BackgroundThe completion of whole-genome sequencing for Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis strain 1002 has contributed to major advances in research aimed at understanding the biology of this microorganism. This bacterium causes significant loss to goat and sheep farmers because it is the causal agent of the infectious disease caseous lymphadenitis, which may lead to outcomes ranging from skin injury to animal death. In the current study, we simulated the conditions experienced by the bacteria during host infection. By sequencing transcripts using the SOLiDTM 3 Plus platform, we identified new targets expected to potentiate the survival and replication of the pathogen in adverse environments. These results may also identify possible candidates useful for the development of vaccines, diagnostic kits or therapies aimed at the reduction of losses in agribusiness.ResultsUnder the 3 simulated conditions (acid, osmotic and thermal shock stresses), 474 differentially expressed genes exhibiting at least a 2-fold change in expression levels were identified. Important genes to the infection process were induced, such as those involved in virulence, defence against oxidative stress, adhesion and regulation, and many genes encoded hypothetical proteins, indicating that further investigation of the bacterium is necessary. The data will contribute to a better understanding of the biology of C. pseudotuberculosis and to studies investigating strategies to control the disease.ConclusionsDespite the veterinary importance of C. pseudotuberculosis, the bacterium is poorly characterised; therefore, effective treatments for caseous lymphadenitis have been difficult to establish. Through the use of RNAseq, these results provide a better biological understanding of this bacterium, shed light on the most likely survival mechanisms used by this microorganism in adverse environments and identify candidates that may help reduce or even eradicate the problems caused by this disease.
Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis is a bacterium which causes diseases such as caseous lymphadenitis in small ruminants, resulting in large-scale economic losses for agribusiness worldwide. Consequently, this bacterium including its transcriptional profile analysis has been the focus of various studies. Identification of the transcripts that appear under conditions that simulate the environment encountered by this bacterial species in the host is of great importance in discovering new targets for the production of more efficient vaccines. We sequenced the cDNA of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis strain 1002, using the SOLiD V3 system, under the following conditions: osmotic stress (2 M), acidity (pH), heat shock (50 °C) and control condition (N). To identify the transcripts shared among the stimulons and integrate this information with the results from BLAST and BLAST2GO, we developed the software CoreStImulon (CSI) which allows the user to individually distinguish the genes in terms of their participation in biological processes, their function and cellular location. In the biosynthetic processes, eleven genes represented in the core stimulon and twenty genes in the control were observed. This validates the hypothesis that the organisms strategy for surviving in a hostile environment is through growth reduction. The oxidation reduction process, response to stress process, and cell adhesion are controlled by genes that contribute to bacterial cell maintenance under stress conditions; these could be involved in their pathogenicity. The methodology for identification of transcripts obtained by ab initio assembly and shared among the stimulons permitted candidates selection for vaccine studies. CSI is available at https://sourceforge.net/projects/corestimulon/.
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