Strains of Leptospira spp. circulating in animals from different biomes in Brazil

• Grant number: 24/19628-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: April 01, 2025
• End date: March 31, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Preventive Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Marcos Bryan Heinemann
• Grantee: Israel Barbosa Guedes
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Leptospirosis has been gaining increasing relevance in the context of One Health, with a view to understanding the interaction of the bacteria with animals, humans and ecosystems. Therefore, obtaining and identifying the bacteria are essential for this understanding. Brazil is known for its continental dimensions, composed of six distinct biomes: Amazon, Caatinga, Cerrado, Atlantic Forest, Pampa and Pantanal. Each of these contains different fauna, flora and climate, implying the richness and diversity of leptospires that may be circulating in animals, which in turn end up disseminating and maintaining the agent in the environment. Thus, the aim of this project is to isolate and characterize Leptospira spp. recovered from different animals that inhabit Brazilian biomes. To this end, a culture medium for isolation of the bacteria will be developed and validated to keep the leptospires viable for long periods, avoiding contamination by the accompanying microbiota. The medium will then be distributed to laboratories located in different states of Brazil, considering the predominant biome of the state, to be applied in their routines for isolating bacteria from animal samples. Subsequently, the isolates obtained will be characterized by serological and molecular tests, including whole genome sequencing. The pathogenicity of the isolates will be evaluated using inoculation in laboratory animals and histopathological analysis. Finally, the isolates will be cataloged, georeferenced and compared by phylogeny to understand the relationship between them, infected animals and biomes.