Comparison of Multilocus Sequence Types Found Among Recent North American Isolates of Mycoplasma bovis from Cattle, Bison and Deer

Authors: Register, Karen; JELINSKI, MURRAY - University Of Saskatchewan; WALDNER, MATTHEW - University Of Saskatchewan; Boatwright, Jr, William; Anderson, Tavis; HUNTER, DAVID - Turner Enterprises, Inc; HAMILTON, ROBERT - The Nature Conservancy; SHURY, TODD - Parks Canada, Banff National Park; BILDFELL, ROB - Oregon State University; WOLFF, PEREGRINE - Nevada Department Of Wildlife; MISKIMINS, DALE - South Dakota State University; DERSCHEID, RACHEL - Iowa State University; WODBURY, MURRAY - University Of Saskatchewan; BURRAGE, PAT - Bluffton Veterinary Services

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/28/2019
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Mycoplasma bovis is a cause of respiratory disease in cattle and is a frequent contributor to Bovine Respiratory Disease Complex. It has recently emerged as a major health problem in bison, causing pharyngitis, pneumonia, arthritis and abortion. Prior multilocus sequence typing (MLST) studies suggested the M. bovis sequence types (STs) associated with disease in bison may be unique from those found among isolates causing disease in cattle. However, all bison isolates evaluated were acquired between 2007 and 2014, while only ~20% of available cattle isolates originated during that timeframe, with only one from North America. The goal of our study was to compare STs of additional, contemporary North American cattle isolates with those found among bison isolates, as well as two isolates recovered from North American deer, all originating during the same timeframe, so as to more definitively evaluate potential strain-related host specificity and gain a more comprehensive understanding of the degree of genetic diversity of the M. bovis populations recently circulating within these hosts. Methods and Results. We evaluated a total of 307 isolates, all obtained between 2007 and 2017. They include 209 from cattle (31 from the United States and 178 from Canada), 96 from bison (53 from the United States and 43 from Canada) and one isolate each from a white-tailed deer and a mule deer (both from the United States). Isolates were assigned STs according to the pubMLST.org reference scheme, using data retrieved from genome sequences or obtained from sequencing PCR amplicons. A total of 49 STs was identified among the isolates examined, including 41 not previously reported, with 39 found exclusively in cattle and five found exclusively in bison. Four STs are shared between isolates from both bison and cattle, while one ST was found in cattle as well as a white-tailed deer. Isolate KRB1, cultured from the pneumonic lung of a mule deer, is nontypeable due to a deletion of one of the MLST target genes, adh-1. The population of M. bovis recently circulating within North American bison, which includes only nine STs, has relatively limited diversity as compared to the population found in North American cattle over a similar timeframe. Most bison isolates (~64%) have STs currently unique to bison. An MLST-based phylogeny comprised of the 155 STs defined from the global collection of isolates thus far submitted to the pubMLST Isolates Database reveals that STs found in bison fall within several divergent lineages that include STs found exclusively in cattle.