Immunoproteomic characterisation of Mycoplasma mycoides subspecies capri by mass spectrometry analysis of two-dimensional electrophoresis spots and western blot.

OBJECTIVES

Mycoplasma mycoides subspecies capri is one of the causative agents of contagious agalactia in goats. The disease is characterised by mastitis, pneumonia, arthritis, keratitis and in acute cases septicaemia. No vaccine is currently available that has been demonstrated to prevent disease.

METHODS

This study used two-dimensional electrophoresis to separate proteins from whole-cell preparations and tandem mass spectrometry to identify them.

KEY FINDINGS: In total, 145 spots were successfully identified corresponding to 74 protein identities. Twenty of these proteins were found to be immunogenic by western blot analysis using a pooled serum sample from experimentally infected goats.

CONCLUSIONS

Six proteins were found to have a less than 95% amino acid similarity to a closely related Mycoplasma species showing that they warrant further evaluation in development of diagnostic tests. These proteins were a dihydrolipoamide acetyltransferase component of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, phosphoglycerate kinase, pyrimidine-nucleoside phosphorylase, 30S ribosomal protein S6, ribulose-phosphate 3-epimerase and D-lactate dehydrogenase.