Chlamydophila psittaci 83554 Respiratory psittacosis, avian chlamydiosis Chlamydophila psittaci is a lethal intracellular bacterial species that causes endemic avian chlamydiosis, epizootic outbreaks in mammals, and respiratory psittacosis in humans. Chlamydophila psittaci is transmitted by inhalation, contact or ingestion among birds and to mammals. Psittacosis in birds and in humans often starts with flu-like symptoms and becomes a life-threatening pneumonia. Many strains remain quiescent in birds until activated under stress. Birds are excellent, highly mobile vectors for the distribution of chlamydial infection because they feed on, and have access to, the detritus of infected animals of all sorts. Chlamydophila psittaci was previously classified as Chlamydia psittaci. The former 'mammalian' Chlamydia psittaci abortion, feline and Guinea pig strains have been moved to three new species (see: Chlamydophila abortus, Chlamydophila felis, Chlamydophila caviae). C. psittaci in birds is often systemic and infections can be inapparent, severe, acute or chronic with intermittent shedding.[ambiguous] C. psittaci strains in birds infect mucosal epithelial cells and macrophages of the respiratory tract. Septicaemia eventually develops and the bacteria become localized in epithelial cells and macrophages of most organs, conjunctiva, and gastrointestinal tract. It can also be passed in the eggs. Stress will commonly trigger onset of severe symptoms, resulting in rapid deterioration and death. C. psittaci strains are similar in virulence, grow readily in cell culture, have 16S-rRNA genes that differ by <0.8%, and belong to eight known serovars. All should be considered to be readily transmissible to humans. C. psittaci serovar A is endemic among psittacine birds and has caused sporadic zoonotic disease in humans, other mammals and tortoises. Serovar B is endemic among pigeons, has been isolated from turkeys, and has also been identified as the cause of abortion in a dairy herd. Serovars C and D are occupational hazards for slaughterhouse workers and for people in contact with birds. Serovar E isolates (known as Cal-10, MP or MN) have been obtained from a variety of avian hosts worldwide and, although they were associated with the 1920s–1930s outbreak in humans, a specific reservoir for serovar E has not been identified. The M56 and WC serovars were isolated during outbreaks in mammals. Many C. psittaci strains are susceptible to bacteriophages (Wiki: Chlamydophila psittaci). Cattle Bos taurus 9913 Chicken Gallus gallus 9031 chinchillas Chinchillidae 10150 Copper Pheasant Syrmaticus soemmerringii 9067 Deer mouse Peromyscus maniculatus 10042 Ducks Anas 8835 Ferret Mustela putorius furo 9669 Goat Capra hircus 9925 Guinea pig Cavia porcellus 10141 Hamster Mesocricetus auratus 10036 Horse Equus caballus 9796 Human Homo sapiens 9606 Monkey Platyrrhini 9479 Mouse Mus musculus 10090 Pig Sus scrofa 9823 Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus 9986 Rat Rattus 10114 Raven Corvus corax 56781 Sheep Ovis aries 9940 Vole Microtus ochrogaster 79684 C. psittaci DNA vaccine pcDNA1/MOMP VO_0011426 Research Intramuscular injection (i.m.) Intramuscular injection (i.m.) DNA vaccine construction To enhance the expression of MOMP in turkey cells, the coding sequence of the ompA gene was adapted and optimised to the codon usage in birds (GenScript Corporation, New Jersey, USA) in order to increase the codon adaptation index (CAI). The CAI was calculated (http://www.evolvingcode.net/codon/cai/cai.php) based on the most frequent codon usage in chickens and turkeys. EGFP was cloned downstream from the codon optimised ompAopt into the EcoRV restriction site of pcDNA1, resulting in the final construct: pcDNA1/MOMPopt–EGFP. Plasmid DNA was propagated in Escherichia coli MC1061/P3, purified using the EndoFree® Plasmid Giga kit (Qiagen, Venlo, The Netherlands) and dissolved in 20 mM Hepes buffer (pH 7.4). Following purification, a PCR reaction on the plasmid was performed with vector associated SP6 and T7 primers to amplify the fusion construct cloned into the multicloning site of pcDNA1(Verminnen et al., 2010). SPF Three groups received a primary DNA inoculation at 1 day of age and one booster inoculation 3 weeks later. Groups 1 and 2 were twice immunised intramuscularly with respectively naked plasmid DNA or brPEI-pcDNA/MOMPopt, while group 3 was vaccinated at both time points through nebulisation of brPEI-pcDNA/MOMPopt. The control group (4) was left unvaccinated (Verminnen et al., 2010). The ompA codon was adapted to the codon usage in birds, resulting in pcDNA1/MOMP(opt). Researchers examined the capacity of nebulised or intramuscularly (IM) administered brPEI-pcDNA1/MOMP(opt) to induce a significant protective immune response in SPF turkeys experimentally infected with 10^8 TCID(50) of a virulent Cp. psittaci strain. Vaccinated groups were significantly protected against Cp. psittaci challenge (Verminnen et al., 2010). Turkeys were challenged by aerosol infection at the age of 5.5 weeks using the Cirrus™ nebulizer. The challenge infection consisted of 108 TCID50 of Cp. psittaci strain 92/1293 (avian genotype D strain). All turkeys were euthanized at 25 days post-challenge (PC) (Verminnen et al., 2010). OmpA Chlamydophila psittaci VO_0010924 94467392 CDD:144782 83554 ? 69 Detected from a 1 year old clinically normal bird that was imported from Singapore >gi|94467392|dbj|BAE93857.1| ompA [Chlamydophila psittaci] FDIFCTLGASNGYFKSSSAAFNLVGLIGFSATNSTSTDLPMQLPNVGITQGVVEFYTDTSFSWSVGARG Protective antigen The ompA codon was adapted to the codon usage in birds, resulting in pcDNA1/MOMP(opt). Researchers examined the capacity of nebulised or intramuscularly (IM) administered brPEI-pcDNA1/MOMP(opt) to induce a significant protective immune response in SPF turkeys experimentally infected with 10^8 TCID(50) of a virulent Cp. psittaci strain. Vaccinated groups were significantly protected against Cp. psittaci challenge [Ref1358:Verminnen et al., 2010]. Harkinezhad et al., 2009 journal Harkinezhad T, Schautteet K, Vanrompay D 2009 40 6 61 Veterinary research Verminnen et al., 2010 journal Verminnen K, Beeckman DS, Sanders NN, De Smedt S, Vanrompay DC 2010 28 18 3095-3105 Vaccine Wiki: Chlamydophila psittaci website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlamydophila_psittaci Zhang et al., 2009 journal Zhang X, Yuan Z, Duan Q, Zhu H, Yu H, Wang Q 2009 27 10 1596-1600 Vaccine