Date: 27.3.2024
Bordetella pertussis is the cause of the respiratory infection pertussis, which is widely known as whooping cough. Today's pertussis vaccines keep people from getting severely sick, but they don't eliminate the bacteria because it excels at colonizing, growing and persisting inside the nose.
In a previous study, Yang Su at the University of Georgia in Athens and his coleagues discovered that a glycan known as transmission extracellular polysaccharide (tEPS) was required for Bordetella to spread among hosts. They then discovered that the production of tEPS glycan was related to another group of genes. The investigators suspected that this new group of genes likely produced another glycan, but nothing was known about its function or structure.
In the new work, the researchers eliminated the genes that expressed this unknown glycan from bacteria to see if they could uncover its function. The resulting Bordetella mutant showed a 70% reduction in its ability to colonize the nose of mice within six hours of inoculation. The mutant also showed a significantly reduced ability to transmit from the original host to a new host.
The researchers discovered that this new glycan, which they named Bordetella colonization oligosaccharide, or b-Cool, is found in multiple Bordetella species, including those infecting dogs and other animals, as well as in strains of Bordetella pertussis isolated from patients. This suggests that targeting b-Cool could lead to the development of vaccines and medications that would be effective against both animal and human infections.
Image source: Yang Su, University of Georgia in Athens; created with BioRender.com.
Gate2Biotech - Biotechnology Portal - All Czech Biotechnology information in one place.
ISSN 1802-2685
This website is maintained by: CREOS CZ
© 2006 - 2024 South Bohemian Agency for Support to Innovative Enterprising (JAIP)
Interesting biotechnology content:
Environmental biotechnology - Information about Environmental biotechnology
Biotechnology dictionary - Biotechnology, dictionary, biotech words
Research team uses CRISPR/Cas9 to alter photosynthesis for the first time
Say hello to biodegradable microplastics: Plant-based polymers that can disappear within seven months