Table 1 Strains and plasmids used in this study.

Strain

Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis biovar ovis

T1 (virulent strain isolates from goats; obtained from the Universidade Federal da Bahia, UFBA, Brazil).

MIC-6 (virulent strain isolate from goats; obtained from the Laboratório de Genética Celular e Molecular -LGCM, UFMG, Brazil).

E. coli

TOP10 [F- mcrA Δ(mrr-hsdRMS-mcrBC) φ80lacZΔM15 ΔlacX74 nupG recA1 araD139 Δ(ara-leu)7697 galE15 galK16 rpsL(StrR) endA1 λ-] Invitrogen.

B178 groEL44 mutant (ΔgroEL44) characterized by Zeilstra-Ryalls et al [19].

Plasmid

pTopo^® Cloning vector

Cloning vector - ColE1/Ap^r - Invitrogen.

pVAX1^© Vector

Eukaryotic expression vector - pUC/Km^r - Invitrogen.

pTopo/hsp 60

Cloning vector with the C. pseudotuberculosis hsp60 gene inserted in the Bam HI and Hind III restriction sites of the vector.

pProEx-Hta/hsp 60

Prokaryotic expression vector containing the C. pseudotuberculosis hsp60 gene [13].

pVAX1/hsp 60

Eukaryotic expression vector containing the C. pseudotuberculosis hsp60 gene.