ducreyi is a gram-negative facultative anaerobe, and is best cultured on chocolate agar in anaerobic conditions. Current treatments of Chancroid includes: Ciprofloxacin, Erythromycin base, Ceftriaxone and Azithromycin (Rapini et al, 2007).
H.
ducreyi uses a two-component regulatory system to sense and respond to changes in the environment. These systems are basic stimulus-response coupling mechanisms that allow prokaryotic organisms to adapt to changes in many different environmental conditions (Spinola et al., 2010). Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) transfers a phosphoryl group to a specific histidine kinase, which recognizes the stimulus to create a signal transduction in the cell. Upon the auto-phosphorylation of histidine kinase, the phosphoryl group is transferred to the receiver domain located on the response regulator. Phosphorylation causes a change in the response regulator confirmation, which then leads to the stimulation or repression of target genes (Stock et al., 2000).
Since H. ducreyi encounters phagocytes in the body, it must be able to adapt in hostile environments. The bacterium uses a CpxR-CpxA two-component response system to make the adaptation. CpxR acts as a response regulator, while CpxA acts a sensor kinase. Studies have shown that CpxR represses the transcription of DsrA, the lspB-lspA2 operon, and the flp operon, which are all required for virulence in humans CpxA is needed to maintain transcription of all
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