Investigating hemagglutination associated BCAM2418 gene and pathogenicity of Burkholderia cenocepacia using Galleria mellonella larvae as model | ||||
| Microbes and Infectious Diseases | ||||
| Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 15 December 2024 | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/mid.2024.331024.2308 | ||||
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| Authors | ||||
Ahmed Nadhem Rashid  ; Essra Ghanim Alsammak
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| Department of Biology, college of Science, university of Mosul, Mosul, Iraq | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Background: Burkholderia cenocepacia is a member of the Burkholderia cepacia complex (BCC), a group of closely related and phenotypically similar species. This study investigates the hemagglutination ability of various Burkholderia cenocepacia strains with detection of the hemagglutination-associated BCAM2418 gene and their associated virulence in Galleria mellonella. Methods: The current study used 10 bacterial strains belonging to Burkhorderia cenocepacia. We detected the hemagglutination ability of Burkholderia cenocepacia strains using a hemagglutination assay on 96-well microtitre plates, and used PCR to determine the prevalence of the hemagglutination-associated BCAM2418 gene. We used the Galleria mellonella killing assay and histopathological analysis to determine the virulence of Burkhorderia cenocepacia strains. Result: In the hemagglutination assay, 9 strains gave strong hemagglutination at 1/2 dilution, 6 strains gave moderate hemagglutination at 1/8 dilution, and 8 stains gave weak hemagglutination at 1/6 dilution. Moreover, hemagglutination was not observed at 1/32 dilution. The PCR result indicated that 7 strains were positive for the BCAM2418 gene at 190bp. Galleria mellonella larvae that were deprived of food for three days prior to infection with Burkholderia cenocepacia strains exhibited the highest susceptibility, showing 0% survival after 24 hours. In contrast, larvae that were not subjected to a restricted diet maintained a 100% survival rate after 24 hours. For larvae that had access to food, survival rates dropped to 6.7% at 48 hours post-infection whereas control larvae showed 100% survival after 24 and 48 hours. Histopathology analysis of sectioned larvae infected with Burkholderia cenocepacia showed significant changes in larval tissues. Conclusion: The study of Burkholderia cenocepacia's hemagglutination and pathogenicity demonstrates the intricate relationship between virulence factors and bacterial adhesion processes. This pathogen's capacity to agglutinate red blood cells raises the possibility of its involvement in immune evasion and colonization, which could add to its pathogenic profile, especially in patients with cystic fibrosis and immunocompromised hosts. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Burkholderia cenocepacia; Hemagglutination; BCAM2418 gene; Galleria mellonella; Histopathology | ||||
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