Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Clay Center, Nebraska » U.S. Meat Animal Research Center » Animal Health Genomics » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #378262

Research Project: Genomic Intervention Strategies to Prevent and/or Treat Respiratory Diseases of Ruminants

Location: Animal Health Genomics

Title: Component causes of infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis - the role of Moraxella species in the epidemiology of infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis

Author
item LOY, J. DUSTIN - UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA
item HILLE, MATTHEW - UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA
item MAIER, GABRIELE - UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
item Clawson, Michael - Mike

Submitted to: Veterinary Clinics of North America
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/2/2021
Publication Date: 7/1/2021
Citation: Loy, J.D., Hille, M., Maier, G., Clawson, M.L. 2021. Component causes of infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis - the role of Moraxella species in the epidemiology of infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis. Veterinary Clinics of North America:Food Animal Practice. 37(2):279-293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cvfa.2021.03.004.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cvfa.2021.03.004

Interpretive Summary: Infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK) is a disease complex involving multiple factors and opportunistic pathogens, such as members of the genus Moraxella, specifically Moraxella bovis. The causal role of M. bovis is clear, where the presence of virulence factors that facilitate colonization (pili) and host cytotoxicity (RTX toxins) are well characterized and IBK pathology has been reproduced in many models. Koch’s postulates remain unfulfilled for M. bovoculi. However, recent work using genomics and mass spectrometry have found genomic diversity and recombination within these species, making species differentiation complex and challenging the ability to assign IBK causality to these organisms.

Technical Abstract: Infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK) is a disease complex with multiple factors caused by opportunistic pathogens, such as those members of the genus Moraxella, specifically Moraxella bovis. The causal role of M. bovis is clear, where the presence of virulence factors that facilitate colonization (pili) and host cytotoxicity (RTX toxins) are well characterized and IBK pathology has been reproduced in many models. Koch’s postulates remain unfulfilled for M. bovoculi. However, recent work using genomics and mass spectrometry have begun to shed light on the role genomic diversity and recombination plays within these species, where the differentiation is not always forthright and may challenge the ability to assign causality.