Bordetellae are gram-negative bacteria that colonize the respiratory tracts of animals and humans. We and others have recently shown that these bacteria are capable of living as sessile communities known as biofilms on a number of abiotic surfaces. During the biofilm mode of existence, bacteria produce one or more extracellular polymeric substances that function, in part, to hold the cells toge...

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PCR, using primers Plp1 and Plp2, was evaluated for the detection of DNA from Bordetella pertussis in bacterial strains and in nasopharyngeal samples from patients with a cough lasting at least 7 days. The assay could detect DNA from 6 CFU of B. pertussis/10 microl of sample. Results of the PCR assay were compared with those of cultures, a determination of serum antibodies against pertussis tox...

The Bordetella type III secretion system (T3SS) effector protein BteA is necessary and sufficient for rapid cytotoxicity in a wide range of mammalian cells. We show that BteA is highly conserved and functionally interchangeable between Bordetella bronchiseptica, Bordetella pertussis and Bordetella parapertussis. The identification of BteA sequences required for cytotoxicity allowed the construc...

Bordetella pertussis, B. bronchiseptica, B. parapertussis(hu), and B. parapertussis(ov) are closely related respiratory pathogens that infect mammalian species. B. pertussis and B. parapertussis(hu) are exclusively human pathogens and cause whooping cough, or pertussis, a disease that has resurged despite vaccination. Although it most often infects animals, infrequently B. bronchiseptica is iso...

Presence of antibody to adenylate cyclase toxin (ACT) has been noted following Bordetella pertussis infection. Because ACT is not presently in any acellular pertussis vaccines, it has been considered as a possible antigen to use in B. pertussis diagnostic enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) studies. We determined antibody to B. pertussis ACT by ELISA and Western blot tests in serum sample...

The ptl locus of Bordetella pertussis contains eight open reading frames which are predicted to encode proteins (PtlA to PtlH) that are essential for secretion of pertussis toxin from the bacterium and which are members of a family of transport proteins found in other types of bacteria. We have detected PtlE, PtlF, and PtlG in immunoblots of extracts of B. pertussis by using antibodies raised t...

background pertussis is a respiratory and contagious disease which is mostly caused by bordetella pertussis and b. parapertussis. it usually spreads from person to personduring the incubation or catarrhal phase of the disease. despite of large-scale vaccination, whooping cough is still an endemic disease with several outbreaks. objectives the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of...

We have characterized a new virulence factor in Bordetella pertussis: serum resistance. Compared with Escherichia coli HB101, wild-type B. pertussis was relatively resistant to classical-pathway, complement-dependent killing by normal human serum. However, a mutant of B. pertussis (BPM2041) which is less virulent in mice and which has Tn5 lac inserted in a previously uncharacterized bvg-regulat...