Secretomes of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and Mycoplasma flocculare reveal differences associated to pathogenesis

• Published in: Journal of proteomics 2017-02, Vol.154, p.69-77
• Main Authors: Paes, Jéssica A., Lorenzatto, Karina R., de Moraes, Sofia N., Moura, Hercules, Barr, John R., Ferreira, Henrique B.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Comparative analyses; LC-MS/MS; Mycoplasma flocculare; Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae; Secretome
• ISSN: 1874-3919
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jprot.2016.12.002

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and Mycoplasma flocculare cohabit the porcine respiratory tract. However, M. hyopneumoniae causes the porcine enzootic pneumonia, while M. flocculare is a commensal bacterium. Comparative analyses demonstrated high similarity between these species, which includes the sharing of all predicted virulence factors. Nevertheless, studies related to soluble secretomes of mycoplasmas were little known, although they are important for bacterial-host interactions. The aim of this study was to perform a comparative analysis between the soluble secreted proteins repertoires of the pathogenic Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and its closely related commensal Mycoplasma flocculare. For that, bacteria were cultured in medium with reduced serum concentration and secreted proteins were identified by a LC-MS/MS proteomics approach. Altogether, 62 and 26 proteins were identified as secreted by M. hyopneumoniae and M. flocculare, respectively, being just seven proteins shared between these bacteria. In M. hyopneumoniae secretome, 15 proteins described as virulence factors were found; while four putative virulence factors were identified in M. flocculare secretome. For the first time, clear differences related to virulence were found between these species, helping to elucidate the pathogenic nature of M. hyopneumoniae to swine hosts. For the first time, the secretomes of two porcine respiratory mycoplasmas, namely the pathogenic M. hyopneumoniae and the commensal M. flocculare were compared. The presented results revealed previously unknown differences between these two genetically related species, some of which are associated to the M. hyopneumoniae ability to cause porcine enzootic pneumonia. [Display omitted] •The secretomes of M. hyopneumoniae and M. flocculare were comparatively analyzed.•Just seven proteins are shared between M. hyopneumoniae and M. flocculare secretome.•M. hyopneumoniae secretome is 2.3 times more complex than that of M. flocculare.•M. hyopneumoniae secretes 3.7 times more virulence-related proteins than M. flocculare.