Affiliation:
1. Institut de Recherche en Infectiologie de Montpellier (IRIM), CNRS, University of Montpellier, INSERM , Montpellier, France
2. German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment , Berlin, Germany
3. German Environment Agency , Berlin, Germany
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Bacteria of the genus
Brucella
are responsible for human and animal brucellosis worldwide and comprise the well-characterized, so-called classical species belonging to the core clade, with a host range limited to mammals, and the novel atypical strains mainly considered as non-zoonotic to date, but able to colonize non-traditional hosts such as amphibians. Despite marked phenotypical differences between the two groups,
Brucella
species display a high degree of genome identity, including genes encoding reductases involved in the denitrification pathway, a respiratory process able to reduce nitrate to nitrogen under anoxic conditions.
Brucella
spp. have always been considered as strictly aerobic pathogens. Our study, however, describes for the first time that atypical
Brucella
spp. grow well under anoxia, but in a strictly nitrate-dependent manner, whereas classical species show a heterogeneous behavior. The rate of anaerobic growth of the atypical species
Brucella microti
was dependent on nitrate concentration, highlighting a more efficient denitrification pathway with rapid consumption of intermediate nitrite, whereas the classical species
Brucella suis
exhibited lower, nitrate concentration-independent growth coupled with nitrite accumulation. Transcriptional studies performed under anoxic conditions revealed a higher expression of genes participating in the last three denitrification steps in
B. microti
, as compared to
B. suis
, which correlates with the rapid and efficient consumption of nitrite in this atypical species and its rapid growth.
IMPORTANCE
Respiration is a fundamental and complex process that bacteria use to produce energy. Despite aerobic respiration being the most common, some bacteria make use of a mode of respiration in the absence of oxygen, called anaerobic respiration, which can yield advantages in adaptation to various environmental conditions. Denitrification is part of this respiratory process ensuring higher respiratory flexibility under oxygen depletion. Here, we report for the first time the evidence of anaerobic growth of
Brucella
spp. under denitrifying conditions, which implies that this genus should be reconsidered as facultative anaerobic. Our study further describes that efficient denitrification is not equally found within the
Brucella
genus, with atypical species showing a greater ability to denitrify, correlated with higher expression of the genes involved, as compared to classical species.
Funder
BMEL | Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung
Foundation Infectiopole Sud
Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Infectious Diseases,Cell Biology,Microbiology (medical),Genetics,General Immunology and Microbiology,Ecology,Physiology
Cited by
1 articles.
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