Brucella, the etiological agent of animal and human brucellosis, is a bacterium with the capacity to modulate the inflammatory response. Cyclic β-1,2-glucan (CβG) is a virulence factor key for the pathogenesis of Brucella as it is involved in the intracellular life cycle of the bacteria. Using comparative studies with different CβG mutants of Brucella, cgs (CβG synthase), cgt (CβG transporter) ...

Brucellae are worldwide bacterial pathogens of livestock and wildlife, but phylogenetic reconstructions have been challenging due to limited genetic diversity. We assessed the taxonomic and evolutionary relationships of five Brucella species-Brucella abortus, B. melitensis, B. suis, B. canis, and B. ovis-using whole-genome comparisons. We developed a phylogeny using single nucleotide polymorphi...

Brucella spp. are facultative intracellular pathogens that have the ability to survive and multiply in professional and non-professional phagocytes, and cause abortion in domestic animals and undulant fever in humans. Several species are recognized within the genus Brucella and this classification is mainly based on the difference in pathogenicity and in host preference. Brucella strains may oc...

Brucella spp. are intracellular bacterial pathogens that cause infection in domestic and wild animals. They are often used as model organisms to study intracellular bacterial infections. Brucella VirB T4SS is a key virulence factor that plays important roles in mediating intracellular survival and manipulating host immune response to infection. In this review, we discuss the roles of Brucella V...

Brucella are facultative intracellular bacteria that cause chronic infections by limiting innate immune recognition. It is currently unknown whether Brucella FliC flagellin, the monomeric subunit of flagellar filament, is sensed by the host during infection. Here, we used two mutants of Brucella melitensis, either lacking or overexpressing flagellin, to show that FliC hinders bacterial replicat...

A study was conducted in order to evaluate the contamination by Brucella spp. of meat from animals slaughtered because they had resulted positive for brucellosis at some time during their life. After slaughter and before delivery to market outlets, swab samples were taken from 307 carcasses of infected animals: 40 cattle, 60 sheep and 207 goats. The swabs were subsequently analysed by means of ...

Brucella spp. are facultative intracellular Gram-negative coccobacilli responsible for brucellosis, a worldwide zoonosis. We observed that Brucella melitensis is able to persist for several weeks in the blood of intraperitoneally infected mice and that transferred blood at any time point tested is able to induce infection in naive recipient mice. Bacterial persistence in the blood is dramatical...

Brucella is an intracellular pathogen capable of infecting animals and humans. The aim of this study was to identify Brucella spp in sera of high risk individuals by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method. A total of 180 patients suspected to have Brucellosis were examined by serological tests. To establish a PCR protocol for diagnosis of active brucellosis, DNA was extracted from the s...

Brucella antigens capable of sensitizing normal and tanned sheep red blood cells for indirect hemagglutination were compared with antigens involved in agglutination, gel diffusion, and immunoelectrophoresis. Hyperimmune rabbit sera, before and after absorption with various antigenic preparations from smooth and rough B. abortus, were used in the tests. Normal erythrocytes could be sensitized wi...

Sera from 432 small ruminants (335 sheep and 97 goats) from 72 farms in Duhok Province, northern Iraq, were collected to investigate risk factors associated with brucellosis seropositivity. Serum samples were tested using the Rose Bengal test (RBT) and an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA). Using parallel interpretation, RBT and iELISA results showed that 31.7% (95% confidence ...