Environmental mastitis pathogens are increasingly becoming a dominant problem in many well-managed dairy farms that control contagious mastitis pathogens (Oliver et al., 1988). In spite of the increasing prevalence of S. uberis mastitis, its pathogenesis and associated virulence factors are not clearly defined. Host-pathogen interactions induce transcription of host genes required for defense against invading pathogens and bacterial genes required for survival in the host. The various virulence molecules produced at different stages of bacterial growth enable them to adapt to their microenvironment more specifically and effectively. We hypothesize that S. uberis senses the presence of host factors and expresses virulence factors that allow bacterialcolonization and subsequent invasion of mammary gland tissue. These mechanisms allow S. uberis to overcome defense mechanisms of the host, such as phagocytic cells, complement mediated lysis, and antimicrobial peptides. The aim of this study was to determine virulence factors of S. uberis expressed during bacterial interaction with mammary epithelial cells using the high throughput transcriptome sequencing technique RNA-Seq.
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