Glycosyltransferase: a specific marker for the discrimination of Bacillus anthracis from the Bacillus cereus group

In silico and in vitro evaluation of PCR-based assays for the detection of Bacillus anthracis chromosomal signature sequences

Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, is a zoonotic pathogen that is relatively common throughout the world and may cause life threatening diseases in animals and humans. There are many PCR-based assays in use for the detection of B. anthracis. While most of the developed assays rely on unique markers present on virulence plasmids pXO1 and pXO2, relatively few assays incorporate chromosomal DNA markers due to the close relatedness of B. anthracis to the B. cereus group strains. For the detection of chromosomal DNA, different genes have been used, such as BA813, rpoB, gyrA, plcR, S-layer, and prophage-lambda. Following a review of the literature, an in silico analysis of all signature sequences reported for identification of B. anthracis was conducted. Published primer and probe sequences were compared for specificity against 134 available Bacillus spp. genomes. Although many of the chromosomal targets evaluated are claimed to be specific to B. anthracis, cross-reactions with closely related B. cereus and B. thuringiensis strains were often observed. Of the 35 investigated PCR assays, only 4 were 100% specific for the B. anthracis chromosome. An interlaboratory ring trial among five European laboratories was then performed to evaluate six assays, including the WHO recommended procedures, using a collection of 90 Bacillus strains. Three assays performed adequately, yielding no false positive or negative results. All three assays target chromosomal markers located within the lambdaBa03 prophage region (PL3, BA5345, and BA5357). Detection limit was further assessed for one of these highly specific assays.

Fingerprinting the Asterid species using subtracted diversity array reveals novel species-specific sequences

Background

Asterids is one of the major plant clades comprising of many commercially important medicinal species. One of the major concerns in medicinal plant industry is adulteration/contamination resulting from misidentification of herbal plants. This study reports the construction and validation of a microarray capable of fingerprinting medicinally important species from the Asterids clade.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Pooled genomic DNA of 104 non-asterid angiosperm and non-angiosperm species was subtracted from pooled genomic DNA of 67 asterid species. Subsequently, 283 subtracted DNA fragments were used to construct an Asterid-specific array. The validation of Asterid-specific array revealed a high (99.5%) subtraction efficiency. Twenty-five Asterid species (mostly medicinal) representing 20 families and 9 orders within the clade were hybridized onto the array to reveal its level of species discrimination. All these species could be successfully differentiated using their hybridization patterns. A number of species-specific probes were identified for commercially important species like tea, coffee, dandelion, yarrow, motherwort, Japanese honeysuckle, valerian, wild celery, and yerba mate. Thirty-seven polymorphic probes were characterized by sequencing. A large number of probes were novel species-specific probes whilst some of them were from chloroplast region including genes like atpB, rpoB, and ndh that have extensively been used for fingerprinting and phylogenetic analysis of plants.

Conclusions/Significance

Subtracted Diversity Array technique is highly efficient in fingerprinting species with little or no genomic information. The Asterid-specific array could fingerprint all 25 species assessed including three species that were not used in constructing the array. This study validates the use of chloroplast genes for bar-coding (fingerprinting) plant species. In addition, this method allowed detection of several new loci that can be explored to solve existing discrepancies in phylogenetics and fingerprinting of plants.

Identification of a pheA gene associated with Streptococcus mitis by using suppression subtractive hybridization

We performed suppression subtractive hybridization to identify genomic differences between Streptococcus mitis and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Based on the pheA gene, a primer set specific to S. mitis detection was found in 18 out of 103 S. mitis-specific clones. Our findings would be useful for discrimination of S. mitis from other closely related cocci in the oral environment.

Developing an integrated proteo-genomic approach for the characterisation of biomarkers for the identification of Bacillus anthracis

Bacillus anthracis is the causative agent of anthrax, an acute and often fatal disease in humans. Due to the high genomic relatedness within the Bacillus cereus group of species it is a challenge to identify B. anthracis consistently. Alternative strategies such as proteomics coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) provide a powerful approach for biomarker discovery. However, validating and evaluating these markers, particularly for genetically homogeneous species such as B. anthracis are challenging. The objective of this study is to develop a robust biomarker discovery and validation pipeline, using proteomic methodology combined with in silico and molecular approaches, to determine a biomarker list, using B. anthracis as a model. In this exploratory study we profiled the proteome of B. anthracis and genetically related species using GeLC-Liquid Chromatography MS/MS (GeLC-LC MS/MS), identifying peptides that could be used to detect B. anthracis. Peptides were filtered to remove low quality identifications. Using comparative bioinformatic approaches, matching and searching against genomic sequence data a shortlist of peptide biomarkers was determined and validated using DNA sequencing, against a panel of closely related strains, to determine marker specificity. Further validation was performed using MS quantitation methods to assess sensitivity and specificity. A biomarker discovery pipeline was successfully developed in this study, comprising four distinct stages: proteome profiling, comparative bioinformatic validation, DNA sequencing and MS validation. Using the pipeline, 5379 peptides specific for Bacillus species and 36 peptides specific for B. anthracis were identified and validated. The 36 peptides, representing 30 proteins were derived from over 15 different clusters of orthologous group categories, including proteins involved in transcription, energy production/conservation as well as multifunctional proteins. We demonstrated that the peptide biomarkers identified in this study could be detected in a complex background, in which 0.1 μg of protein extract from B. anthracis was spiked into 9.90 μg of B. cereus protein extracts. The integration of both stable non-redundant peptides with molecular methodology for marker discovery and validation, improves the robustness of identifying and characterising candidate biomarkers for the identification of bacteria such as B. anthracis.

Comparative genome analysis of Lactococcus garvieae using a suppression subtractive hybridization library: discovery of novel DNA signatures

Lactococcus garvieae, the pathogenic species in the genus Lactococcus, is recognized as an emerging pathogen in fish, animals, and humans. Despite the widespread distribution and emerging clinical significance of L. garvieae, little is known about the genomic content of this microorganism. Suppression subtractive hybridization was performed to identify the genomic differences between L. garvieae and Lactococcus lactis ssp. lactis, its closest phylogenetic neighbor, and the type species of the genus Lactococcus. Twenty-seven clones were specific to L. garvieae and were highly different from Lactococcus lactis in their nucleotide and protein sequences. Lactococcus garvieae primer sets were subsequently designed for two of these clones corresponding to a pyrH gene and a novel DNA signature for application in the specific detection of L. garvieae. The primer specificities were evaluated relative to three previously described 16S rRNA gene-targeted methods using 32 Lactococcus and closely related strains. Both newly designed primer sets were highly specific to L. garvieae and performed better than did the existing primers. Our findings may be useful for developing more stable and accurate tools for the discrimination of L. garvieae from other closely related species.

The rgg gene is a specific marker for Streptococcus oralis

Although the pathogenesis of Streptococcus oralis may be different from that of other viridans group streptococci, S. oralis shares a high degree of DNA sequence similarity with these streptococci. As a result, discrimination of S. oralis from its close relatives has long been considered difficult. This study was conducted to find specific genes that allow for the in vitro identification of S. oralis, but not other oral commensals. Four hundred ninety S. oralis clones obtained by suppressive subtractive hybridization were used for Southern hybridization, and positive clones were sequenced. Of 5 S. oralis-specific clones, newly designed primer sets based on the glucosyltransferase regulatory gene amplified genomic DNA only from S. oralis strains, but not from any of the other 125 strains tested. Our findings may be useful for the future development of efficient diagnostic tools for the rapid identification and differentiation of S. oralis from other oral streptococci strains.

Identification of the cpsA gene as a specific marker for the discrimination of Streptococcus pneumoniae from viridans group streptococci

Streptococcus pneumoniae, the aetiological agent of pneumonia and non-gonococcal urethritis, shares a high degree of DNA sequence identity with the viridans group of streptococci, particularly Streptococcus mitis and Streptococcus oralis. Although their clinical and pathological manifestations are different, discrimination between S. pneumoniae and its close viridans cocci relatives is still quite difficult. Suppression subtractive hybridization was performed to identify the genomic differences between S. pneumoniae and S. mitis. Thirty-four resulting S. pneumoniae-specific clones were examined by sequence determination and comparative DNA sequence analysis using blast. S. pneumoniae-specific primers were subsequently designed from one of the clonal DNA sequences containing the cps gene (coding for capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis). The primer specificities were evaluated using 49 viridans streptococci including 26 S. pneumoniae, 54 other streptococci, 14 Lactococcus species, 14 Enterococcus species and three Vagococcus species, and compared with the specificities of previously described autolysin (lytA), pneumolysin (ply), Spn9802 and Spn9828 primers. The newly designed cpsA-specific primer set was highly specific to S. pneumoniae and was even better than the existing primers. These findings may help improve the rapid identification and differentiation of S. pneumoniae from closely related members of the viridans group streptococci.

Structural elucidation of the nonclassical secondary cell wall polysaccharide from Bacillus cereus ATCC 10987. Comparison with the polysaccharides from Bacillus anthracis and B. cereus type strain ATCC 14579 reveals both unique and common structural features

Nonclassical secondary cell wall polysaccharides constitute a major cell wall structure in the Bacillus cereus group of bacteria. The structure of the secondary cell wall polysaccharide from Bacillus cereus ATCC 10987, a strain that is closely related to Bacillus anthracis, was determined. This polysaccharide was released from the cell wall with aqueous hydrogen fluoride (HF) and purified by gel filtration chromatography. The purified polysaccharide, HF-PS, was characterized by glycosyl composition and linkage analyses, mass spectrometry, and one- and two-dimensional NMR analysis. The results showed that the B. cereus ATCC 10987 HF-PS has a repeating oligosaccharide consisting of a -->6)-alpha-GalNAc-(1-->4)-beta-ManNAc-(1-->4)-beta-GlcNAc-(1--> trisaccharide that is substituted with beta-Gal at O3 of the alpha-GalNAc residue and nonstoichiometrically acetylated at O3 of the N-acetylmannosamine (ManNAc) residue. Comparison of this structure with that of the B. anthracis HF-PS and with structural data obtained for the HF-PS from B. cereus type strain ATCC 14579 revealed that each HF-PS had the same general structural theme consisting of three HexNAc and one Hex residues. A common structural feature in the HF-PSs from B. cereus ATCC 10987 and B. anthracis was the presence of a repeating unit consisting of a HexNAc(3) trisaccharide backbone in which two of the three HexNAc residues are GlcNAc and ManNAc and the third can be either GlcNAc or GalNAc. The implications of these results with regard to the possible functions of the HF-PSs are discussed.