Sequence polymorphism of the Salmonella plasmid virulence factor D (SpvD) in Salmonella enterica isolates of animal origin

The nucleotide sequence encoding the Salmonella plasmid virulence factor D (SpvD) was determined in 17 Salmonella strains that were different in O and H antigen patterns, animal host and geographical origin, and year of isola tion. Nucleotide sequence comparison revealed the existence of at least nin e spvD alleles resulting in 8 SpvD protein variants although the nucleotide sequences were highly similar (identity 98.8-100%). The spvD gene products differed from each other in up to 4 amino acid residues only with the exce ption of the carboxy-terminally truncated SpvD variant of one S. Gallinarum field isolate. The highly conserved primary structure of SpvD in epidemiol ogically relevant salmonellae suggests that this virulence factor is a prom ising antigen candidate for diagnostic purposes (i.e. antibody detection in infected animals) but also for immunoprophylaxis in farm animal species.