PCR amplification of the nearly full-length of virulence flagellin gene (flaB) was employed for rapid identification of Leptospira spp and of Leptospira-specific 16S rDNA (rrs) for differentiation from other bacteria. This approach distinguished pathogenic from non-pathogenic Leptospira strains, and the generation of restriction fragment length polymorphism profiles using a combination of restr...

General Introduction Leptospirosis is an economically important zoonotic bacterial infection of livestock that causes abortions, stillbirths, infertility, and loss of milk production. The disease occurs worldwide and is caused by infection with the spirochete Leptospira. The pathogenic leptospires were formerly classified as members of the species Leptospira interrogans; the genus has recently ...

We report here the complete genome sequence of Leptospira alstonii serovar Room22 strain GWTS #1. This is the first isolate of L. alstonii to be cultured from a mammal and in western Europe, and it represents a new serovar of pathogenic leptospires.

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease usually acquired by contact with water contaminated with urine of infected animals. However, few molecular methods have been used to monitor or quantify pathogenic Leptospira in environmental water samples. Here we optimized a DNA extraction method for the quantification of leptospires using a previously described Taqman-based qPCR method targeting lipL32, a ...

Leptospirosis is one of the zoonotic diseases in animals and humans throughout the world. LipL21 is one of the important surface-exposed lipoproteins in leptospires and the most effective cross protective immunogenic antigen. It is widely considered as a diagnostic marker for leptospirosis. In this study, we evaluated the serodiagnostic potential of LipL21 protein of Leptospira interrogans sero...

Leptospirosis is a widespread zoonotic infection that primarily affects residents of tropical regions, but causes infections in animals and humans in temperate regions as well. The agents of leptospirosis comprise several members of the genus Leptospira, which also includes non-pathogenic, saprophytic species. Leptospirosis can vary in severity from a mild, non-specific illness to severe diseas...

The complement system consists of more than 40 proteins that participate in the inflammatory response and in pathogen killing. Complement inhibitors are necessary to avoid the excessive consumption and activation of this system on host cells. Leptospirosis is a worldwide zoonosis caused by spirochetes from the genus Leptospira. Pathogenic leptospires are able to escape from complement activatio...