Structural variability and originality of the Bordetella endotoxins

Abstract

Structural studies of Bordetella endotoxins (LPSs) have revealed remarkable differences: (i) between their LPSs and those of other bacterial pathogens; (ii) among the LPSs of the seven identified Bordetella species; and (iii) among the LPSs of some Bordetella strains. The lipid As have the "classical" bisphosphorylated diglucosamine backbone but tend to have fewer and species-specific fatty acid components compared to those of other genera. Nevertheless, three strains of B. bronchiseptica have at least three different fatty acid distributions; however, the recently identified B. hinzii and B. trematum LPSs had identical lipid A structures. The B. pertussis core is a dodecasaccharide multi-branched structure bearing amino and carboxylic groups. Another unusual feature is the presence of free amino sugars in the central core region and a complex distal trisaccharide unit containing five amino groups of which four are acetylated and one is methylated. The B. pertussis LPS does not have O-chains and that of B. trematum had only a single O-unit, unlike the LPSs of all the other species of the smooth-type. The O-chain-free cores of non-B. pertussis LPSs were always built on the B. pertussis core model but most were species-specifically incomplete. The LPS structures of three B. bronchiseptica strains were found to be different from each other. The O-chains of B. bronchiseptica and B. parapertussis were almost identical and had some features in common with B. hinzii O-chain. Serological analyses are consistent with the determined LPS structures.

Adenylate Cyclase Toxin (ACT) fromBordetella hinzii: Characterization and Differences from ACT ofBordetella pertussis

“…Given the increase in the incidence and the broadening spectrum of human diseases associated with Bordetella hinzii infection (2,13,15,21,22,42,84), it was startling to discover that the data on the bacterial determinants of virulence are limited to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) structure (3,11,85). The lack of research has probably been due, in part, to misidentification of the organism (65) and an early publication by Gerlach et al that indicated that B. hinzii does not possess any of the virulence factors common to the other Bordetella species (25).…”

A rapid, small-scale procedure for the structural characterization of lipid A applied to Citrobacter and Bordetella strains: discovery of a new structural element

“…In mild conditions, the acyloxyacyl ester could be released without splitting the secondary ester linkage between the two fatty acids and characterized by GC-MS. These conditions have been used to determine the structures of many lipid A preparations, such as those of Bordetella (12)(13)(14)(15), Helicobacter (16), and Yersinia (17). We also demonstrated the importance of such a sequential release in the case of Yersinia lipid A structure previously erroneously described as being identical to that of Escherichia coli.…”

“…These structures were notable for their peculiarly high variability among species and even strains. In B. bronchiseptica, lipid A structural variability has been attributed to relaxed enzyme specificity (6,13,15). The lipids A of two human pathogens, B. pertussis and B.…”

Saccharide/protein conjugate vaccines for Bordetella species: Preparation of saccharide, development of new conjugation procedures, and physico-chemical and immunological characterization of the conjugates

“…An almost identical core structure to B. pertussis was reported for B. bronchiseptica LPS [15]. The core region of B. parapertussis has a shorter heptasaccharide structure and does not contain the Band A trisaccharide [14]. In contrast to B. pertussis, which produces no O-specific polysaccharide (O-SP), B. bronchiseptica and B. parapertussis synthesize short O-SP containing about 12-18 sugars.…”

“…The LPS of all three bordetellae is of low molecular weight, < 10 kDa, rendering their isolated saccharides non-immunogenic. B. pertussis LPS is comprised of a Lipid A domain and a branched dodecasaccharide, composed of unusual sugars with free amino and carboxylic groups [14]. By SDS-PAGE, B. pertussis LPS shows two bands, A and B.…”