The plasmid composition and pathogenetic characteristics of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis strains isolated from human subjects against a background of epidemic and sporadic morbidity

: 112 newly isolated clinical cultures of Y. pseudotuberculosis have been studied. The strains have been characterized by the presence of plasmids and pathogenicity signs associated with plasmids. The results of the study have confirmed the decisive role of the plasmid with a molecular weight of 44-48 MD in the virulence of Y. pseudotuberculosis. The plasmid with a molecular weight of 82 MD, previously attributed the role of an epidemic marker, has also been found to be widely spread. Our study has revealed no specific features in the plasmid composition of the strains isolated under the conditions of sporadic and epidemic pseudotuberculosis morbidity. The results of the study of the pathogenicity of isogenic derivatives differing by the presence of pXV indicate that the role of plasmids with molecular weights of 3.8 and 82 MD in this process is not essential in the model systems, traditional for enteroinvasive Yersinia.