Title:	Genetic diversity of the Leptospiral immunoglobulin-like (Lig) genes in pathogenic Leptospira spp.
Authors:	McBride, Alan John Alexander Cerqueira, Gustavo Maia de Suchard, Marc A Moreira, Ângela N Zuerner, Richard L Reis, Mitermayer Galvão dos Haake, David A Ko, Albert Icksang Dellagostin, Odir Antonio
Affilliation:	Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, Brasil Universidade Federal de Pelotas. Centro de Biotecnologia. Pelotas, RS, Brasil David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Department of Biomathematics. Department of Human Genetics. Department of Biostatistics. Los Angeles, CA, USA Universidade Federal de Pelotas. Centro de Biotecnologia. Pelotas, RS, Brasil National Animal Disease Centre. Agricultural Research Service. U.S. Department of Agriculture Ames. Iowa, USA Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, Brasil Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. Los Angeles, CA, USA / David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Department of Medicine. Los Angeles, CA, USA Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Moniz. Salvador, BA, Brasil / Division of International Medicine and Infectious Disease. Weill Medical College of Cornell University. New York, NY, USA Universidade Federal de Pelotas. Centro de Biotecnologia. Pelotas, RS, Brasil
Abstract:	Recent serologic, immunoprotection, and pathogenesis studies identified the Lig proteins as key virulence determinants in interactions of leptospiral pathogens with the mammalian host. We examined the sequence variation and recombination patterns of ligA, ligB, and ligC among 10 pathogenic strains from five Leptospira species. All strains were found to have intact ligB genes and genetic drift accounting for most of the ligB genetic diversity observed. The ligA gene was found exclusively in L. interrogans and L. kirschneri strains, and was created from ligB by a two-step partial gene duplication process. The aminoterminal domain of LigB and the LigA paralog were essentially identical (98.5 ± 0.8% mean identity) in strains with both genes. Like ligB, ligC gene variation also followed phylogenetic patterns, suggesting an early gene duplication event. However, ligC is a pseudogene in several strains, suggesting that LigC is not essential for virulence. Two ligB genes and one ligC gene had mosaic compositions and evidence for recombination events between related Leptospira species was also found for some ligA genes. In conclusion, the results presented here indicate that Lig diversity has important ramifications for the selection of Lig polypeptides for use in diagnosis and as vaccine candidates. This sequence information will aid the identification of highly conserved regions within the Lig proteins and improve upon the performance characteristics of the Lig proteins in diagnostic assays and in subunit vaccine formulations with the potential to confer heterologous protection.
Keywords:	Leptospirosis Lig Pathogenesis Molecular evolution Sequence analysis
DeCS:	Antígenos de Bactérias/genética DNA Bacteriano/genética Variação Genética Animais Leptospira/fisiologia Leptospira/genética Leptospira/imunologia Leptospirose/imunologia Dados de Sequência Molecular Filogenia Análise de Sequência de DNA Análise de Sequência de Proteína
Issue Date:	2008
Publisher:	National Institute of Health
Citation:	McBRIDE, A. J. A. et al. Genetic diversity of the Leptospiral immunoglobulin-like (Lig) genes in pathogenic Leptospira spp. Infections, Genetics and Evolution, v. 9, n. 2, p. 196-205, 2009.
DOI:	10.1016/j.meegid.2008.10.012.
ISSN:	1567-7257
Copyright:	open access
Appears in Collections:	BA - IGM - Artigos de Periódicos

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