Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2016 Sep:98:118-31.
doi: 10.1016/j.micpath.2016.06.013. Epub 2016 Jun 11.

Comparative analyses of transport proteins encoded within the genomes of Leptospira species

Bora Buyuktimkin  1 , Milton H Saier Jr  2
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Comparative analyses of transport proteins encoded within the genomes of Leptospira species

Bora Buyuktimkin et al. Microb Pathog. 2016 Sep.

Abstract

Select species of the bacterial genus Leptospira are causative agents of leptospirosis, an emerging global zoonosis affecting nearly one million people worldwide annually. We examined two Leptospira pathogens, Leptospira interrogans serovar Lai str. 56601 and Leptospira borgpetersenii serovar Hardjo-bovis str. L550, as well as the free-living leptospiral saprophyte, Leptospira biflexa serovar Patoc str. 'Patoc 1 (Ames)'. The transport proteins of these leptospires were identified and compared using bioinformatics to gain an appreciation for which proteins may be related to pathogenesis and saprophytism. L. biflexa possesses a disproportionately high number of secondary carriers for metabolite uptake and environmental adaptability as well as an increased number of inorganic cation transporters providing ionic homeostasis and effective osmoregulation in a rapidly changing environment. L. interrogans and L. borgpetersenii possess far fewer transporters, but those that they all have are remarkably similar, with near-equivalent representation in most transporter families. These two Leptospira pathogens also possess intact sphingomyelinases, holins, and virulence-related outer membrane porins. These virulence-related factors, in conjunction with decreased transporter substrate versatility, indicate that pathogenicity arose in Leptospira correlating to progressively narrowing ecological niches and the emergence of a limited set of proteins responsible for host invasion. The variability of host tropism and mortality rates by infectious leptospires suggests that small differences in individual sets of proteins play important physiological and pathological roles.

Keywords: Genome analyses; Leptospira; Leptospirosis; Molecular transport; Pathogenesis; Spirochaetes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Representation of families unique to L. interrogans, L. borgpetersenii, L. biflexa, both L. biflexa and L. interrogans, both L. biflexa and L. borgpetersenii, and both L. interrogans and L. borgpetersenii. Families found in all three species are listed in the central area.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of transporters based on TC (A) classes and (B) subclasses in L. interrogans, L. borgpetersenii, and L. biflexa.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of transporters based on TC (A) classes and (B) subclasses in L. interrogans, L. borgpetersenii, and L. biflexa.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distribution of transporters based on substrate (A) category and (B) subcategory in L. interrogans, L. borgpetersenii, and L. biflexa.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distribution of transporters based on substrate (A) category and (B) subcategory in L. interrogans, L. borgpetersenii, and L. biflexa.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Bharti AR, Nally JE, Ricaldi JN, Matthias MA, Diaz MM, Lovett MA, et al. Leptospirosis: a zoonotic disease of global importance. Lancet Infect Dis. 2003;3:757–71. - PubMed
    1. Duplessis CA, Sklar MJ, Maves RC, Spichler A, Hale B, Johnson M, et al. Hemoptysis associated with leptospirosis acquired in Hawaii, USA. Emerg Infect Dis. 2011;17:2375–7. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Vinetz JM, Glass GE, Flexner CE, Mueller P, Kaslow DC. Sporadic urban leptospirosis. Ann Intern Med. 1996;125:794–8. - PubMed
    1. Toliver HL, Krane NK. Leptospirosis in New Orleans. Am J Med Sci. 2014;347:159–63. - PubMed
    1. Paixao Mdos S, Alves-Martin MF, Tenorio Mda S, Starke-Buzetti WA, Alves ML, da Silva DT, et al. Serology, isolation, and molecular detection of Leptospira spp. from the tissues and blood of rats captured in a wild animal preservation centre in Brazil. Prev Vet Med. 2014;115:69–73. - PubMed

Publication types

Substances

LinkOut - more resources