Bordetella pertussis and Bordetella parapertussis: two immunologically distinct species

Abstract

Bordetella pertussis and Bordetella parapertussis are closely related species. Both are responsible for outbreaks of whooping cough in humans and produce similar virulence factors, with the exception of pertussis toxin, specific to B. pertussis. Current pertussis whole-cell vaccine will soon be replaced by acellular vaccines containing major adhesins (filamentous hemagglutinin and pertactin) and major toxin (pertussis toxin). All of these factors are antigens that stimulate a protective immune response in the murine respiratory model and in clinical assays. In the present study, we examined the protective efficacies of these factors, and that of adenylate cyclase-hemolysin, another B. pertussis toxin, against B. parapertussis infection in a murine respiratory model. As expected, pertussis toxin did not protect against B. parapertussis infection, since this bacterium did not express this protein, but the surprising result was that none of the other factors were protective against B. parapertussis infection. Furthermore, B. parapertussis adenylate cyclase-hemolysin, although it protected against B. parapertussis infection, did not protect against B. pertussis infection. Despite a high degree of homology between both B. pertussis and B. parapertussis species, no cross-protection was observed. Our results outline the fact that, as in other gram-negative bacteria, Bordetella surface proteins vary immunologically.