Date: September 8, 2016
Source: PLOS
Anthrax is caused
by Bacillus anthracis, a pathogen that causes potentially fatal disease in
most mammals, including humans. A study published in PLOS Neglected Tropical
Diseases reports that a related bacillus with distinct genetic and
biological characteristics causes anthrax-like disease in chimps, gorillas,
elephants, and goats from four different African countries. Increased surveillance
for this pathogen is needed to evaluate its impact on animal and human health.
Bacillus anthracis and its two
close relatives, Bacillus thuringiensis and Bacillus cereus, are
spore-forming bacteria naturally found in soil throughout much of the world.
Their ability to cause disease depends on so-called virulence factors, some of
which are encoded on plasmids (smaller parts of genetic material that can
relatively easily be exchanged between bacteria) rather than the single
chromosome. B. anthracis contains two such plasmids called pXO1 and
pXO2, and both are required for full virulence.
Fabian Leendertz, from the Robert
Koch Institute in Berlin, Germany, and colleagues, had previously described an
unusual B. cereus bacterium isolated from a sick chimpanzee in Ivory Coast.
This isolate possessed both the pXO1 and pXO2 'anthrax' plasmids, but its
chromosome was closely related to B. cereus and not to B. anthracis.
Because the bacterium appeared to have evolved from a B.
cereus strain independently from the classic B.
anthracis strains and established a B. anthracis lifestyle, the
researchers called it 'B. cereus biovar (bv) anthracis'.
Posts
