Genetic Characterization of Field Strains of Mycoplasma hyopneumonie

• Grant number: 23/17921-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Effective date (Start): April 01, 2024
• Effective date (End): September 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Luís Guilherme de Oliveira
• Grantee: Ana Karolina Panneitz
• Supervisor: Dominiek Maes
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil
• Research place: Ghent University (UGent), Belgium
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/01747-4 - GENETIC DIVERSITY OF Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae ASSOCIATED WITH PLEURISY LESIONS DETECTED AT SLAUGHTER, BP.MS

Abstract

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (Mhyo) is the causative agent of Porcine Enzootic Pneumonia, a disease with worldwide distribution and high prevalence in the Brazilian swine herds. The presence of the agent is a crucial predisposing factor for secondary infections that contribute to increased severity of pneumonia lesions, with significant implications for animal welfare indicators, productive indices, and meat quality. However, there is limited information about the genetic characteristics of Mhyo, attributed to its status as a bacterium with complex and laborious cultivation, hindering the understanding of pathogen evolution, circulation dynamics, adequacy of vaccine antigens, and antimicrobial resistance. This project aims to deepen the study of the genetic profile of field strains of Mhyo. In our previous proposal to FAPESP (Process Nº. 2023/01747-4), we outlined the assessment of the genetic diversity of Mhyo associated with different scores of pleurisy detected at swine slaughter. We utilized the Multilocus Sequencing Type (MLST) technique for the genetic diversity characterization of Mhyo through the sequencing of three housekeeping genes. This current project proposes an international collaboration that will enable bioinformatics analyses and discussions of the obtained data with international researchers renowned in the field. We also aim to provide training for the cultivation and isolation of the agent, enhancing our laboratory capabilities to employ this technique in future research. Cultivation of Mhyo, coupled with moleculares tools already used by our group, will fill significant gaps in understanding the genetic characterization of field strains, as well as the circulation dynamics of this agent in swine herds.