scholarly journals Pilus-Mediated Adherence of Haemophilus influenzae to Human Respiratory Mucins

2000 ◽  
Vol 68 (6) ◽  
pp. 3362-3367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Kubiet ◽  
Reuben Ramphal ◽  
Allan Weber ◽  
Arnold Smith

ABSTRACT Haemophilus influenzae, especially the nontypeable strains, are among the most common pathogens encountered in patients with chronic lung disease and otitis media. We and others have demonstrated that respiratory isolates of nontypeable H. influenzae bind to human mucins, but the mechanism of binding is not entirely clear. We have therefore examined the role of pili in the adherence of both type b and nontypeable H. influenzae to human respiratory mucins. We used isogenic H. influenzaestrains with a mutation in the structural gene for pilin (hifA), a laboratory H. influenzae strain transformed with a type b pilus gene cluster (from strain C54), antibodies raised against H. influenzae HifA, andEscherichia coli strains carrying a cloned type b pilus gene cluster (from strain AM30) in these studies. All bacteria lacking HifA or the pilus gene cluster had decreased adherence of piliatedH. influenzae to mucins, and Fab fragments of anti-HifA antibodies inhibited the adherence. E. coli strains carrying the cloned type b pilus gene cluster were six to seven times more adhesive than strains carrying the vector. The role of other putative adhesins was not examined and thus cannot be excluded, but these studies support a role for pili in the binding of H. influenzae to human respiratory mucins.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yimin Li ◽  
Jun Xu ◽  
Zijun Li ◽  
Yixue Guo ◽  
Xiaoyan Xing ◽  
...  

Objective: The clinical relevance and pathogenic role of gut microbiome in both myositis and its associated interstitial lung disease (ILD) are still unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of gut microbiome in myositis through comprehensive metagenomic-wide association studies (MWAS). Methods We conducted MWAS of the myositis gut microbiome in a Chinese cohort by using whole-genome shotgun sequencing of high depth, including 30 myositis patients and 31 healthy controls (HC). Among the myositis patients, 11 developed rapidly progressive interstitial lung disease (RP-ILD) and 10 had chronic ILD (C-ILD). Our MWAS consisted of both overall distribution level of the bacteria analysis and pathway analysis. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was performed to identify novel gut bacterial species associated with myositis or myositis-associated RP-ILD, and to evaluate their diagnostic values. Results Apparent discrepancy in β diversities of metagenome was found in the comparison of myositis and HC, RP-ILD and C-ILD in myositis. Analysis for overall distribution level of the bacteria showed Alistipes onderdonkii, Parabacteroides distasonis and Escherichia coli were upregulated, Lachnospiraceae bacterium GAM79, Roseburia intestinalis, and Akkermansia muciniphila were downregulated in patients with myositis compared to HC. Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, Parabacteroides distasonis and Escherichia coli were upregulated, Bacteroides A1C1 and Bacteroides xylanisolvens were downregulated in RP-ILD cases compared with C-ILD cases. A variety of biological pathways related to metabolism were enriched in the myositis and HC, RP-ILD and C-ILD comparison. And in the analyses for microbial contribution in metagenomic biological pathways, we have found that E. coli played an important role in the pathway expression in both myositis group and myositis-associated RP-ILD group. Anti-PL-12 antibody, anti-Ro-52 antibody, and anti-EJ antibody were found to have positive correlation with bacterial diversity (Shannon-wiener diversity index and Chao1, richness estimator) between myositis group and control groups. The combination of E. coli and R. intestinalis could distinguish myositis group from Healthy controls effectively. R. intestinalis can also be applied in the distinguishment of RP-ILD group vs. C-ILD group in myositis paitents. Conclusion Our MWAS study first revealed the link between gut microbiome and pathgenesis of myositis, which may help us understand the role of gut microbiome in the etiology of myositis and myositis-associated RP-ILD.


2000 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 1849-1854 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Mercé Nogueras ◽  
Susana Merino ◽  
Alicia Aguilar ◽  
Vicente Javier Benedi ◽  
Juan M. Tomás

ABSTRACT We cloned and sequenced the structural gene for Aeromonas hydrophila porin II from strain AH-3 (serogroup O:34). The genetic position of this gene, like that of ompF inEscherichia coli, is adjacent to aspC and transcribed in the same direction. However, upstream of the porin II gene no similarities with E. coli were found. We obtained defined insertion mutants in porin II gene either in A. hydrophila (O:34) or A. veronii sobria (serogroup O:11) serum-resistant or -sensitive strains. Furthermore, we complemented these mutants with a plasmid harboring only the porin II gene, which allowed us to define the role of porin II as an important surface molecule involved in serum susceptibility and C1q binding in these strains.


2007 ◽  
Vol 189 (23) ◽  
pp. 8528-8536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Céline Plainvert ◽  
Philippe Bidet ◽  
Chantal Peigne ◽  
Valérie Barbe ◽  
Claudine Médigue ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT A new highly pathogenic clone of Escherichia coli meningitis strains harboring the unusual serogroup O45 has recently emerged in France. To gain insight into the pathogenicity of this new clone, we investigated the possible role of antigen O45 in the virulence of strain S88 (O45:K1:H7), representative of this emerging clone. We first showed that the S88 O-antigen gene cluster sequence differs from that of O45 in the reference strain E. coli 96-3285, suggesting that the two O45 polysaccharides, while probably sharing a community of epitopes, represent two different antigens. The unique functional organization of the two O-antigen gene clusters and the low DNA sequence homology of the orthologous genes suggest that the two loci originated from a common ancestor and have since undergone multiple recombination events. Phylogenetic analysis based on the flanking gene gnd sequences indicates that the S88 antigen O45 (O45S88) gene cluster may have been acquired, at least in part, from another member of the Enterobacteriaceae. Mutagenesis of the O45S88 antigen gene cluster was used for functional analysis of the loci and revealed the crucial role of the O polysaccharide in S88 virulence in a neonatal rat meningitis model. We also developed a PCR method to specifically identify the O45S88 antigen gene cluster. Together, our findings suggest that horizontal acquisition of a new O-antigen gene cluster, at least partly from another species, may have been a key event in the emergence and virulence of the E. coli O45:K1:H7 clone in France.


Genetics ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-77
Author(s):  
Thomas C Newman ◽  
Mark Levinthal

ABSTRACT We isolated, in E. coli K12, new alleles of the ilvB locus, the structural gene for acetolactate synthase isoenzyme I, and showed them to map at or near the ilvB619 site. The map position of the ilvB locus was redetermined because plasmids containing the ilvC-cya portion of the chromosome did not complement mutations at the ilvB locus. Furthermore, diploids for the ilvEDAC genes formed with these plasmids in an ilvHI background facilitated the isolation of the new ilvB alleles. The ilvB locus was remapped and found to be located at 81.5 minutes, between the uhp and dnaA loci. This location was determined by two- and three-point transductional crosses, deletion mapping and complementation with newly isolated plasmids. One of the new alleles of the ilvB gene is a mu-1 insertion. When present in the donor strain, this allele interferes with the linkage of genes flanking the mu-1 insertion, as well as the linkage of genes to either side of the mu-1 insertion.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 1018
Author(s):  
Hiroaki Yokota

Helicases are nucleic acid-unwinding enzymes that are involved in the maintenance of genome integrity. Several parts of the amino acid sequences of helicases are very similar, and these quite well-conserved amino acid sequences are termed “helicase motifs”. Previous studies by X-ray crystallography and single-molecule measurements have suggested a common underlying mechanism for their function. These studies indicate the role of the helicase motifs in unwinding nucleic acids. In contrast, the sequence and length of the C-terminal amino acids of helicases are highly variable. In this paper, I review past and recent studies that proposed helicase mechanisms and studies that investigated the roles of the C-terminal amino acids on helicase and dimerization activities, primarily on the non-hexermeric Escherichia coli (E. coli) UvrD helicase. Then, I center on my recent study of single-molecule direct visualization of a UvrD mutant lacking the C-terminal 40 amino acids (UvrDΔ40C) used in studies proposing the monomer helicase model. The study demonstrated that multiple UvrDΔ40C molecules jointly participated in DNA unwinding, presumably by forming an oligomer. Thus, the single-molecule observation addressed how the C-terminal amino acids affect the number of helicases bound to DNA, oligomerization, and unwinding activity, which can be applied to other helicases.


Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (7) ◽  
pp. 1496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Liang ◽  
Zhen-Jie Wang ◽  
Guang Ye ◽  
Xue-You Tang ◽  
Yuan-Yuan Zhang ◽  
...  

Lactoferrin (Lf) is a conserved iron-binding glycoprotein with antimicrobial activity, which is present in secretions that recover mucosal sites regarded as portals of invaded pathogens. Although numerous studies have focused on exogenous Lf, little is known about its expression of endogenous Lf upon bacterial infection. In this study, we investigated the distribution of Lf in mice intestine during Escherichia coli (E. coli) K88 infection. PCR and immunohistology staining showed that mRNA levels of Lf significantly increased in duodenum, ileum and colon, but extremely decreased in jejunum at 8 h and 24 h after infection. Meanwhile, endogenous Lf was mostly located in the lamina propria of intestine villi, while Lf receptor (LfR) was in the crypts. It suggested that endogenous Lf-LfR interaction might not be implicated in the antibacterial process. In addition, it was interesting to find that the infiltration of neutrophils into intestine tissues was changed similarly to Lf expression. It indicated that the variations of Lf expression were rather due to an equilibrium between the recruitment of neutrophils and degranulation of activated neutrophils. Thus, this new knowledge will pave the way to a more effective understanding of the role of Lf in intestinal mucosal immunity.


2013 ◽  
Vol 454 (3) ◽  
pp. 585-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joana Sá-Pessoa ◽  
Sandra Paiva ◽  
David Ribas ◽  
Inês Jesus Silva ◽  
Sandra Cristina Viegas ◽  
...  

In the present paper we describe a new carboxylic acid transporter in Escherichia coli encoded by the gene yaaH. In contrast to what had been described for other YaaH family members, the E. coli transporter is highly specific for acetic acid (a monocarboxylate) and for succinic acid (a dicarboxylate), with affinity constants at pH 6.0 of 1.24±0.13 mM for acetic acid and 1.18±0.10 mM for succinic acid. In glucose-grown cells the ΔyaaH mutant is compromised for the uptake of both labelled acetic and succinic acids. YaaH, together with ActP, described previously as an acetate transporter, affect the use of acetic acid as sole carbon and energy source. Both genes have to be deleted simultaneously to abolish acetate transport. The uptake of acetate and succinate was restored when yaaH was expressed in trans in ΔyaaH ΔactP cells. We also demonstrate the critical role of YaaH amino acid residues Leu131 and Ala164 on the enhanced ability to transport lactate. Owing to its functional role in acetate and succinate uptake we propose its assignment as SatP: the Succinate–Acetate Transporter Protein.


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