Adhesion of Gallibacterium anatis to Chicken Oropharyngeal Epithelial Cells and the Identification of Putative Fimbriae

Mónica L. Salgado Lucio, Sergio Vaca, Candelario Vázquez, Edgar Zenteno, Ismael Rea, Víctor M. Pérez-Márquez, Erasmo Negrete-Abascal

Biotecnología Veterinaria, Tehuacán, Mexico.
Carrera de Biología, Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Tlalnepantla, México.
Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias Microbiológicas, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP), Puebla, México.
Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México City, México.

DOI: 10.4236/aim.2012.24064                

Abstract

Microbial infections are typically initiated by the colonization of tissues by a specific mechanism that promotes adherence to host cells or tissues. In this work, we characterized the ability of Gallibacterium anatis F149^T to express fimbriae that may be involved in mucosal attachment. Using transmission electron microscopy, the fimbriae-like structures could be observed on the surface of negatively stained G. anatis F149^T, and these structures were further visualized after being released by physical shaking. When the fimbriae-like structures were separated by SDS-PAGE, the proteins comprising them were isolated and sized at 13 and 25 kDa. G. anatis F149^T was able to adhere to chicken oropharyngeal epithelial cells. Adhesion could be completely inhibited by pretreatment of the bacterial cells with trypsin, whereas 25% inhibition was attained after pretreatment with an antiserum against the 13 kDa protein. We demonstrated by immuno-gold electron microscopy that the antibodies from the antiserum were specifically associated with the fimbria-like structures on G. anatis. These results indicated that G. anatis F149^T expresses fimbriae that contribute to its adhesion to chicken oropharyngeal epithelial cells and may be important for colonization of the upper respiratory tract.

Keywords

G. anatis; Adhesion; Fimbria; Pili

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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