Genetic differences among Moraxella bovis and Moraxella bovoculi isolates from infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK) outbreaks in southern Brazil

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the genetic diversity of Moraxella bovis and Moraxella bovoculi bacteria isolated from infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK) outbreaks in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The genetic diversity among Moraxella spp. was evaluated by RAPD-PCR, JWP1-JWOPA07-PCR, ERIC-PCR and by sequencing the 16S-23S intergenic regions. Based on the dendrogram, two genetically differentiated clades were observed; 14 isolates were classified as M. bovis and 17 as M. bovoculi. Genetic distances between the M. bovis samples ranged from 0.0379 to 0.4285, while for M. bovoculi the dissimilarities ranged from zero to 0.7297. Alternatively, based on sequencing analyses of the 16S-23S intergenic region, M. bovis and M. bovoculi isolates were grouped into the same two different clades, but it was not possible to differentiate between isolates within clades. PCR techniques were demonstrated to be a satisfactory tool to unravel the genetic variability among Moraxella spp., while sequencing of the 16S-23S intergenic region was only able to differentiate two species of the Moraxella genus. Despite sampling geographically close regions, we demonstrate considerable genetic diversity in M. bovis and M. bovoculi strains and genetically distinct M. bovis strains co-infecting the same animal.

Outer membrane protein CD of Moraxella bovis as a potential immunogen against infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis

“…Interspecies recombination of M. bovis and M. bovoculi indicates that these species share a common gene pool. These observations suggest that there are potentially complex roles of both species in the etiology of IBK (Comin et al, 2020). Therefore, the design of a future IBK vaccine may benefit from the identification of conserved antigens shared by both Moraxella species, such as OMPs (Dickey et al, 2018).…”

The epizootic situation of cattle moraxellosis in several economic entities of the Republic of Kazakhstan

“…However, the low efficacy of the vaccine hampers prevention. Genetic and antigenic variations between M. bovis strains and the putative presence of other microorganisms explain the pathogenesis of this disease [12].…”