ENHANCED BIOFILM FORMATION BY BORDETELLA PERTUSSIS CLINICAL ISOLATES FROM ARGENTINA AND USA

JENNINGS-GEE, J; YANTORNO, OM; VILLALBA, MI; CATTELAN, N; DEORA, R

San Miguel de Tucuman

Congreso; XII Congreso Argentino de Microbiología General SAMIGE-TUCUMAN 2017; 2017

Sociedad Argentina de Microbiología General

Bordetella pertussis is a strict human pathogen and the primary etiological agent of whooping cough or pertussis, a respiratory disease that is highly prevalent among infants. Physiological and pathogenic features of B. pertussis have been extensively studied focusing on the planktonic mode of growth of the bacterium, while only a few works so far have considered the biofilm lifestyle of this Bacterial pathogen. With the hypothesis that B. pertussis colonizes and persists in its host through biofilm formation, in this work we examined the biofilm forming capacity and other pathogenic features of clinical isolates recovered in Argentina and USA, from 2001 to 2012, against a reference strain, Bp536 (a strain sub-cultured in vitro since 1950s).