Bordetella pertussis

Bordetella pertussis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Bacteria
Phylum: Pseudomonadota
Class: Betaproteobacteria
Order: Burkholderiales
Family: Alcaligenaceae
Genus: Bordetella
Species:
B. pertussis
Binomial name
Bordetella pertussis
(Bergey et al. 1923) Moreno-López 1952

Bordetella pertussis is a Gram-negative, aerobic, pathogenic, encapsulated coccobacillus bacterium of the genus Bordetella, and the causative agent of pertussis or whooping cough. Its virulence factors include pertussis toxin, adenylate cyclase toxin, filamentous haemagglutinin, pertactin, fimbria, and tracheal cytotoxin.

The bacteria are spread by airborne droplets and the disease's incubation period is 7–10 days on average (range 6–20 days).[1][2] Humans are the only known reservoir for B. pertussis.[3] The complete B. pertussis genome of 4,086,186 base pairs was published in 2003.[4] Compared to its closest relative B. bronchiseptica, the genome size is greatly reduced. This is mainly due to the adaptation to one host species (human) and the loss of capability of survival outside a host body.[5]

Like B. bronchiseptica, B. pertussis can express a flagellum-like structure, even though it has been historically categorized as a nonmotile bacterium.[6]

  1. ^ Heymann DL, ed. (2008). Pertussis; in Control of Communicable Diseases Manual (19th ed.). Washington DC: American Public Health Association. p. 457. ISBN 978-0-87553-189-2.
  2. ^ Organisation mondiale de la santé, World Health Organization (1998). Relevé épidémiologique hebdomadaire (Online) = Weekly epidemiological record. Organisation mondiale de la sante. OCLC 301147153.
  3. ^ Havers FP, Moro PL, Hariri S, Skoff T (2015). "Pertussis". In Atkinson W, Wolfe S, Hamborsky J (eds.). Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases: The Pink Book (13th ed.). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Health Foundation.
  4. ^ Parkhill J, Sebaihia M, Preston A, Murphy LD, Thomson N, Harris DE, et al. (September 2003). "Comparative analysis of the genome sequences of Bordetella pertussis, Bordetella parapertussis and Bordetella bronchiseptica". Nature Genetics. 35 (1): 32–40. doi:10.1038/ng1227. PMID 12910271.
  5. ^ Locht C (2007). Bordetella: molecular microbiology. Wymondham: Horizon Bioscience. ISBN 978-1-904933-31-1. OCLC 159579443.
  6. ^ Hoffman CL, Gonyar LA, Zacca F, Sisti F, Fernandez J, Wong T, et al. (May 2019). "Bordetella pertussis Can Be Motile and Express Flagellum-Like Structures". mBio. 10 (3): e00787–19. doi:10.1128/mBio.00787-19. PMC 6520453. PMID 31088927.