of AgNPs was investigated. The morphological structures and elemental composition was determined by SEM and EDX analysis. With the growing application of AgNPs in biomedical perspectives, the biosynthesized AgNPs were evaluated for their antibacterial and along with their antidiabetic potential. The results showed that AgNPs are extremely effective with potent antidiabetic potential at a very low concentration. It also exhibited potential antibacterial activity against the three tested human pathogenic bacteria. Overall, the results highlight the effectiveness and potential applications of AgNPs in biomedical fields such as in the treatment of acute illnesses as well as in drug formulation for treating various diseases such as cancer and diabetes. It could be concluded that E. uniflora seed extract AgNPs can be used efficiently for in vitro evaluation of their antibacterial and antidiabetic effects with potent biomedical applications.


2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
pp. 1188-1192
Author(s):  
Daniela Avram ◽  
Nicolae Angelescu ◽  
Dan Nicolae Ungureanu ◽  
Ionica Ionita ◽  
Iulian Bancuta ◽  
...  

The study in vitro of the glass powders bioactivity was performed by soaking them in simulated body fluid for 3 to 21 days at a temperature of 37�C and pH = 7.20. The synthesis de novo of hydroxyapatite, post soaking was confirmed by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The study of the antimicrobial activity was performed by microbiological examination on two strains of pathogenic bacteria involved in postoperative nosocomial infections.


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