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Title: USE OF RIBOTYPING TO DISTINQUISH ISOLATES OF BORDETELLA BRONCHISEPTICA

Author
item Register, Karen
item BOISVERT, AGATHA - IA STATE UNIV., AMES, IA
item Ackermann, Mark

Submitted to: International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/5/1997
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Bordetella bronchiseptica infects a wide variety of mammals. It causes atrophic rhinitis and pneumonia in swine, diseases that are extremely costly to the swine production industry worldwide. B. bronchiseptica also causes acute tracheobronchitis in dogs and bronchopneumonia in many species, including rabbits, guinea pigs, cats, and horses. Successful control of the diseases caused by B. bronchiseptica in swine and other hosts will require a knowledge of how the organism is spread. At the present time we know very little in this regard, primarily because there is no reliable system for distinquishing one strain from another that would permit tracking of strains as they move within or between populations of susceptible animals. A number of other bacterial pathogens have been classified by a technique called ribotyping, which is based on the analysis of ribsomal RNA genes. In this study, we demonstrate that ribotyping allows B. bronchiseptica strains obtained from different hosts to be differentiated from one another. The technique will allow us to understand how B. bronchiseptica spreads within herds and whether it is transmitted from one host species to another. This knowledge will enable clinicians and producers to more effectively prevent and control outbreaks of disease in swine and other species, ultimately resulting in reduced costs for producers and consumers.

Technical Abstract: A total of 113 Bordetella bronchiseptica strains, isolated from 11 different host species worldwide, were characterized by ribotyping with the restriction enzyme PvuII. Sixteen distinct ribotypes were identified, each of which contained 5 to 7 restriction fragments ranging in size from 1.8 Kb to 5.6 Kb. Approximately 88% of swine isolates were identified as ribotype 3. Isolates from dogs also displayed little variation; 74.1% were found to be ribotype 4. Strains obtained from the remaining 9 host species were represented by 15 different ribotypes. There was no association between geographic location and ribotype. This technique may be useful for epidemiologic studies investigating the transmission of B. bronchiseptica, both within and between species.