The genome sequences of many microorganisms have now been determined. Several of these organisms are the agents of infectious disease The sequences reveal many genes of unknown function. The genome sequence information should enable new approaches to be developed to determine the function of genes and their possible role in pathogenesis. A functional genomics approach will be used to identify proteins important for the Treponema pallidum host-pathogen interaction. T. pallidum is the causative agent of syphilis. The complete genome sequence of this organism has been completed. Several features of T. pallidum make it an excellent system on which to develop and test functional genomics technologies. First, with a size of 1 million base pairs, the genome is one of the smallest known. Second, there are a total of 1031 open reading frames, which makes it feasible to systematically construct libraries containing each open reading frame in a relatively short period of time. Finally, little is known of the biology or pathogenesis of this organism because a continuous culture system is not available. This severely limits the experimental options for study of the organism. Therefore, new approaches are needed to understand gene function in T. pallidum. During the previous funding period, we have used a topoisomerase-based method to clone PCR products encoding 1008 of the 1031 open reading frames identified in the genome sequence of T. pallidum. In addition, the plasmid vector system used for cloning the open reading frames, the univector system, permits the rapid conversion of the original plasmid clone set to other functional vectors containing various promoters or tag sequences. The conversion to functional vectors is based on a single step Cre-loxP site-specific recombination reaction. Using Cre-loxP recombination, the T. pallidum clone set has been converted to specialized vectors for large scale protein expression, phage display and two-hybrid analysis. These plasmid collections will be used in a functional genomics approach to i) identify proteins involved in adhesion to host cells, ii) systematically identify T. pallidum antigenic proteins, and iii) establish a large-scale protein-protein interaction network among periplasmic and surface localized proteins.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AI045842-05
Application #
6656328
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-EVR (01))
Program Officer
Quackenbush, Robert L
Project Start
1999-07-15
Project End
2007-02-28
Budget Start
2003-03-01
Budget End
2004-02-29
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2003
Total Cost
$301,000
Indirect Cost
Name
Baylor College of Medicine
Department
Microbiology/Immun/Virology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
051113330
City
Houston
State
TX
Country
United States
Zip Code
77030
Titz, Bjorn; Rajagopala, Seesandra V; Goll, Johannes et al. (2008) The binary protein interactome of Treponema pallidum--the syphilis spirochete. PLoS One 3:e2292
Brinkman, Mary Beth; McGill, Melanie A; Pettersson, Jonas et al. (2008) A novel Treponema pallidum antigen, TP0136, is an outer membrane protein that binds human fibronectin. Infect Immun 76:1848-57
Matejkova, Petra; Strouhal, Michal; Smajs, David et al. (2008) Complete genome sequence of Treponema pallidum ssp. pallidum strain SS14 determined with oligonucleotide arrays. BMC Microbiol 8:76
Brinkman, Mary Beth; McKevitt, Matthew; McLoughlin, Melanie et al. (2006) Reactivity of antibodies from syphilis patients to a protein array representing the Treponema pallidum proteome. J Clin Microbiol 44:888-91
McKevitt, Matthew; Brinkman, Mary Beth; McLoughlin, Melanie et al. (2005) Genome scale identification of Treponema pallidum antigens. Infect Immun 73:4445-50
Smajs, David; McKevitt, Matthew; Howell, Jerrilyn K et al. (2005) Transcriptome of Treponema pallidum: gene expression profile during experimental rabbit infection. J Bacteriol 187:1866-74
Materon, Isabel C; Queenan, Anne Marie; Koehler, Theresa M et al. (2003) Biochemical characterization of beta-lactamases Bla1 and Bla2 from Bacillus anthracis. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 47:2040-2
McKevitt, Matthew; Patel, Krupa; Smajs, David et al. (2003) Systematic cloning of Treponema pallidum open reading frames for protein expression and antigen discovery. Genome Res 13:1665-74
Majiduddin, Fahd K; Materon, Isabel C; Palzkill, Timothy G (2002) Molecular analysis of beta-lactamase structure and function. Int J Med Microbiol 292:127-37
Hoe, N P; Kordari, P; Cole, R et al. (2000) Human immune response to streptococcal inhibitor of complement, a serotype M1 group A Streptococcus extracellular protein involved in epidemics. J Infect Dis 182:1425-36

Showing the most recent 10 out of 11 publications