The broad based pathogenesis study described here accomplishes all of the AREA program objectives: (1) supporting meritorious research, (2) exposing undergraduates to research, and (3) strengthening the research environments in non-research intensive schools. The experimental model, Bordetella avium, causes a highly contagious respiratory disease in its avian hosts, primarily turkeys, with striking similarity to whooping cough in children, caused by B. pertussis. Species specificity is determined largely by the attachment process of the bacteria to the tracheal cilia of the relevant host. The proposed study focuses on the attachment process.
The specific aims are to identify and characterize the specific bacterial molecules involved in attachment. Using both genetic and biochemical approaches, this study began with several well-defined mutant strains of B. avium which had lowered attachment rates in vivo and in vitro. Several mutants mapped to a B. avium chromosome region encoding homologs of B. pertussis pili and filamentous hemagglutinin, molecules identified in the attachment process in B. pertussis. These molecules will be purified and characterized, and other molecules essential to attachment will be identified and studied using two models, tracheal ring attachment and hemagglutination of guinea pig erythroctes. With this methodical approach of creating and analyzing relevant mutants and biochemically characterizing attachment molecules, the attachment process will be elucidated and described at the molecular level. The systematic examination of virulence factors in B. avium will yield important and useful information about that organism and the disease in turkeys, and may prove helpful in understanding disease causation among all the Bordetella species. Over the 3 year funding period, this project will expose more than 60 students in laboratory and independent research to an excellent model of research and give them an opportunity to make unique contributions to the study of an important pathogen. Having a broad based approach provides students with numerous opportunities to explore relevant scientific questions, exert creative thinking, and learn the fundaments of biomedical research. The ongoing collaborative study has served a catalytic role over the last four years, increasing the interest of students and faculty alike in research, and will continue to enhance the research environment for undergraduates in the sciences at Drew University.
| Spears, P A; Temple, L M; Orndorff, P E (2000) A role for lipopolysaccharide in turkey tracheal colonization by Bordetella avium as demonstrated in vivo and in vitro. Mol Microbiol 36:1425-35 |
| Temple, L M; Weiss, A A; Walker, K E et al. (1998) Bordetella avium virulence measured in vivo and in vitro. Infect Immun 66:5244-51 |
