Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2001 Phospholipase C of Clostridium hemolyticum: gene characterization and proof of its role as a protective immunogen in guinea pigs Paul Joseph Hauer Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Immunology and Infectious Disease Commons, Medical Immunology Commons, Microbiology Commons, Molecular Biology Commons, and the Veterinary Medicine Commons Recommended Citation Hauer, Paul Joseph, "Phospholipase C of Clostridium hemolyticum: gene characterization and proof of its role as a protective immunogen in guinea pigs " (2001). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 645. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/645 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. 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Rosenbusch, major professor Joseph Haynes Randall Levings James Roth Louisa Tabatabai Daniel Voytas Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2001 UMI Number: 3034189 UMI9 UMI Microform 3034189 Copyright 2002 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ii Graduate College Iowa State University This is to certify that the doctoral dissertation of Paul Joseph Hauer has met the dissertation requirements of Iowa State University Signature was redacted for privacy. Major Professor Signature was redacted for privacy. For the Majo Program iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT v CHAPTER 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION Introduction 1 Dissertation Organization 2 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Literature Review 3 Literature Cited 16 CHAPTER 3. CLONING AND MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF THE BETA TOXIN (PHOSPHOLIPASE C) GENE OF CLOSTRIDIUM HEMOLYTICUM Abstract 27 Introduction 28 Materials and Methods 30 Results 37 Discussion 44 Conclusions 48 Acknowledgments 48 References 49 iv CHAPTER 4. EVIDENCE OF THE PROTECTIVE IMMUNOGENICITY OF CLOSTRIDIUM HEMOLYTICUM PHOSPHOLIPASE C (BETA TOXIN) IN GUINEA PIGS Abstract 55 Introduction 55 Materials and Methods 57 Results and Discussion 62 Summary 67 Acknowledgments 68 References 68 CHAPTER 5 GENERAL SUMMARY Summary 71 Recommendations for Future Research 72 APPENDIX A: PRELIMINARY DEVELOPMENT OF A MULTIPLEX 73 POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION FOR IDENTIFYING ALPHA AND BETA TOXIN GENES IN CLOSTRIDIUM NOVYI AND CLOSTRIDIUM HEMOLYTICUM APPENDIX B : AMPLIFICATION OF THE CLOSTRIDIUM 82 HEMOLYTICUM BET A TOXIN GENE FOR INSERTION INTO AN EXPRESSION PLASMID ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 84 V ABSTRACT PHOSPHOLIPASE C OF CLOSTRIDIUM HEMOLYTICUM: GENE CHARACTERIZATION AND PROOF OF ITS ROLE AS A PROTECTIVE IMMUNOGEN IN GUINEA PIGS Paul J. Hauer, D. V. M, M. S., and Ricardo F. Rosenbusch, D. V M, Ph D The phospholipase C (PLPC) gene from Clostridium hemolyticum was cloned using the polymerase chain reaction. An open reading frame which encodes a 399-amino acid protein, containing a 27-amino acid signal sequence, was identified. The molecular weight of the active protein was 42,869 daltons. A 16-amino acid N-terminal sequence determined by Edman degradation exactly matched the putative amino acid sequence of the gene product. Comparison of the nucleotide and amino acid sequences with Genbank databases demonstrated that the beta toxin of C. hemolyticum exhibits high homology with other bacterial PLPCs. The N-terminal portion of the beta toxin contains the zinc-binding domain common to other bacterial PLPCs, and the C-terminal domain of the beta toxin protein shows considerable homology with the C-terminal domains of C. perfringens alpha toxin and C. novyi type A PLPC, and the N-terminal domain of bovine arachidonate 5-lipoxygenase. The beta toxin of C. hemolyticum was purified by preparative isoelectric focusing and used 1 Center for Veterinary Biologies, Licensing and Policy Development, United States Department of Agriculture, Ames, Iowa 50010 2 Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50010 vi to develop toxin neutralizing and non-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies. Guinea pigs passively immunized with toxin-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies were protected from a 100 LDso spore challenge. The toxin-neutralizing ability of the monoclonal antibodies, as measured in in vitro and in vivo toxin neutralization assays, correlated to the protective effects in guinea pigs. Protection of guinea pigs injected with varying doses of immunoaffinity purified beta toxin was correlated to the presence of anti-beta toxin antibodies in the serum. 1 CHAPTER 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION Introduction Clostridium hemolyticum is a species of anaerobic, spore-forming bacteria that is the etiologic agent of a fatal disease in cattle and sheep known as bacillary hemoglobinuria. The pathogenesis of the disease is attributed mainly to the action of a potent, toxic phospholipase C (PLPC) produced by the organism. Despite sporadic occurrences of this disease and the common use of preventative vaccination in many parts of the world, little has been done to improve the diagnosis or prevention of this disease since the first vaccines were developed over seven decades ago. Vaccines containing C. hemolyticum that are currently licensed in the United States are tested for potency using a guinea pig challenge test. This test causes pain and suffering in a large number of animals each year and has been targeted by regulatory officials as a test that needs to be replaced. In order to develop a suitable alternative in vitro antigen quantitation test, protective immunogens of C. hemolyticum need to be identified. Recent studies of PLPCs produced by bacteria closely related to C. hemolyticum have resulted in improved diagnostic techniques, a new generation of vaccines, and key insights into the contribution of PLPCs to disease pathogenesis and their possible role as protective immunogens. The goals of the research contained in this dissertation were 1) to determine the genetic sequence of the PLPC of C. hemolyticum, and 2) to determine the role of the toxin as a possible protective immunogen using a guinea pig challenge model. Hopefully this research will serve as a foundation on which better diagnostic techniques, better vaccines, and a more humane vaccine potency test will be developed. 2 Dissertation Organization This dissertation consists of two scientific studies addressing the two specific goals of the research. The scientific studies are preceded by a literature review and followed by a general summary. References cited in the literature review are listed immediately following. The studies presented in papers I and II will be submitted for publication in Anaerobe and Vaccine, respectively. Appendix I contains preliminary results from work on the development of a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for identifying C. novyi types A and B, and C. hemolyticum based on amplification of segments of their alpha and beta toxin genes. The study was designed to be published in The Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation as a brief communication when completed. Appendix n contains the PCR parameters used to amplify the C. hemolyticum beta toxin gene for insertion into an expression plasmid cut with the endonuclease Hind HI. 3 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Clostridium hemolyticum Clostridium hemolyticum is an anaerobic bacterium capable of producing a rapidly fatal disease in cattle and sheep known