Molecular Epidemiology and Virulence of URTD

URTD 的分子流行病学和毒力

• 批准号: 6869162
• 负责人: LORI D WENDLAND
• 金额: $ 9.2万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-04-01 至 2009-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6869162
• 关键词: Chelonia; Mycoplasma; antibody specificity; bacterial genetics; disease vectors; emerging infectious disease; epizootiology; genetic strain; immunologic assay /test; population genetics; respiratory infections; veterinary science; virulence; wild animals; zoonosis

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Many newly emerging diseases are caused by zoonotic agents with wildlife reservoirs or have resulted from Iarge-scale ecological changes that increase human exposure to insect vectors as well as to animal and environmental sources of disease. Approximately 80% of the infectious agents that cause disease in humans are shared with various animal hosts. Veterinarians are good candidates to study these emerging diseases, but training programs aimed at disease pathogenesis and epidemiology specifically tailored to wildlife diseases are lacking. The proposed training will provide a multidisciplinary program in infectious diseases, pathogenesis, molecular diagnostic methodologies, pathology, fundamentals of laboratory animal medicine, epidemiology and disease modeling. The model system chosen for the research component, upper respiratory tract disease (URTD) in gopher tortoises, is an excellent example of chronic disease in a nontraditional animal host. URTD represents an intriguing model to study establishment, transmission, maintenance, and consequences of chronic infection within a population with a life history that parallels humans. The proposed study will address the following hypotheses: (1) URTD is caused by a cluster of closely related mycoplasmal species. The specific species involved may vary within tortoise populations, and these species may differ regionally and, (2) Mycoplasmas vary in virulence, and the specific mycoplasma present in a given population will influence the transmission, clinical course and severity of URTD. The hypotheses will be addressed with the following specific aims: (1) To characterize the molecular epidemiology of mycoplasmal species and selected strains obtained from different tortoise populations; (2) To characterize the virulence of mycoplasmal species and selected strains obtained from different tortoise populations; (3) To develop a multi-plex Luminex assay for quantitation of antibodies to mycoplasmal species from tortoises; and (4) To identify genes associated with virulent and avirulent mycoplasmal species and selected strains. The study of a chronic respiratory infection in a natural population will provide a framework for the development of predictive and casual models that may provide valuable insights into the mechanisms by which chronic infections are maintained and transmitted on a population basis.

描述（由申请人提供）：许多新出现的疾病是由野生动物宿主的人畜共患病原体引起的，或者是由大规模生态变化引起的，这些变化增加了人类与昆虫媒介以及动物和环境疾病源的接触。大约 80% 的引起人类疾病的传染源是与各种动物宿主共有的。兽医是研究这些新出现疾病的良好人选，但缺乏专门针对野生动物疾病的疾病发病机制和流行病学培训计划。拟议的培训将提供传染病、发病机制、分子诊断方法、病理学、实验动物医学基础、流行病学和疾病建模等多学科课程。为研究部分选择的模型系统，即地鼠龟的上呼吸道疾病 (URTD)，是非传统动物宿主慢性疾病的一个很好的例子。 URTD 代表了一个有趣的模型，用于研究具有与人类相似生活史的人群中慢性感染的建立、传播、维持和后果。本研究将提出以下假设：(1) URTD 是由一群密切相关的支原体物种引起的。陆龟种群中所涉及的具体物种可能有所不同，并且这些物种可能因地区而异，并且，（2）支原体的毒力有所不同，特定种群中存在的特定支原体将影响URTD的传播、临床病程和严重程度。这些假设将实现以下具体目标：（1）表征支原体物种和从不同陆龟种群获得的选定菌株的分子流行病学特征； (2) 表征支原体种类和从不同龟种群获得的选定菌株的毒力； (3) 开发一种多重 Luminex 检测方法，用于定量陆龟支原体抗体； (4) 鉴定与强毒力和无毒力支原体物种和选定菌株相关的基因。对自然人群中慢性呼吸道感染的研究将为预测和偶然模型的开发提供一个框架，该模型可能为了解慢性感染在人群中维持和传播的机制提供有价值的见解。