A cell wall antigen of Brucella canis was purified by immunosorbent columns. The antigen contained two proteins of 30 and 28 kilodaltons and a polysaccharide exhibiting a 12-kilodalton band upon 12.5% sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Antibody to the purified antigen, which specifically reacted with the polysaccharide, was used as the first coating antibody in an enzyme...

Human serological assays designed to detect brucellosis will miss infections caused by Brucella canis, and low levels of periodic bacteremia limit diagnosis by blood culture. Recent B. canis outbreaks in dogs and concomitant illnesses in caretakers suggest that unapparent human infections may be occurring. With more than a quarter of a million persons in occupations involving dogs, and nearly 8...

BACKGROUND MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry (MS) is a reliable method for bacteria identification. Some databases used for this purpose lack reference profiles for Brucella species, which is still an important pathogen in wide areas around the world. We report the creation of profiles for MALDI-TOF Biotyper 2.0 database (Bruker Daltonics, Germany) and their usefulness for identifying brucellae from ...

Expression of the virB operon, encoding the type IV secretion system required for Brucella suis virulence, occurred in the acidic phagocytic vacuoles of macrophages and could be induced in minimal medium at acidic pH values. To analyze the production of VirB proteins, polyclonal antisera against B. suis VirB5 and VirB8 were generated. Western blot analysis revealed that VirB5 and VirB8 were det...