Lipopolysaccharide: A complex role in the pathogenesis of brucellosis

摘要

Brucella spp. are Gram-negative, facultative, intracellular bacteria that cause brucellosis in a variety of animals and undulant fever in humans. Ten species of Brucella have been described to date and despite more than 100 years of study since the first Brucella organism was isolated, we are only just beginning to elucidate their virulence and resistance mechanisms. In this issue of The Veterinary Journal, Dr. Ana Martín-Martín and her colleagues at the Universidad de Salamanca shed further lighton such resistance mechanisms by assessing the capacity of various Brucella spp. to withstand various hostile chemicals such as detergents and anti-microbials (Martín-Martín et al., 2011).