In a recent experiment, we found that mice previously infected with Bordetella pertussis were not protected against a later infection with Bordetella parapertussis, while primary infection with B. parapertussis conferred cross-protection. This challenges the common assumption made in most mathematical models for pathogenic strain dynamics that cross-immunity between strains is symmetric. Here w...

We describe the serendipitous discovery of BatB, a classical-type Bordetella autotransporter (AT) protein with an approximately 180-kDa passenger domain that remains noncovalently associated with the outer membrane. Like genes encoding all characterized protein virulence factors in Bordetella species, batB transcription is positively regulated by the master virulence regulatory system BvgAS. Ba...

The genomes of three closely related bordetellae are currently being sequenced, thus providing an opportunity for comparative genomic approaches driven by an understanding of the comparative biology of these three bacteria. Although the other strains being sequenced are well studied, the strain of Bordetella parapertussis chosen for sequencing is a recent human clinical isolate (strain 12822) t...

Lipid A (endotoxin) is a major structural component of Gram-negative outer membranes. It also serves as the hydrophobic anchor of lipopolysaccharide and is a potent activator of the innate immune response. Lipid A molecules from the genus Bordetella are reported to exhibit unusual structural asymmetry with respect to the acyl chains at the 3- and 3'-positions. These acyl chains are attached by ...

BACKGROUND Despite the extensive use of efficacious vaccines, pertussis still ranks among the major causes of childhood mortality worldwide. Two types of pertussis vaccines are currently available, whole-cell, and the more recent acellular vaccines. Because of reduced reactogenicity and comparable efficacy acellular vaccines progressively replace whole-cell vaccines. However, both types require...

Although the prevalence of Bordetella parapertussis varies dramatically among studies in different populations with different vaccination regimens, there is broad agreement that whooping cough vaccines, composed only of B. pertussis antigens, provide little if any protection against B. parapertussis. In C57BL/6 mice, a B. pertussis whole-cell vaccine (wP) provided modest protection against B. p...

Bordetella bronchiseptica is closely related with B. pertussis and B. parapertussis, the causative agents of whooping cough. These pathogenic species share a number of virulence genes, including the gene locus for the type III secretion system (T3SS) that delivers effector proteins. To identify unknown type III effectors in Bordetella, secreted proteins in the bacterial culture supernatants of ...

Of six new oral cephalosporins, cefixime and cefpodoxime were the most active (MIC for 90% of isolates tested [MIC90], 16 micrograms/ml) against Bordetella pertussis, followed by cefetamet, cefprozil, and loracarbef (LY163892) (MIC90, 64 micrograms/ml) and ceftibuten (MIC90, 128 micrograms/ml). Against Bordetella parapertussis, loracarbef was more active (MIC90, 32 micrograms/ml) than the other...