The brucellae are Gram-negative bacteria that cause an important zoonosis. Studies with the main Brucella species have shown that the O-antigens of the Brucella smooth lipopolysaccharide are α-(1 → 2) and α-(1 → 3)-linked N-formyl-perosamine polysaccharides that carry M, A and C (A = M, A>M and A<M) epitopes relevant in serodiagnosis and typing. We report that, in contrast to the B. suis biovar...

For aerobic human pathogens, adaptation to hypoxia is a critical factor for the establishment of persistent infections, as oxygen availability is low inside the host. The two-component system RegB/A of Brucella suis plays a central role in the control of respiratory systems adapted to oxygen deficiency, and in persistence in vivo. Using an original "in vitro model of persistence" consisting in ...

Moreira-Jacob (J. Bacteriol. 86:599, 1963) reported that 44 strains of Brucella suis were inhibited by safranin 0 in Brucella Agar (Albimi), whereas nearly all of 320 other strains of Brucella were not inhibited. Brinley-Morgan (World Health Organization, Brucellosis document , 246, 1963) examined the growth of more than 80 cultures on serum dextrose agar with added safranin 0, and found that a...

Brucella spp. are facultative intracellular bacteria that can establish themselves and cause chronic disease in humans and animals. NK cells play a key role in host defense. They are implicated in an early immune response to a variety of pathogens. However, it was shown that they do not control Brucella infection in mice. On the other hand, NK cell activity is impaired in patients with acute br...

Brucella spp., like other pathogens, must cope with the environment of diverse host niches during the infection process. In doing this, pathogens evolved different type of transport systems to help them survive and disseminate within the host. Members of the TolC family have been shown to be involved in the export of chemically diverse molecules ranging from large protein toxins to small toxic ...

Neurobrucellosis has been reported to cause lesions in a number of different locations in the central nervous system. Histologically or radiologically, these lesions were consistent with an infection. In response to parents who believed their child's brain tumor, histologically typical of medulloblastoma, was in reality neurobrucellosis, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumor tissue from the me...

Adaptation to oxygen deficiency is essential for virulence and persistence of Brucella inside the host. The flexibility of this bacterium with respect to oxygen depletion is remarkable, since Brucella suis can use an oxygen-dependent transcriptional regulator of the FnrN family, two high-oxygen-affinity terminal oxidases, and a complete denitrification pathway to resist various conditions of ox...

Bovine brucellosis is an infectious disease caused by bacteria of the Brucella genus, primarily by B. abortus, less frequently by B. melitensis, and occasionally by B. suis. In the European Union, brucellosis in cattle has been eradicated in most of the Member States, which are recognized as 'officially free from bovine brucellosis'. Nevertheless, cattle herds continue to be serologically monit...

Streptococcus ruminantium is a recent reclassification of the former suis serovar 33. Although knowledge about S. extensive, information on host range and pathogenic potential still scarce. This bacterium has been isolated from lesions in domestic ruminants, but there are no reports wild animals. Here, we provide associated with Pyrenean chamois (Rupicapra pyrenaica) sheep NE Spain, as well phe...

1. Segura M. Streptococcus suis: an emerging human threat. J Infect Dis. 2009;199:4–6. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/594371 2. Wertheim HF, Nghia H, Taylor W, Schultsz C. Streptococcus suis: an emerging human pathogen. Clin Infect Dis. 2009;48:617– 25. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/596763 3. Yu H, Jing H, Chen Z, Zheng H, Zhu X, Wang H, et al. Human Streptococcus suis outbreak, Sichuan, China. Emerg In...