Lethal infection by Bordetella pertussis mutants in the infant mouse model

Different aspects of lethal infection of infant mice with Bordetella pertussis were examined. Mutants deficient in vir-regulated genes were tested for the ability to cause a lethal infection in the infant mouse model. Adenylate cyclase toxin-hemolysin and pertussis toxin were required to cause a lethal infection at low doses. Mixed infection caused by challenging the mice with an equal number of pertussis toxin and adenylate cyclase toxin-hemolysin mutants at a dose at which neither alone was lethal was also unable to cause a lethal infection. Production of the filamentous hemagglutinin and the dermonecrotic toxin was not required to cause a lethal infection. Nine other mutants in vir-regulated genes whose phenotypes have yet to be determined were also tested. Only two of these mutants were impaired in the ability to cause a lethal infection. Expression of fimbriae does not appear to affect the dose required to cause a lethal infection; however, fimbrial expression was correlated with the later stages of a nonlethal, persistent infection. Growth of the bacteria in MgSO4, a condition which reversibly suppresses expression of the genes required for virulence, did not alter the ability of the bacteria to cause a lethal infection. Auxotrophic mutants deficient in leucine biosynthesis were as virulent as the parental strain; however, mutants deficient in methionine biosynthesis were less virulent. A B. parapertussis strain was much less effective in promoting a lethal infection than any of the wild-type B. pertussis strains examined. A persistent infection in the lungs was observed for weeks after challenge for mice given a sublethal dose of B. pertussis, and transmission from infected infants to the mother was never observed.