Health Dictionary

This page is about microbiologic aspects of the organism(s). For clinical aspects of the disease, see Pertussis.

Overview

Bordetella pertussis is a Gram-negative, aerobic, non-motile, non-spore-forming coccobacillus. It is the pathogen responsible for pertussis (whooping cough). Unlike B. bronchiseptica, B. pertussis is not motile. Humans are the only known reservoir for B. pertussis. The lipopolysaccharide-containing outer membrane of B. pertussis is unique and contains a different phosphate composition from other bacterial outer membranes.

Bodetella pertussis

Higher Order Taxa

Kingdom: Bacteria
Phylum: Proteobacteria
Class: Betaproteobacteria
Order: Burkholderiales
Family: Alcaligenaceae
Genus: Bordetella
Species: B. pertussis

Genome

The genome of B. pertussis consists of 1 circular chromosome and plasmids.

The circular chromosome contains 3867 genes and 4,086,189 nucleotides.^[1]
The IncP-1 beta plasmid pBP136 carries 46 ORFs and contains 41,268 bp nucleotides.^[1]

Structure

B. pertussis is a Gram-negative, aerobic, non-spore forming coccobacillus.
Compared with Bordetella bronchiseptica, B. pertussis is non-motile.
It contains an outer membrane, an inner membrane, and a periplasmic space between the 2 membranes.^[2]
The rough lipopolysaccharide on the outer membrane (also called lipooligosaccharide) contains a phosphate composition (containing lipid X) that is different from other bacterial lipopolysaccharides (containing lipid A). The B. pertussis outer membrane is thus a distinguishing feature of B. pertussis.^[2]

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Kamachi K, Sota M, Tamai Y, Nagata N, Konda T, Inoue T; et al. (2006). “Plasmid pBP136 from Bordetella pertussis represents an ancestral form of IncP-1beta plasmids without accessory mobile elements”. Microbiology. 152 (Pt 12): 3477–84. doi:10.1099/mic.0.29056-0. PMID 17159199.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Harvill ET, Preston A, Cotter PA, Allen AG, Maskell DJ, Miller JF (2000). “Multiple roles for Bordetella lipopolysaccharide molecules during respiratory tract infection”. Infect Immun. 68 (12): 6720–8. PMC 97772. PMID 11083787.

Ray, C.G., ed. (2004). Sherris Medical Microbiology (4th ed.). McGraw Hill. ISBN 0-8385-8529-9.
Todar, K. (2008). “Bordetella pertussis and Whooping Cough”. Online Textbook of Bacteriology. Retrieved December 11, 2009.

[pmid17159199-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Kamachi K, Sota M, Tamai Y, Nagata N, Konda T, Inoue T; et al. (2006). “Plasmid pBP136 from Bordetella pertussis represents an ancestral form of IncP-1beta plasmids without accessory mobile elements”. Microbiology. 152 (Pt 12): 3477–84. doi:10.1099/mic.0.29056-0. PMID 17159199.

[pmid11083787-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Harvill ET, Preston A, Cotter PA, Allen AG, Maskell DJ, Miller JF (2000). “Multiple roles for Bordetella lipopolysaccharide molecules during respiratory tract infection”. Infect Immun. 68 (12): 6720–8. PMC 97772. PMID 11083787.

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