Yersinia Flashcards
What 3 species of Yersinia are of veterinary importance?
- Y. pestis (Black Plague!)
- Y. enterocolitica
- Y. pseudotuberculosis
What is the overall structure of Yersinia? How do they characteristically stain? How is the presence of flagella different for each species?
Gram-negative rod
bipolar staining
ABSENT (non-motile, lack H antigen) = Y. pestis
PRESENT (motile) = Y. enterocolitica, Y. pseudotuberculosis
What 2 structures characteristic of Gram-negative bacteria does Yersinia contain?
- T3SS
- siderophores
What fermentation does Yersinia undergo? How does it test on a urease test? Coagulase test?
lactose non-fermenter
urease positive
coagulase positive
How does Yersinia grow in TSI media?
does not produce H2S or other gases (no broken media) - color changes to yellow
How must Yersinia pestis be handled?
needs permission for laboratory handling by US government - bioterrorism agent
In what 4 ways is Yersinia pestis spread?
- flea bites
- meat ingestions of infected rodents (cats and dogs + rats)
- contact with infected secretions or tissue
- aerosol transmission to humans from pneumonic plague-infected humans or cats
What disease does Yersinia pestis cause? How does it present?
bubonic plague (Black Plague)
black death - gangrene that turns affected digits black, coughing up dark sputum
How does serotype diversity compare in the species of Yersinia?
Y. pestis —> homogenous (1 serotype)
Y. enterocolitica —> 70 O serotypes (LPS)
Y. pseudotuberculosis —> 15 O serotypes (LPS)
How has Yersinia adapted to its environment?
Y. enterocolitica is able to proliferate at refrigeration temperatures, making it a common cause of enterocolitis in colder areas of Europe and North America
What is the most common habitat of Yersinia?
GI tract of animals and fleas (Y. pestis)
- primarily animal pathogens, but can be passed to humans through direct or indirect contact
What are the 2 cycles of transmission that Yersinia pestis undergoes?
WILD/SYLVANTIC: flea, rodents, wildlife; fleas rely on infected rodents, like mice and prarie dogs, to pass infection off to others - humans are rarely in contact with these rodents, but flea bites can still transmit plague
DOMESTIC/URBAN: flea, rodents, domestic animals; rats are in closer contact with humans and bites from fleas transmit infection
What 5 outer surface structures act as virulence factors in Yersinia?
- capsule - prevents and promotes serum resistance and elicits a hemorrhagic inflammatory lesion
- lipopolysaccharide - endotoxin, pyrogen, blood vessel destruction
- low calcium response virulence (LcrV) - inhibits excretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, neutrophil chemotaxis, and cytokine production
- attachment invasion (Ail) and Yersinia adhesion (Yad) - attachment and adhesion to microfold (M) cells of the gut, Peyer’s patches, and lymph nodes
- invasion protein A - host cell invasin, bacterial translocation
What are the 2 routes that Yersinia can take to reach mesenteric lymph nodes?
- Yersinia cells traverse the intestinal epithelium to the submucosa…..
1. submucosal macrophages phagocytose the pathogen and enter into the lymphatic system, reaching mesenteric lymph nodes
2. bacteria is engulfed by M cells, enter Peyer’s patches, forms microcolonies and replicates, and eventually are taken to the mesenteric lymph nodes
What 5 enzymes act as virulence factors in Yersinia?
- plasminogen activator (Pla/protease) - adhesion, initiates disseminated intravascular coagulation, endotoxemia, spread to lymph nodes and lung
- global stress requirement (Gsr/protease) - intracytoplasmic survival within macrophages
- coagulase - adhesion, initiates disseminated intravascular coagulation
- Yersinia murine toxin (Ymt/phospholipase D) - protection within fleas from attack by forming a capsule, disseminator
- urease - survival in the acidic stomach, intestinal colonization