Bacillus anthracis and its activity in AnthraxLance Morrison

General anthrax infoIdentified in 1800sMostly effected livestock (transmit to

humans)Showed to be related to B. anthracis in

1876 (Robert Koch)First effective vaccine 1881 (Louis

Pasteur)Present day, much less common,

isolated outbreaks

Anthrax (cont.)Infect by inhalation, ingestion,

contact with open skin wound (cutaneous)

In humans, cutaneous is most common

Bioweapon via inhalation

Bacillus anthracisRod shape, Gram-positive

bacteriaForms endosporesCan synthesize a protein capsuleSynthesizes three important

proteins:◦Edema Factor◦Lethal Factor◦Protective Antigen

EndosporesCreated through cell divisionDormant, resilient form

EndosporesSurvive for extended periods in

soil◦ 150-250 y.o. spores (de Vos, 1990)

Can be reactivated by change in environment

Nutrient rich = survival, replication

Protein Capsule

Avoid immune responses

Very unsure of full role

Bacillus anthracis Genetics1 chromosome, 2 Plasmids

(pXO1, pXO2)pXO1 – Edema Factor, Lethal

Factor, Protective antigenpXO2 – Protein Capsule

(polyglutamate)

pXO1 – Okinaka et al.Purify plasmid from pXO1+, pXO2-

strain

Shotgun sequencing method

GeneMark software

LF, EF, PAProtective antigen binds to

copies of itselfComplex binds to lethal factor

and edema factorLethal Toxin, Edema Toxin

VaccinesPasteur – 1881, Weakened Cell

vaccine Sterne – 1935, Attenuated Cell

vaccineAnthrax Vaccine Adsorbed –

1970,

Works Cited Bravata DM, Holty JE, Liu H, McDonald KM, Olshen RA, Owens DK (February

2006). "Systematic review: a century of inhalational anthrax cases from 1900 to 2005". Ann Intern Med144 (4): 270–80

de Vos V (1990). “The ecology of anthrax in the Kruger national Park, South Africa. Salisbury Medical Bulletin”. 68S:19–23.

Okinaka, R.T., et al. “Sequence and organization of pXO1, the large Bacillus anthracis plasmid harboring the anthrax toxin genes”. J. Bacteriol. October 1999 vol. 181 no. 20 6509-6515

Pimental RA, Christensen KA, Krantz BA, Collier RJ (September 2004). "Anthrax toxin complexes: heptameric protective antigen can bind lethal factor and edema factor simultaneously". Biochem Biophys Res Commun 322 (1): 258–62.

Uchida, I., T. Sekizaki, K. Hashimoto, and N. Terakado. 1985. “Association of the encapsulation of Bacillus anthracis with a 60 megadalton plasmid”. J. Gen. Microbiol. 131:363–367.

The World Health Organization. <http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/anthrax_webs.pdf>