Abstract
WO 2006/119983 PCT/EP2006/004385 Novel Genes and Proteins of Brachyspira hyodysenteriae and Use of Same for Diagnosis and Therapy Field of Invention This invention relates to novel genes in Brachyspira hyodysenteriae and the proteins encoded therein. This invention further relates to use of these novel genes and proteins for diagnosis of B. hyodysenteriae disease, vaccines against B. hyodysenteriae and for screening for compounds that kill B. hyodysenteriae or block the pathogenic effects of B. hyodysenteriae. These sequences may also be useful for diagnostic and therapeutic and/or prophylactic treatment of diseases in animals caused by other Brachyspira species, including B. intermedia, B. alvinipulli, B. aalborgi, B. innocens, B. murdochii, and B. pilosicoli. Background of Invention Swine dysentery is a significant endemic disease of pigs in Australia and worldwide. Swine dysentery is a contagious mucohaemorrhagic diarrhoeal disease, characterised by extensive inflammation and necrosis of the epithelial surface of the large intestine. Economic losses due to swine dysentery result mainly from growth retardation, costs of medication and mortality. The causative agent of swine dysentery was first identified as an anaerobic spirochaete (then called Treponema hyodysenteriae) in 1971, and was recently reassigned to the genus Brachyspira as B. hyodysenteriae. The disease spectrum for swine dysentery can vary from being mild, transient or unapparent, to being severe and even fatal. Medication strategies in individual piggeries may mask clinical signs and in some piggeries the disease may go unnoticed, or may only be suspected. Whether or not obvious disease occurs, B. hyodysenteriae may persist in infected pigs, or in other reservoir hosts such as rodents, or in the environment. All these sources pose potential for transmission of the disease to uninfected herds. Colonisation by B. hyodysenteriae elicits a strong immunological response against the spirochaete, hence indirect evidence of exposure to the spirochaete can be obtained by measuring circulating antibody titres in the blood of infected animals. These antibody titres have been reported to be maintained at low levels, even in animals that have recovered from swine dysentery. Serological tests for detection of antibodies therefore have considerable potential for detecting subclinical infections and recovered carrier pigs that have undetectable numbers of spirochaetes in their large intestines. These tests would be particularly valuable in an easy to use kit form, such as an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.