Pathogenicity of Spiroplasma sp. strain SMCA in rabbits: clinical, microbiological, and histological aspects

Kirchhoff, H; Heitmann, Jan; Trautwein, G.

doi:10.1128/iai.33.1.292-296.1981

Cited by 20 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…The RIP domain (pfam00161) of this protein shares approximately 45% amino acid sequence similarity to those found in the verocytotoxin 1 produced by Escherichia coli and the Shiga toxin subunit A produced by Shigella dysenteriae . Because these enterobacterial toxins are implicated in the hemorrhagic colitis symptom ( Karmali 1989 ), the presence of this putative toxin in Spiroplasma genome may partly explain the internal organ hemorrhages observed in S. mirum -infected mammals ( Kirchhoff, Heitmann, et al 1981 ; Kirchhoff, Kuwabara, et al 1981 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Found and Lost: The Fates of Horizontally Acquired Genes in Arthropod-SymbioticSpiroplasma

Gasparich

Kuo

2015

Genome Biol Evol

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Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is an important mechanism that contributed to biological diversity, particularly in bacteria. Through acquisition of novel genes, the recipient cell may change its ecological preference and the process could promote speciation. In this study, we determined the complete genome sequence of two Spiroplasma species for comparative analyses and inferred the putative gene gains and losses. Although most Spiroplasma species are symbionts of terrestrial insects, Spiroplasma eriocheiris has evolved to be a lethal pathogen of freshwater crustaceans. We found that approximately 7% of the genes in this genome may have originated from HGT and these genes expanded the metabolic capacity of this organism. Through comparison with the closely related Spiroplasma atrichopogonis, as well as other more divergent lineages, our results indicated that these HGT events could be traced back to the most recent common ancestor of these two species. However, most of these horizontally acquired genes have been pseudogenized in S. atrichopogonis, suggesting that they did not contribute to the fitness of this lineage that maintained the association with terrestrial insects. Thus, accumulation of small deletions that disrupted these foreign genes was not countered by natural selection. On the other hand, the long-term survival of these horizontally acquired genes in the S. eriocheiris genome hinted that they might play a role in the ecological shift of this species. Finally, the implications of these findings and the conflicts among gene content, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and serological typing, are discussed in light of defining bacterial species.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Found and Lost: The Fates of Horizontally Acquired Genes in Arthropod-SymbioticSpiroplasma

Gasparich

Kuo

2015

Genome Biol Evol

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“…This is in accordance with experimental studies: Spiroplasma mirum, isolated from rabbit ticks in Georgia, USA, also known as the suckling mouse cataract agent (SMCA), caused panophthalmitis and microphthalmia in newborn mice, rats, hamsters and rabbits when inoculated intracerebrally. Of note, adult animals were resistant [ 5 – 7 ]. Likewise, there are no reports of ocular spiroplasma infections in adult humans.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spiroplasma species as a rare cause of congenital cataract and uveitis: a case series

et al. 2021

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Background To date, only four cases of ocular spiroplasma infection have been reported in the entire ophthalmic literature. We add two more cases to raise awareness of this sight-threatening congenital disease that manifests as cataract with ocular inflammation. Case presentation Both infants were referred for cataracts associated with ocular inflammation. Case 1, a 3-week-old neonate presented with unilateral cataract, ocular inflammation and elevated intraocular pressure. Case 2 was a 3-month-old infant with bilateral cataract and panuveitis. Lensectomies with or without vitrectomy and subsequent analyses of the specimens were performed. Transmission electron microscopy and multiplex polymerase chain reaction or 16 s rRNA gene polymerase chain reaction revealed spiroplasma species. Conclusions Spiroplasma as a very rare cause for congenital cataract might be underdiagnosed. We recommend performing polymerase chain reaction to probe for spiroplasma species in congenital cataracts with an inflammatory component.

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“…Another clade of Spiroplasma, S. mirum, phylogenetically close to S. ixodetis (Figure 2), initially named suckling mouse cataract agent (9,10), induces rapid cataract formation after intracerebral injection in newborn mice (11), rats (12), and rabbits (13), with variable intraocular inflammation. In these models, adult animals do not develop ocular pathology, suggesting a vulnerability of the immature eye to Spiroplasma infection.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ocular Spiroplasma ixodetis in Newborns, France

Matet¹,

Flèche‐Matéos²,

Doz³

et al. 2020

Emerg. Infect. Dis.

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S piroplasma is a genus of Mollicutes, a class of bacteria without cell wall. Spiroplasma are intracellular organisms with helical morphology and a small genome (0.78-2.2 Mb) comprising 38 species isolated from insects, crustaceans, and plants (1,2). Ticks, from which Spiroplasma ixodetis has been isolated, are abundant sources of Spiroplasma (3).Spiroplasma develop a commensal, pathogenic, or mutualist pathogen-host relationship. The first isolated species (S. citri) was described in 1973 (4,5). Two Spiroplasma infections have been reported in humans: an intraocular infection in a newborn with Group VI Spiroplasma, now known as S. ixodetis (6), and a systemic infection in an immunocompromised adult with S. turonicum (7). These reports suggest that tetracyclines and macrolides are effective against Spiroplasma (6,7). We describe 3 newborns in France who had cataract and intraocular inflammation and in whom S. ixodetis was detected in ocular samples (Table ).

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Pathogenicity of Spiroplasma sp. strain SMCA in rabbits: clinical, microbiological, and histological aspects

Cited by 20 publications

References 9 publications

Found and Lost: The Fates of Horizontally Acquired Genes in Arthropod-SymbioticSpiroplasma

Found and Lost: The Fates of Horizontally Acquired Genes in Arthropod-SymbioticSpiroplasma

Spiroplasma species as a rare cause of congenital cataract and uveitis: a case series

Ocular Spiroplasma ixodetis in Newborns, France

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