Molecular characterization of a plasmid isolated from Riemerella anatipestifer

Sixty strains of Riemerella anatipestifer were isolated from ducks and geese with infectious serositis in Taiwan. Sixty per cent of the isolates (36/60) contained a 3.9 b plasmid, 12% (7/60) contained 6.5 b and 16 b plasmids, 5% (3/60) contained 2.9, 16 and 18 b plasmids and 13% contained no plasmid (14/60). The 3.9 b plasmid (designated as pCFC1) was completely sequenced to determine if it encoded virulence factors. pCFC1 was 27% G-C and had four large open reading frames (ORF). Two of the ORFs (designated as VapD1 and VapD2) encoded proteins that shared 80, 83, 69 and 67 (VapD1) and 50, 48, 21 and 20% (VapD2) identity with virulence-associated proteins of Actinobacillus Actinomycetemcomitans, Dichelobcater nodosus, Haemophilus influenzae and Neisseria gonorrheae, respectively. pCFC1 also had an ORF (designated as RepAl) that encoded a protein with approximately 30% identity to the RepA proteins of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Campylobactor hyointestinalis and Pseudomonas aeroginosa. The region upstream of the RepA ORF had an A-T-rich region that was followed by four 21 bp perfect and one 20 bp imperfect direct repeat. The fourth ORF (designated as RepA2) encoded a protein with a region that was 44% homologous to the Helicobactor pylori replication protein.