Method for assessing the virulence of pathogens and uses thereof
OwnerPierre Cosson, Jean-Pierre Paccaud +1inventors
InventorsPierre Cosson, Jean-Pierre Paccaud, Thilo Kohler
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a method of assessing the virulence of a pathogen or a toxin to a host organism. The present invention further relates to a method to identify a composition that reduces the virulence of a pathogen or toxin to a host organism. The invention also relates to a method to identify genes encoding toxins or factors that are pathogenic to a host organism.
Claims44
A method for assessing the virulence of a pathogen to a host organism, said method comprising:
- (a) exposing a culture of unicellular test organism to the pathogen;
- and
- (b) monitoring the growth of the test organism in the presence of the pathogen,
- wherein inhibition of the growth of the test organism indicates virulence of the pathogen to the host organism.
A method for comparing the virulence to a host organism of a first pathogen and a second pathogen, said method comprising:
- (a) exposing the unicellular test organism to a first pathogen and monitoring the growth of the test organism in the presence of the first pathogen;
- (b) exposing the test organism to a second pathogen and monitoring the growth of the test organism in the presence of the second pathogen;
- and
- (c) comparing the level of growth inhibition induced by the first pathogen in step (a) with the level of growth inhibition induced by the second pathogen in step (b),
- wherein the pathogen exhibiting the higher level of inhibition in step (c) has a higher virulence to the host organism.
A method for identifying a composition that reduces the virulence of a pathogen to a host organism, said method comprising:
- (a) exposing the unicellular test organism to the pathogen in the presence of a candidate composition;
- and
- (b) exposing the test organism to the pathogen in the absence of the candidate composition;
- and
- (c) monitoring the growth of the test organism in the presence and in the absence of the candidate composition,
- wherein a higher level of growth of the test organism in the presence of the candidate composition than observed in the absence of the candidate composition indicates that the candidate composition reduces the virulence of the pathogen to the host organism.
The use of D. discoideum to identify a composition that reduces the virulence of a pathogen to a host organism, whereby the reduction of virulence is reproducible in a rat mortality assay.
A method for identifying a mutation in a virulence factor of a pathogen of a host organism that reduces the virulence of the pathogen to the unicellular host organism, said method comprising:
- (a) selecting a pathogen which inhibits the growth of the unicellular test organism;
- (b) generating a mutant of the pathogen;
- (c) exposing a first culture of the test organism to the pathogen of step (a) and monitoring the growth of the first culture of test organism;
- (d) exposing a second culture of the test organism to the mutant of step (b) and monitoring the growth of the second culture of test organism;
- and
- (e) comparing the growth of the first culture with the growth of the second culture,
- wherein a higher level of growth of the second culture of test organism than observed with first culture indicates that the mutant has a mutation in the virulence factor of the pathogen which reduces the virulence of the pathogen to the host organism.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.