Identification of Flavobacterium psychrophilum Vaccine Candidates Using Comparative Genomics and Reverse Vaccinology

Date

2015-08-25

Authors

Wu, Anson

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of Guelph

Abstract

The Gram-negative bacterium Flavobacterium psychrophilum is the etiological agent of Bacterial Cold Water Disease and Rainbow Trout Fry Syndrome in salmonid fishes, diseases that cause significant losses in the aquaculture industry. No effective vaccines are available and antimicrobials used to control this pathogen are becoming increasingly less effective due to increasing rates of antimicrobial resistance. To gain a better understanding of the pathogenesis of F. psychrophilum, the genomes of 4 highly virulent and 2 less virulent strains were studied. Comparative genomics analysis revealed that the pan-genome of these 6 strains contains 3,040 genes; the core genome of virulent strains 2,228 genes and that of the less virulent strains 2,060 genes. No novel virulence factors were identified, but evidence was found that "antivirulence" genes could play a role in pathogenesis. As well, three promising candidates were identified using a reverse vaccinology approach.

Description

Keywords

Flavobacterium psychrophilum, Bacterial cold water disease, Rainbow trout fry syndrome, Fish pathogen, Bioinformatics, Comparative genomics, Reverse vaccinology, Gram negative, Psychrotolerant, Vaccine development

Citation