Species specificity of Bordetella adherence to human and animal ciliated respiratory epithelial cells

Bacteria of the genus Bordetella adhere preferentially to ciliated respiratory epithelial cells. We investigated the specificity of this unique tropism by assessing the concentration-dependent adherence of the three Bordetella species to ciliated cells from different hosts. Bordetella pertussis and Bordetella parapertussis adhere better to human ciliated cells than to those from rabbits, mice, or hamsters. In contrast, Bordetella bronchiseptica demonstrates preferential adherence to nonhuman mammalian ciliated cells of rabbits, mice, and hamsters. There was no attachment of any Bordetella organisms to chicken ciliated cells. These observations suggest that specificities of attachment may explain the marked predominance of B. pertussis as the cause of whooping cough in humans and of B. bronchiseptica as a respiratory pathogen of many nonhuman mammals.