A peroxiredoxin from Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae with a possible role in H2O2 detoxification.

Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae is the causative agent of porcine enzootic pneumonia, which affects pig farms worldwide, causing heavy economic losses. In the infection process, this bacterium is exposed to reactive oxygen species (ROS) from its own metabolism or generated by the host as one of the strategies used to neutralize the pathogen. Although the presence of classical antioxidant enzymes would be expected in M. hyopneumoniae, important genes directly related to protection against ROS, such as superoxide dismutase, catalases and glutathione peroxidase, have not been identified by sequence homology in the genome sequence annotation. Among the few identified M. hyopneumoniae genes coding for proteins possibly involved with suppression of ROS-mediated damage, one (tpx) coding for a peroxiredoxin (MhPrx) has been recognized. The sequence and phylogenetic analyses perfomed in this study indicate that MhPrx is closely related to the atypical 2-Cys peroxiredoxin subfamily, although it has only one cysteine in its sequence. The MhPrx coding DNA sequence was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli to produce a recombinant MhPrx (rMhPrx), which was purified and used to immunize mice and produce an anti-MhPrx polyclonal antiserum. Probing of M. hyopneumoniae extracts with this antiserum demonstrated that MhPrx is expressed in all three tested strains (J, 7422 and 7448). Cross-linking assays and size-exclusion chromatography indicate that rMhPrx forms dimers, as has been established for atypical 2-Cys peroxiredoxins. Furthermore, a metal-catalysed oxidation system was used to assay the activity of rMhPrx, showing that it can protect DNA from ROS-mediated damage and may play an essential role during infection.