Protein profile of Chlamydophila abortus isolates from Kerala, India

Chlamydiae are of microbiological interest because of their mode of interaction with eukaryotic host cells and their specialized life cycle with unique features of parasitism. Reports regarding prevalence of infections of Chlamydophila abortus, the causative organism for chlamydial abortions in livestock, was the basis of the study. Two isolates, one each from cattle and goat abortion along with a reference isolate, were used for characterization with Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate-Poly Acrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Elementary bodies infected Mc Coy cells, harvested from bottle cultures were disrupted by Teflon coated magnetic pellet. Urografin-76 diluted with Tris-Potassium hydrochloride was used for purification of Elementary bodies of Chlamydophila abortus organism. On protein estimation of Elementary bodies by Biuret method, all the three isolates revealed protein concentration between 500-1000 mg/100ml, which were sufficient for electrophoresis. Ten percent of resolving gel and five percent of stacking gel of polyacrylamide in which 10g of processed isolate samples along with standard protein marker and Mc Coy cell protein (control) were electrophoresed. Using Alpha Imager Gel Documentation System, the protein bands were analyzed. Twelve bands each for local bovine isolate and reference isolate were noticed while only 10 bands were there in the caprine isolate. Additional bands of 148 kDa and 135 kDa were present in bovine isolate, compared to the reference isolate, while 152 kDa and 137 kDa bands were unique for caprine isolate.