Title:
Evolution of virulence properties and host adaptation in the genus Bordetella
Project management at the University of Würzburg:
Participating scientists:
Abstract:
In the genus Bordetella several closely related pathogenic bacteria are classified including B. pertussis, B. parapertussis, B. bronchiseptica and the recently described human pathogen B. holmesii. This group of bacteria is involved in infections of the respiratory tract of various host species and is of enormous medical and veterinary importance. B.pertussis is the etiological agent of whooping cough and B. bronchiseptica infections in pigs cause huge financial damage in agriculture. Apart from the differences in their host tropism, these pathogens exhibit further interesting differences in their pathogenic properties. In contrast to B. pertussis, B. bronchiseptica can cause chronic infections, which are only very difficult to treat with antibiotics, and bacteremiae caused B. holmesii were recently recognized. Very recently we described a new Bordetella species, B. petrii, which is the first member of this genus of environmental origin. In this project, which is financed by the competence network "Pathogenomik", in a first phase the genomic sequence of B. petrii will be established, because this organisms appears to be very closely related to a common ancestor of the pathogenic Bordetellae. In the second phase a "pan-Bordetella" DNA chip will be developed which will enable a differential diagnosis of the various Bordetella species, and which will be an important tool to investigate strain- and species specific differences in the gene equipment of various Bordetellae and for transcriptome analyses.
Key words:
Bordetella petrii
genome sequence
Projekt period: from 07.2001 to 06.2004
Funding institution:
Bund
Publications: