Molecular evaluation of flagellin flaB2 gene in pathogenic Leptospira serovars

Leptospirosis is a common zoonotic infectious disease, that cause by pathogenic Leptospires. FlaB2 is a periplasmic flagellum protein that is expressed during infection in the host. This protein is conserved among all pathogenic Leptospiral serovars. The aims of this study was molecular evalution of the gene encoding FlaB2 protein by PCR method in pathogenic Leptospira serovars in Iran. In this study, 20 pathogenic Leptospira serovars and two nonpathogenic Leptospira serovars were used. All 22 Leptospira serovars were cultured into the selective medium EMJH and genomic DNA was purified using standard phenol-chloroform method. Specific primers were designed for amplification of flaB2 gene and its sensitivity and specificity were evaluated by PCR. The results of PCR product of flaB2 gene was 1050 bp and it was observed that all 20 pathogenic leptospira serovars contained the flaB2 gene. This gene was not amplified from two non-pathogenic L. biflexa. The results of this study showed that the gene flaB2 gene was present only in pathogenic serovars. Therefore, molecular characterization of flaB2 gene is important for detection of pathogenic serovars from nonpathogenic Leptospira serovars