Abstract
The genus Yersinia currently comprises 17 species. Yersinia pestis, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Yersinia enterocolitica are associated with human and animal diseases and, therefore, have been extensively studied. The remaining 14 Yersinia species have not been completely characterized and are generally considered non-pathogenic. However, published data have suggested that some of these so-called non-pathogenic Yersinia species may also be involved in human and animal diseases. One such species, named Y. massiliensis, was recently described and its pathogenic potential is unknown. Thus, it is important to define the clinical significance of this species. In this work, five Yersinia massiliensis strains were studied and compared to Y. enterocolitica 8081 pathogenic strain. The ability of Y. massiliensis strains to adhere and invade Caco-2 cells was studied. Furthermore, the presence of virulence genes inv, ail, ystA and virF was investigated by PCR. None of the Y. massiliensis strains harbored the virulence genes investigated and were barely able to invade Caco-2 cells. In addition, the adhesion percentages of the Y. massiliensis strains were 3.22 times lower than the values observed for Y. enterocolitica 8081. These results suggest that Y. massiliensis should be considered a non-pathogenic species.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank Dr. Elaine C. P. De Martinis (FCFRP-USP) and MSc Lizziane K. Winkeströter (FCFRP-USP) for the help in the adhesion and invasion assays. We thank the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) (Proc. 06/51434-7) for financial support. During the course of this work, RA Souza was supported by a scholarship from FAPESP (Proc. 07/01146-8).
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Souza, R.A., Falcão, J.P. (2012). Pathogenic Potential of the Yersinia massiliensis Species. In: de Almeida, A., Leal, N. (eds) Advances in Yersinia Research. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 954. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3561-7_28
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3561-7_28
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