Bacteriophages as antimicrobial agents against major pathogens in swine: a review

In recent years, the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria has become a global concern which has prompted research into the development of alternative disease control strategies for the swine industry. Bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) offer the prospect of a sustainable alternative approach against bacterial pathogens with the flexibility of being applied therapeutically or for biological control purposes. This paper reviews the use of phages as an antimicrobial strategy for controlling critical pathogens including Salmonella and Escherichia coli with an emphasis on the application of phages for improving performance and nutrient digestibility in swine operations as well as in controlling zoonotic human diseases by reducing the bacterial load spread from pork products to humans through the meat.     

猪细菌性传染病病原检测新方法研究进展

细菌性传染病是生猪养殖业的严重威胁之一，近年来其发病情况呈现出新变化，对动物产品质量和公共卫生安全造成严重危害。对病原进行快速、准确的检测，是预防和控制猪病的有效手段，对养猪业发展和人畜健康具有重要意义。伴随生命科学技术的发展和学科间的交叉融合，传统的病原菌分离培养、普通PCR方法和早期免疫学等检测技术均朝着精确高效的方向不断发展革新，并以传统方法为基础建立了多种新型检测技术。文章重点介绍了猪细菌性传染病病原检测的几种新技术：以核酸分子生物学为基础的实时荧光定量PCR法（qPCR）、环介导等温扩增法（LAMP）、夹心DNA杂交（DNAH）等；以免疫学为基础的免疫胶体金标记技术、时间分辨荧光免疫分析法（TRFIA）、免疫磁珠分离法（IMS）等；以蛋白质分子生物学为基础的细菌质谱鉴定技术；以及适用于现场快速诊断的即时检测（POCT）技术，并分析了这几种新技术的优缺点，为不同条件的检测机构和研究部门在开展猪细菌性传染病检测和研究时选择相应的方法提供一定的参考，以期在猪病预防控制中发挥更加积极的作用。     

Adherence of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serotype 1 to swine buccal epithelial cells involves fibronectin

The swine pathogen Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serotype 1 was investigated for its ability to adhere to swine, rat, and human buccal epithelial cells (BEC). The highest number of bacteria adhered was to swine BEC. This binding ability was affected by heating, extreme pH, treatment with sodium dodecyl sulfate, ethylenediamine tetraacetate, or periodate, and proteolysis, suggesting that cell-surface glycoproteins participate in adherence and that adherence is based mostly on ionic interactions. Mannose and swine fibronectin may play a direct role in this interaction. Convalescent-phase serum from naturally infected pigs inhibited the adhesion. There was a correlation between bacterial pathogenicity as well as host specificity and the capacity for adherence to swine BEC. Adhesion to swine BEC provides a convenient method to study in vitro the adherence of A. pleuropneumoniae and other pathogens of the pig respiratory tract.     

"高热病"病猪细菌性病原的分离鉴定

2006年-2007年对济宁地区不同养殖场（户）猪“高热病”进行流行病学调查,通过细菌病原学检查,从表现出“高热病”症状的患猪体内主要分离到5种细菌。通过对分离株的病原形态学、培养特征、生化特性和致病性等方面进行传统鉴定,结果表明,引起猪“高热病”的细菌性病原主要为大肠埃希菌（64．4％）、沙门菌（61．6％）、巴氏杆菌（34．9％）、猪丹毒杆菌（30．8％）和链球菌（34．2％）,并且多呈混合感染。通过药敏试验测定,结果显示,多数细菌对环丙沙星、头孢噻肟有较高的敏感性,而对复合磺胺、青霉素等有不同程度的耐药性。     

Quorum Signal Inhibitors and Their Potential Use against Fish Diseases

Quorum sensing (QS) is a process of bacterial communication used to control group behaviors, including bioluminescence, virulence factor production, biofilm formation, and biofilm antimicrobial tolerance. Many aquatic bacterial pathogens such as Aeromonas, Vibrio, and Edwardsiella spp. use QS to regulate virulence factor production. The disruption of QS has been shown to be an effective strategy in the competition between higher organisms and bacteria and more recently between bacterial species. For this reason, QS disruption has been proposed as a strategy to prevent bacterial pathogenicity. In this review, we summarize the current literature and illustrate the value of QS inhibitors in controlling virulence production in aquatic bacterial pathogens. This represents a new, nonantibiotic strategy to combat fish diseases.

Received August 11, 2015; accepted January 26, 2016     

Comparing the minimum inhibitory and mutant prevention concentrations of selected antibiotics against animal isolates of Pasteurella multocida and Salmonella typhimurium

Historically, the use of antibiotics was not well regulated in veterinary medicine. The emergence of antibiotic resistance (ABR) in pathogenic bacteria in human and veterinary medicine has driven the need for greater antibiotic stewardship. The preservation of certain antibiotic classes for use exclusively in humans, especially in cases of multidrug resistance, has highlighted the need for veterinarians to reduce its use and redefine dosage regimens of antibiotics to ensure efficacy and guard against the development of ABR pathogens. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), the lowest concentration of an antibiotic drug that will prevent the growth of a bacterium, is recognised as a method to assist in antibiotic dosage determination. Minimum inhibitory concentrations sometimes fail to deal with first-step mutants in bacterial populations; therefore dosing regimens based solely on MIC can lead to the development of ABR. The mutant prevention concentration (MPC) is the minimum inhibitory antibiotic concentration of the most resistant first-step mutant. Mutant prevention concentration determination as a complementary and sometimes preferable alternative to MIC determination for veterinarians when managing bacterial pathogens. The results of this study focused on livestock pathogens and antibiotics used to treat them, which had a MIC value of 0.25 µg/mL for enrofloxacin against all 27 isolates of Salmonella typhimurium. The MPC values were 0.50 µg/mL, with the exception of five isolates that had MPC values of 4.00 µg/mL. The MPC test yielded 65.52% (18 isolates) Salmonella isolates with florfenicol MICs in the sensitive range, while 11 isolates were in the resistant range. Seventeen isolates (58.62%) of Pasteurella multocida had MIC values in the susceptible range and 41.38% (12 isolates) had an intermediate MIC value. Mutant prevention concentration determinations as done in this study is effective for the antibiotic treatment of bacterial infections and minimising the development of resistance. The MPC method can be used to better control to prevent the development of antibiotic drug resistance used in animals.     

Chicken egg yolk antibodies(IgY) as non-antibiotic production enhancers for use in swine production:a review

In recent years,the use of in-feed antibiotics for growth and disease prevention in livestock production has been under severe scrutiny.The use and misuse of in-feed antibiotics has led to problems with drug residues in animal products and increased bacterial resistance.Chicken egg yolk antibodies(IgY) have attracted considerable attention as an alternative to antibiotics to maintain swine health and performance.Oral administration of IgY possesses many advantages over mammalian IgG such as cost-effectiveness,convenience and high yield.This review presents an overview of the potential to use IgY immunotherapy for the prevention and treatment of swine diarrhea diseases and speculates on the future of IgY technology.Included are a review of the potential applications of IgY in the control of enteric infections of either bacterial or viral origin such as enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli,Salmonella spp.,rotavirus,porcine transmissible gastroenteritis virus,and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus.Some potential obstacles to the adoption of IgY technology are also discussed.     

Immune mechanisms of the bovine udder: an overview

Understanding basic defenses of the udder is instrumental in developing measures to prevent mastitis. The teat canal is the first defense against pathogens, providing a physical barrier and antimicrobial substances. When bacteria breach the teat canal, milk leukocytes provide a second defense by ingesting pathogens. Intramammary devices have been used experimentally to increase leukocyte numbers and to enhance destruction of bacteria. Milk antibodies opsonize and lyse bacteria, neutralize toxins, and prevent adhesion to tissue. Vaccinating cows against mastitis generally has been unsuccessful; however, immunization is useful in controlling specific bacterial strains. Antibody-producing plasma cells preferentially accumulate in internal teat end tissues. Because bacteria contact these tissues to reach milk-producing areas of the udder, an immunostimulant to enhance locally the protective nature of plasma cells may decrease the occurrence of infection.     

Novel and disruptive biological strategies for resolving gut health challenges in monogastric food animal production

Use of feed antibiotics as growth promoters for control of pathogens associated with monogastric food animal morbidity and mortality has contributed to the development of antimicrobial resistance, which has now become a threat to public health on a global scale. Presently, a number of alternative feed additives have been developed and are divided into two major categories, including 1) the ones that are supposed to directly and indirectly control pathogenic bacterial proliferation; and 2) the other ones that are intended to up-regulate host gut mucosal trophic growth, whole body growth performance and active immunity. A thorough review of literature reports reveal that efficacy responses of current alternative feed additives in replacing feed antibiotics to improve performances and gut health are generally inconsistent dependent upon experimental conditions. Current alternative feed additives typically have no direct detoxification effects on endotoxin lipopolysaccharides(LPS) and this is likely the major reason that their effects are limited. It is now understood that pathogenic bacteria mediate their negative effects largely through LPS interactions with toll-like receptor 4, causing immune responses and infectious diseases. Therefore, disruptive biological strategies and a novel and new generation of feed additives need to be developed to replace feed antibiotic growth promoters and to directly and effectively detoxify the endotoxin LPS and improve gut health and performance in monogastric food animals.     

猪场重要虫媒及其传播病原研究进展

近年来,非洲猪瘟、牛结节性皮肤病等外来可由虫媒传播的疫病肆虐中国,而一些已在国外流行的虫媒传播病原如非洲马瘟等传入中国的风险也越来越高,严重危害中国畜牧养殖业的发展和公共卫生安全。特别是2018年8月以来非洲猪瘟在中国的流行给养猪业带来重要警示信息,即防止猪场媒介生物进入并阻断其携带病原的传播将成为猪场生物安全的重点。蚊、蝇、蠓及蜱等是猪场和发病猪群传播疫病的重要虫媒因素,虫媒种类及从虫媒中分离到的病毒、细菌、寄生虫等病原种类繁杂,虫媒生物特性的差异对病原的传播方式和传播能力也不尽相同。鉴于此,作者详细归纳了猪场存在的主要虫媒种类及其传播的重要猪病病原,包括猪乙型脑炎病毒、猪繁殖与呼吸综合征病毒、非洲猪瘟病毒、盖塔病毒、猪肠道冠状病毒、大肠杆菌、猪链球菌等,并探讨其危害性和传播风险,以降低猪场虫媒传播疾病所带来的经济损失。     

Advances on the Biosynthesis Mechanism of Bacterial Polysaccharides

Polysaccharide is the major component of bacterial cell that plays a significant role in the interaction between bacteria and their hosts. It aids the identification of bacteria, imparting virulence to the bacteria and adjusting host's immune response as well. Advance genomics research has deciphered several different bacterial polysaccharides sharing a common biosynthesis mechanism. The study of polysaccharides is mainly based on sequence analysis and prediction of genome in combination with metabolite analyses that still requires a detailed study. Researchers are now further focusing on their biosynthetic pathways to unveil the mechanisms underlying the diversity of these bacterial polysaccharides along with the host-pathogen interaction. It will open new doors for vaccine development and other therapeutic methods against pathogenic bacteria, and also provide technical support to control disease and cure at molecular level. This review states the mechanisms and relevant problems of biosynthesis and in vitro biosynthesis of peptidoglycan,O-antigen and capsular polysaccharides,and summarizes the application of bacteria polysaccharides in the aspects of searching for candidate antigens and controlling the targets of pathogenic bacteria and exploring genetic evolution of bacteria and biological synthesis.     

细菌多糖的生物合成机制研究进展

多糖是细菌细胞的主要组成部分,在细菌与宿主的相互作用中起到重要作用,在参与细菌与宿主的识别,帮助细菌产生毒力,调节宿主免疫反应等生物过程中扮演着重要的角色。随着基因组学的发展,人们发现尽管细菌多糖的种类很多,但它们的合成机制具有相似性。多糖生物合成的研究主要基于基因组的序列分析预测,结合代谢产物研究的基因分析,不够详尽。随着研究的深入,人们越来越关注细菌多糖的合成机制,这种机制的研究将为进一步阐明细菌多糖多样性的形成机制及与宿主间的相互作用机制奠定基础,为开发针对相应病原菌的新型疫苗和治疗方法,及进一步实现分子水平的相关疾病防控和资源开发提供技术支持。作者以肽聚糖、O-抗原和夹膜多糖为代表,阐述了其生物合成及体外生物合成机制的研究进展和相关问题,并总结了细菌多糖合成途径的研究在寻找候选抗原和控制病原细菌靶位以及研究细菌遗传进化和生物合成方面的作用。     

Chicken egg yolk antibodies (IgY) as non-antibiotic production enhancers for use in swine production: a review

In recent years, the use of in-feed antibiotics for growth and disease prevention in livestock production has been under severe scrutiny. The use and misuse of in-feed antibiotics has led to problems with drug residues in animal products and increased bacterial resistance. Chicken egg yolk antibodies (IgY) have attracted considerable attention as an alternative to antibiotics to maintain swine health and performance. Oral administration of IgY possesses many advantages over mammalian IgG such as cost-effectiveness, convenience and high yield. This review presents an overview of the potential to use IgY immunotherapy for the prevention and treatment of swine diarrhea diseases and speculates on the future of IgY technology. Included are a review of the potential applications of IgY in the control of enteric infections of either bacterial or viral origin such as enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., rotavirus, porcine transmissible gastroenteritis virus, and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus. Some potential obstacles to the adoption of IgY technology are also discussed.     

1株猪源肠道益生菌的分离鉴定及其生物学特性研究

从健康猪肠道中分离出1株对仔猪大肠杆菌病和副伤寒病病原有较强拮抗作用的菌株,命名为W-02,对其进行菌落形态、生理生化特性和16S rDNA系统发育分析,确定该菌株为凝结芽孢杆菌。对该菌株胃肠道耐受特性和安全性进行了研究,结果表明,W-02菌株在人工胃液、人工肠液、猪胆盐和80℃高温表现出很强的耐受能力,急性毒性试验结果表明该菌株为无毒菌株。     

Chlamydial infection and perinatal mortality in a swine herd

Chlamydia psittaci was believed responsible for an episode of high perinatal death loss in a swine herd in which 8.5 pigs per litter normally were weaned. In this episode, 18 sows produced 186 pigs, with 50 survivors. Chlamydia was found in tissue samples, and other bacterial or viral pathogens could not be identified. Chlamydia was diagnosed by isolation (ELISA), histologic examination using immunoperoxidase staining techniques, and electron microscopy. Previously, C psittaci has not been considered in the differential diagnosis of swine perinatal mortality.     

Phage therapy reduces Campylobacter jejuni colonization in broilers

The effect of phage therapy in the control of Campylobacter jejuni colonization in young broilers, either as a preventive or a therapeutic measure, was tested. A prevention group was infected with C. jejuni at day 4 of a 10-day phage treatment. A therapeutic group was phage treated for 6 days, starting 5 days after C. jejuni colonization of the broilers had been established. Treatment was monitored by enumerating Campylobacter colony forming units (CFU) and phage plaque forming units (PFU) from caecal content. Counts were compared with control birds not receiving phage therapy. A clear 3 log decline in C. jejuni counts was initially observed in the therapeutic group, however, after 5 days bacterial counts stabilized at a level 1 log lower than that of the control group. Colonization of C. jejuni in the prevention group was delayed by the treatment and after an initial 2 log reduction, colonization stabilized within a week at levels comparable to the therapeutic group. The CFU and PFU counts displayed opposing highs and lows over time, indicative of alternating shifts in amplification of bacteria and phages. There were no adverse health effects from the phage treatment. Two different phages were combined as therapeutic treatment of Campylobacter positive chickens challenged at the age approaching broiler harvest. This again resulted in a significant decrease in Campylobacter colonization. We conclude that phage treatment is a promising alternative for reducing C. jejuni colonization in broilers.     

Effect of temperature modulation and bvg mutation of Bordetella bronchiseptica on adhesion, intracellular survival and cytotoxicity for swine alveolar macrophages

Bordetella bronchiseptica causes respiratory disease in swine, yet there are no studies examining the interaction of B. bronchiseptica with swine alveolar macrophages. A swine isolate of B. bronchiseptica was able to adhere to, and survive intracellularly in, swine alveolar macrophages, but the relative ability of the bacteria to accomplish these functions was dependent on its phenotypic phase and culture conditions. More bacteria were observed extracellularly as well as intracellularly by immunofluorescent staining when B. bronchiseptica was cultured at 23 degrees C as compared to 37 degrees C. However, more bacteria cultured at 37 degrees C were found surviving intracellularly after the macrophages were cultured with polymyxin B to kill extracellular bacteria. Similar results were seen in experiments performed with an isogenic Bvg(-) phase-locked mutant of B. bronchiseptica cultured at 37 or 23 degrees C, indicating that another temperature dependent mechanism in addition to bvg may play a role in adhesion and intracellular survival. B. bronchiseptica was cytotoxic for swine alveolar macrophages in the Bvg(+) phase only. The cytotoxicity of B. bronchiseptica for alveolar macrophages, and its ability to survive phagocytosis, are no doubt important to escape from immune clearance mechanisms and establish infection, and could leave the host susceptible to secondary respiratory pathogens.     

番茄细菌性叶斑病菌的拮抗菌筛选、鉴定及其拮抗性能评价

采用含菌平板抑菌圈测定法,从120株高寒草地牧草内生细菌中分离筛选到一株对番茄细菌性叶斑病拮抗能力较强的菌株264ZY7,其抑菌圈直径为1.22 cm。264ZY7菌体短杆状,大小为1.534 μm×0.571 μm~3.210 μm×0.781 μm,革兰氏阳性菌,根据形态特征,并结合16S rDNA和gyrB基因序列相似性分析,将菌株264ZY7鉴定为解淀粉芽孢杆菌Bacillus amyloliquefaciens。通过室内盆栽防效试验,结果表明该菌株对番茄细菌性叶斑病的防效达69%,此外,该菌株对8种病原真菌具有抑菌能力,说明抑菌谱较宽,且抑菌率均大于30%,对番瓜根腐病菌(Fusarium sp.)效果最明显,抑菌率为52.84%。该研究结果为高寒草地紫花针茅内生细菌264ZY47的进一步开发利用提供了依据。     

猪肺炎支原体YN200901株的分离鉴定

采集疑似猪肺炎支原体病理变化的肺脏,接种到改良牛心培养基、猪胃消化液培养基进行培养,经瑞特染色、镜检,菌落狄氏染色、PCR鉴定及序列比对、生化试验鉴定,抗猪肺炎支原体血清生长抑制试验,分离获得一株猪肺炎支原体云南地方流行菌株,命名为YN200901。试验结果为云南本地株猪肺炎支原体的后续研究提供了物质基础。