Gram-negative, strictly aerobic coccobacilli.
To date, 8 Bordetella species are discribed. They can broadly be divided into two groups:
The first includes B. pertussis, B. parapertussis, and B. bronchisepitca, each of which colonizes the respiratory tracts of mammals
The second group are distantly related to the first group, including B. avium, B. hinzii, B. holmesii, B. trematum and B. petrii.
B. pertussis, B. parapertussis and B. bronchiseptica share many virulence factors and a nearly identical virulence control sytem encoded by bvgAS locus.
B. pertussis, a strict human pathogen, is the etiologic agent of whooping cough, a highly contagious respiratory disease marked by severe, spasmodic coughing episodes.
B. parapertussis causes a milder form of whooping cough in human beings and chronic, nonprogressive pneumonia in sheep.
B. bronchiseptica causes chronic respiratory infections in a wide range of animals.
Selected genomes: ⇒ comparative pathogenomics ⇐
B. avium 197N, 3732255 bp, NC_010645
B. bronchiseptica RB50, 5339179 bp, NC_002927
B. parapertussis 12822, 4773551 bp, NC_002928
B. pertussis Tohama I, 4086189 bp, NC_002929
Parkhill J, et al., 2003. Comparative analysis of the genome sequences of Bordetella pertussis, Bordetella parapertussis and Bordetella bronchiseptica Nat. Genet. 35(1):32-40.
Sebaihia M, et al., 2006. Comparison of the genome sequence of the poultry pathogen Bordetella avium with those of B. bronchiseptica, B. pertussis, and B. parapertussis reveals extensive diversity in surface structures associated with host interaction. J Bacteriol 188(16):6002-6015.
Immunomodulatory effects of B. pertussis virulence factors (From: Higgs R, et al., 2012. Immunity to the respiratory pathogen Bordetella pertussis. Mucosal Immunol 5(5):485-500.).
Major virulence factors in Bordetella:
Location of virulence-associated genes in B. pertussis:
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