Comparative proteomics of Brucella melitensis is a useful toolbox for developing prophylactic interventions in a One-Health context
Bruno Tilocca,
Alessio Soggiu,
Viviana Greco,
Flavio Sacchini,
Giuliano Garofolo,
Valentina Paci,
Luigi Bonizzi,
Andrea Urbani,
Manuela Tittarelli,
Paola Roncada
Affiliations
Bruno Tilocca
Department of Health Sciences, University “Magna Græcia” of Catanzaro, viale Europa, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy
Alessio Soggiu
Department of Biomedical, Surgical and Dental Sciences- One Health Unit, University of Milano, via Celoria 10, 20133 Milano, Italy
Viviana Greco
Department of Basic Biotechnological Sciences, Intensivological and Perioperative Clinics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo F. Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy; Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, Largo A. Gemelli, 8-00168 Rome, Italy
Flavio Sacchini
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise, Centro di Referenza Nazionale per le brucellosi animali, Via Campo Boario 1, 64100 Teramo, Italy.
Giuliano Garofolo
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise, Centro di Referenza Nazionale per le brucellosi animali, Via Campo Boario 1, 64100 Teramo, Italy.
Valentina Paci
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise, Centro di Referenza Nazionale per le brucellosi animali, Via Campo Boario 1, 64100 Teramo, Italy.
Luigi Bonizzi
Department of Biomedical, Surgical and Dental Sciences- One Health Unit, University of Milano, via Celoria 10, 20133 Milano, Italy
Andrea Urbani
Department of Basic Biotechnological Sciences, Intensivological and Perioperative Clinics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo F. Vito 1, 00168 Rome, Italy; Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, Largo A. Gemelli, 8-00168 Rome, Italy
Manuela Tittarelli
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise, Centro di Referenza Nazionale per le brucellosi animali, Via Campo Boario 1, 64100 Teramo, Italy.
Paola Roncada
Department of Health Sciences, University “Magna Græcia” of Catanzaro, viale Europa, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy; Corresponding author.
Brucellosis caused by Brucella melitensis is a zoonosis frequently reported in the Mediterranean and Middle-East regions and responsible for important economic losses and reduced animal welfare. To date, current strategies applied to control or eradicate the disease relies on diagnostic tests that suffer from limited specificity in non-vaccinated animals; while prophylactic measures, when applied, use a live attenuated bacterial strain characterized by residual virulence on adult pregnant animals and difficulties in distinguishing vaccinated from infected animals. To overcome these issues, studies are desired to elucidate the bacterial biology and the pathogenetic mechanisms of both the vaccinal strain and the pathogenic strains. Proteomics has a potential in tackling issues of One-Health concern; here, we employed label-free shotgun proteomics to investigate the protein repertoire of the vaccinal strain B. melitensis Rev.1 and compare it with the proteome of the Brucella melitensis 16 M, a reference strain representative of B. melitensis field strains. Comparative proteomics profiling underlines common and diverging traits between the two strains. Common features suggest the potential biochemical routes responsible for the residual virulence of the vaccinal strain, whilst the diverging traits are suggestive biochemical signatures to be further investigated to provide an optimized diagnostic capable of discriminating the vaccinated from infected animals. The data presented in this study are openly available in PRIDE data repository at https://www.ebi.ac.uk/pride/, reference number PXD022472.
