Dong Jiajun, Zhang Liujun, He Hengxu, Jin Yue, Wang Yabin, Chen Liying
College of Veterinary Medicine, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
Key Laboratory for Animal-derived Food Safety of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
J Appl Microbiol. 2022 Apr;132(4):3293-3301. doi: 10.1111/jam.15409. Epub 2022 Jan 3.
The study aimed to investigate the prevalence and conservation of endocarditis and biofilm-associated pili (ebp) genes in Enterococcus faecalis originated from animals and the potential of developing Ebp into serological diagnostic and vaccine targets.
In this work, we investigated the prevalence and conservation of ebp genes in 116 strains of E. faecalis originated from animals by using PCR and sequencing methods. The results demonstrated the presence of ebp genes (ebpA, ebpB and ebpC) in all 116 strains of E. faecalis, and their amino acid homology ranges from 96.6% to 100.0%. Moreover, the phylogenetic analysis of ebp genes in all 164 E. faecalis strains (including 48 reference strains) revealed that ebp genes show no significant correlation with species origins and regions of E. faecalis, indicating that ebp genes are conserved features in E. faecalis, even though it evolved under environmental pressures from various regions and origins. Given that EbpA1 as a part of the adhesion protein EbpA has immunogenicity, we further determined whether amino acid mutations have effects on the function and 3D structure of EbpA1. The results showed that two of the 26 mutations, at amino acids positions 178 and 387, had deleterious effects on the biological function of EbpA1 protein, while all mutations had no effect on the 3D structure or binding pockets of EbpA1 protein.
This study suggests that ebp genes are prevalent and conserved in E. faecalis originated from diverse animal origins and regions. EbpA1 could be a potential target for serological diagnosis and vaccine development to prevent E. faecalis infection.
The current study provides data to support further research on Ebp as a serological diagnostic and vaccine target against E. faecalis infection.
本研究旨在调查源自动物的粪肠球菌中心内膜炎和生物膜相关菌毛（ebp）基因的流行情况与保守性，以及将Ebp开发为血清学诊断和疫苗靶点的潜力。
在本研究中，我们采用PCR和测序方法，调查了116株源自动物的粪肠球菌中ebp基因的流行情况与保守性。结果显示，所有116株粪肠球菌中均存在ebp基因（ebpA、ebpB和ebpC），其氨基酸同源性范围为96.6%至100.0%。此外，对所有164株粪肠球菌（包括48株参考菌株）的ebp基因进行系统发育分析，结果表明ebp基因与粪肠球菌的物种来源和区域无显著相关性，这表明ebp基因是粪肠球菌的保守特征，即便它在来自不同区域和来源的环境压力下进化。鉴于作为粘附蛋白EbpA一部分的EbpA1具有免疫原性，我们进一步确定氨基酸突变是否会对EbpA1的功能和三维结构产生影响。结果表明，26个突变中的两个，即第178位和第387位氨基酸突变，对EbpA1蛋白的生物学功能有有害影响，而所有突变对EbpA1蛋白的三维结构或结合口袋均无影响。
本研究表明，ebp基因在源自动物的不同来源和区域的粪肠球菌中普遍存在且保守。EbpA1可能是预防粪肠球菌感染的血清学诊断和疫苗开发的潜在靶点。
本研究提供了数据支持，以进一步研究将Ebp作为针对粪肠球菌感染的血清学诊断和疫苗靶点。
