Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serovar 3 str. JL03

Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, a Gram-negative, non-motile, facultatively anaerobic Pasteurellaceae, causes porcine pleuropneumonia, a highly contagious disease for which there is no effective vaccine. There are least twelve different serotypes, some of which produce no disease but others cause severe disease. Serotypes vary in different countries. Types 1, 5, 9, 11 and 12 are usually highly virulent and strains 3 and 6 are mild. The bacterium is carried in the tonsils and upper respiratory tract. It is transmitted short distances by droplet infection and only survives outside the pig for a few days.Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae strain JL03 is an isolate of serotype 3 which is prevalent in China. Its genome is made up of a single circular chromosome encoding 2097 CDSs. It possesses a complete set of genes coding for enzymes of glycolysis, gluconeogenesis and non-oxidative pentose phosphate pathways. Genes coding for the key enzymes of the TCA cycle, citrate synthase, aconitase and isocitrate dehydrogenase as well as the genes coding for malate synthase and isocitrate lyase, essential for the glyoxylate pathway, are missing.The pore-forming Apx toxins, responsible for the hemorrhagic lesions of the disease, are encoded in an operon apxCABD. Different serotypes secrete different sets of Apx toxins, causing variations in their hemolytic and cytotoxic activities. The absence of apxICABD in strain JL03 confirms that it has the moderate toxicity specific to serotype 3.Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae can use porcine transferrin, hemoglobin and ferrichrome. Approximately 2.6 % of the genome (55 genes) are involved in iron uptake. (HAMAP: ACTPJ)