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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Serine proteases and ovine footrot

Xiaoyan Han , Ruth M Kennan and Julian I Rood
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Structural and Functional Microbial Genomics, Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Clayton, Vic. 3800, Australia
Email: julian.rood@monash.edu

Microbiology Australia 34(1) 37-40 https://doi.org/10.1071/MA13012
Published: 20 March 2013

Abstract

Footrot is a disease that is of importance to the wool and sheep meat industries. The principle causative agent of ovine footrot is the anaerobic bacterium, Dichelobacter nodosus, virulent isolates of which secrete three closely related subtilisin-like proteases, AprV2, AprV5 and BprV. By constructing isogenic mutants and carrying out virulence tests in sheep it was shown that AprV2 is a major virulence factor of D. nodosus. Structural analysis of AprV2 has revealed that it contains several novel loops, one of which appears to act as an exosite that may modulate substrate accessibility. Both elastase activity and protease thermostability have been used for the differential diagnosis of D. nodosus isolates. Analysis of the protease mutants has shown that AprV2 is the thermostable protease and also is responsible for the elastase activity of D. nodosus, while AprV5 is the major extracellular protease. In addition, AprV5 is required for its own maturation and for the optimal cleavage of AprV2 and BprV to their mature active forms.


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