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We have determined the nucleotide (nt) and deduced amino acid (aa) sequence of a unique 115-kDa Mycoplasma hyorhinis protein (P115) with an N-terminal region containing a highly conserved consensus sequence characteristics of nt-binding domains of several ATPase and GTPase enzymes. However, P115 lacked additional conserved features characteristic of some classes of nt-binding proteins. Based on the hydropathy profile of the deduced aa sequence, the absence of a leader peptide, its exclusive partitioning into the hydrophilic phase during Triton X-114 phase fractionation of M. hyorhinis, and immunofluorescence analysis indicating no surface-exposed domains, it was concluded that P115 is a cytoplasmic protein lacking intrinsic membrane interaction. M. hyorhinis P115 appears to be a species-specific protein, since it was not detected in any other mycoplasmal or bacterial species examined with specific antibody or genomic probes. Since genetic systems for direct mutational analysis are currently unavailable in this organism, sequence analysis provides critical information in establishing the possible function of this protein. Moreover, the nt sequence encoding P115 reported here supports a previously proposed model, based on synthesis of P115-related proteins in Escherichia coli, suggesting that multiple polypeptide products can be generated from mycoplasma genes by promiscuous translation initiation in this heterologous expression system.
Antigenic diversity is generated in the wall-less pathogen Mycoplasma hyorhinis by combinatorial expression and phase variation of multiple, size-variant membrane surface lipoproteins (Vlps). The unusual structural basis for Vlp variation was revealed in a cluster of related but divergent vlp genes, vlpA, vlpB and vlpC, which occur as single chromosomal copies. These encode conserved N-terminal domains for membrane insertion and lipoprotein processing, but divergent external domains undergoing size variation by loss or gain of repetitive intragenic coding sequences while retaining a motif with distinctive charge distribution. Genetic analysis of phenotypically switched isogenic lineages representing ON or OFF expression states of Vlp products ruled out chromosomal rearrangement or frameshift mutations as mechanisms for Vlp phase variation. However, highly conserved vlp promoter regions contain a tract of contiguous A residues immediately upstream of the -10 box which is subject to frequent mutations altering its length in exact correspondence with the ON and OFF phase states of specific genes. This suggests a mechanism of transcriptional control regulating high frequency phase variation and random combinatorial expression of Vlps. The multiple levels of diversity embodied in the vlp gene cluster represents a novel adaptive capability particularly suited for this class of wall-less microbe.
Antigenic regions on the U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP)-associated 70K polypeptide recognized by human and mouse autoantibodies or by monoclonal antibodies were identified and compared. Using a set of 70K fusion proteins as antigen in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunoblotting revealed that serum autoantibodies of human and of MRL/Mp mouse origin recognized a common region of the 70K polypeptide. Monoclonal anti-70K antibodies derived from a patient with mixed connective tissue disease, from an autoimmune MRL/Mp mouse, and from a BALB/c mouse immunized with purified U1 snRNP were all shown to bind to a part of the 70K polypeptide rich in charged residues and different from the region recognized by most human and MRL/Mp mouse serum autoantibodies.
Isogenic populations of Mycoplasma hyorhinis undergo in vitro high-frequency phase variation in the expression of surface lipoproteins; these products also vary markedly in size through changes in periodic protein structure (R. Rosengarten and K.S. Wise, Science 247:315-318, 1990). In this report, we rigorously define three distinct translation products comprising the Vlp (variable lipoprotein) system of M. hyorhinis SK76 and establish parameters of Vlp structural diversity and expression that distinguish the Vlp system from previously described examples of antigenic variation. VlpA, VlpB, and VlpC are prominent amphiphilic membrane lipoproteins characterized by detergent-phase fractionation and metabolic labeling with [35S]cysteine and [3H]palmitate. VlpA is distinguished from VlpB and VlpC by its selective labeling with [35S]methionine; VlpB and VlpC are distinguished by specific epitopes defined by surface-binding monoclonal antibodies (MAbs); a third MAb defines a surface epitope shared by VlpB and VlpC (but absent from VlpA). Each Vlp displays 12 to 30 spontaneous size variant forms comprising a periodic ladder that could also be generated by partial trypsin digestion of individual Vlp size variants. Different periodic intervals within VlpB and VlpC further distinguish these two products structurally. Mycoplasma colony opacity correlates inversely with Vlp size. Each Vlp undergoes independent, oscillating high-frequency phase variation in isogenic populations and can be expressed individually or concomitantly with other Vlps in a noncoordinate manner. All seven possible combinations of these three products were observed; however, no variants were found that lacked a Vlp. High-frequency size variation of each Vlp superimposed on combinatorial diversity in Vlp expression yields greater than 10(4) possible structurally distinct Vlp mosaics, of which 104 were documented along with 24 of 42 possible transitions among the seven Vlp combinations. In addition to these features, VlpA, VlpB, and VlpC were specifically recognized by serum antibodies from swine with experimental M. hyorhinis SK76-induced arthritis, indicating expression and immunogenicity of Vlps in the natural host. The structure and variation of Vlps and their known involvement in MAb-mediated modulation of mycoplasma-infected host cell properties and mycoplasma killing are discussed in relation to the surface architecture and adaptive potential of the wall-less mycoplasmas.
Proteins translocated across the single plasma membrane of mycoplasmas (class Mollicutes) represent important components likely to affect several interactions of these wall-less microbes with their respective hosts. However, identification and functional analysis of such proteins is hampered by the lack of mutational systems in mycoplasmas and by a perceived limitation in translating recombinant mycoplasma genes containing UGA (Trp) codons in other eubacteria. Here we directly analyze a gene encoding a Mycoplasma hyorhinis protein capable of promoting its membrane translocation. It was initially detected by screening a recombinant phage genomic library with antibody from a host with M. hyorhinis-induced arthritis and was localized by Tn5 and deletion mutations affecting expression of antigenic translational products. Sequence analysis of the isolated gene predicted a hydrophilic protein, P101, containing three UGA codons and a putative signal peptide with an uncharacteristic cluster of positively charged amino acids near its C terminus. Nevertheless, lambda::TnphoA transposon mutagenesis of an Escherichia coli plasmid bearing the p101 gene resulted in p101::TnphoA fusions expressing products that could translocate as much as 48 kDa of the P101 sequence (up to the first UGA codon) across the E. coli plasma membrane. Fusion proteins containing mature P101 sequences expressed mycoplasma epitopes and were found by cell fractionation and detergent phase partitioning to be integral membrane proteins in E. coli, suggesting a lack of signal peptide cleavage in this system. Importantly, identification of P101 by direct analysis of its export function relied neither on prior identification of the mycoplasmal product nor on complete expression of the product from the cloned mycoplasma gene.
The ability of some microorganisms to rapidly alter the expression and structure of surface components reflects an important strategy for adaptation to changing environments, including those encountered by infectious agents within respective host organisms. Mycoplasma hyorhinis, a wall-less prokaryotic pathogen of the class Mollicutes, is shown to undergo high-frequency phase transitions in colony morphology and opacity and in the expression of diverse lipid-modified, cell-surface protein antigens. These proteins spontaneously vary in size, contain highly repetitive structures, and are oriented with their carboxyl-terminal region external to the membrane. Thus, mycoplasma membrane lipoproteins generate microbial surface diversity and may be part of a complex system that controls interactions of these organisms with their hosts.
A previously characterized lipid-modified amphiphilic surface protein of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, p65, has been defined by its reaction with a surface-binding monoclonal antibody (MAb) and by its exclusive partitioning into the detergent phase during Triton X-114 phase fractionation (K. S. Wise and M. F. Kim, J. Bacteriol. 169:5546-5555, 1987). In the current study, polyclonal mouse antibody (PAb) to gel-purified p65 was used to identify recombinant phage plaques expressing p65-related epitopes. Several characteristic partial tryptic fragments of p65 were recognized by both PAb and p65 and MAb to p65, but the PAb population specifically eluted from recombinant phage plaques bound only epitopes restricted to the largest of these fragments. Graded carboxypeptidase-Y digestion of intact M. hyopneumoniae generated C terminally truncated peptides that were recognized by PAb to p65 and MAb to p65, indicating that the C terminus and much of the adjoining region of p65 were present and accessible on the external face of the membrane. However, antibody eluted from recombinant phage plaques bound only to the largest truncated polypeptide, suggesting that a recombinant product corresponding to the C-terminal region of p65 was expressed in Escherichia coli. A 19-kilodalton recombinant protein (p19), which was recognized by PAb to p65 but not by MAb to p65, was detected in recombinant phage lysates. Serum antibodies from swine taken after, but not before, experimentally induced M. hyopneumoniae pneumonia preferentially recognized the native, amphiphilic p65 lipoprotein and also bound specifically to the p19 recombinant product. This confirmed that the p65 lipoprotein is a major immunogen of M. hyopneumoniae recognized during disease and identified its C-terminal region as an immunogenic domain.
We analyzed protein expression from a cloned Mycoplasma hyorhinis genomic fragment that produces in Escherichia coli a set of related polypeptides of 110, 100, 65, and 55 kilodaltons from a coding region of just over 3.0 kilobases. Expression of these multiple products resulted from a mechanism operating at the translational level but not from truncation at UGA termination codons, which are known to encode tryptophan in several mycoplasma species. The structural relatedness of the proteins was demonstrated by two-dimensional tryptic peptic mapping, but their generation by posttranslational processing was ruled out by pulse-chase labeling analysis. Examination of proteins expressed from plasmid constructs and tryptic peptide analysis of these polypeptides and the original set of proteins revealed that they share carboxy-terminal regions, an observation inconsistent with truncation at UGA codons. Expression of proteins from this cloned fragment was not dependent on vector sequences and was observed when the coding region was placed under control of a T7 promoter, suggesting that all products were translated from a single message. Expression of related products in mycoplasmas was examined by immunoblot analysis of M. hyorhinis proteins with antiserum against overexpressed recombinant proteins. A single 115-kilodalton mycoplasma protein was detected, which is larger than any of the related proteins expressed in E. coli. Our analysis indicated that translation initiation sites are used in E. coli that are not active in mycoplasmas, thereby defining differences between the translational regulatory signals of mycoplasmas and eubacteria.
Nucleotide sequence analysis of two Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae-derived copies of a repetitive genetic element revealed structural similarities to typical prokaryotic insertion sequences. This is the first such sequence identified in the class Mollicutes. The element spans approximately 1550bp, with 28bp inverted terminal repeats. Two open reading frames occur within the sequence, one potentially encoding a protein with a size-variant alpha-helical domain containing heptameric leucine periodicity. Hybridization data with several strains from each of two mycoplasma species showed that the repetitive sequence is variably distributed within the M. hyopneumoniae and Mycoplasma hyorhinis chromosomes and indicated that in some cases the repeated sequence is contained within a larger genetic element which may be the result of phage or plasmid insertion.
Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) previously shown to recognize distinct epitopes selectively expressed on the surface of some Mycoplasma hyorhinis strains were used to define two discrete sets of lipid-modified membrane surface proteins showing marked size variation within this species. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblot analysis of Triton X-114 phase-fractionated proteins from six isolates of M. hyorhinis defined a set of amphiphilic integral membrane proteins of 23, 50, and 55 kilodaltons (kDa) recognized on respective isolates by one MAb and a second set of integral proteins of 88, 120, and 100 to 150 kDa recognized by another MAb. The first group of proteins all contained a common, amphiphilic 18-kDa limit tryptic polypeptide bearing the epitope. The size- and strain-variant surface antigens identified by the MAbs were shown to be lipid-modified proteins. Phase fractionation of [3H]palmitate-labeled organisms revealed numerous 3H-labeled proteins in all isolates, which partitioned exclusively into the hydrophobic phase. These proteins generally showed pronounced size variation among isolates and included the antigen variants recognized by the two MAbs, as demonstrated directly by immunoprecipitation of correspondingly sized 3H-labeled proteins from each isolate. A third MAb recognized an invariant, lipid-associated surface protein of 70 kDa on all M. hyorhinis isolates. Covalent modification of lipid-associated proteins was confirmed by identifying 3H-labeled methyl palmitate after acid methanolysis of Triton X-114 phase proteins derived from [3H]palmitate-labeled organisms. However, removal of covalently bound lipid from chloroform-methanol-extracted proteins by alkaline hydroxylamine was selective; complete removal was observed with only a few proteins, possibly including the 120-kDa form of one antigen variant. This suggested potential differences in the nature of covalent linkage among lipid-modified M. hyorhinis surface antigens. Intraspecies antigen variants described here in M. hyorhinis share some characteristics with size-variant antigens reported in phylogenetically related gram-positive eubacteria and may contribute to phenotypic diversification and differences in pathogenicity of mycoplasmas.
A murine IgG2a, kappa-monoclonal autoantibody (mAb) F78 is described that recognizes a novel epitope associated with small nuclear ribonucleoprotein complexes (snRNP). F78 selectively immunoprecipitated a unique pattern of small nuclear RNA (U1, U2, and U4 to U6) characterized by a marked depletion of U1 and an elevated proportion of U2 compared with known patterns immunoprecipitated by previously described anti-RNP (2.73) and anti-Sm (7.13, Y12) mAb. Analysis of immunoprecipitated RNA from extracts previously cleared with mAb F78 and probed with anti-RNP mAb 2.73 further indicated the presence of two distinct subsets of U1. Immunoblots of whole cell extracts separated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) without heating showed that F78 selectively bound to a trypsin-sensitive component of apparent m.w. greater than 120,000 which was decreased in size following RNase A treatment. The anti-Sm mAb, but not the anti-RNP mAb, also recognized this component in unheated samples. Heating before SDS-PAGE resulted in abrogation of binding to the F78 epitope. Immunoprecipitation of unlabeled or [35S]methionine-labeled cell extracts with F78 revealed the presence of most snRNP peptides, but the absence of peptide C and the 68,000 m.w. component, known to be selectively associated with U1-specific snRNP. Two-dimensional SDS-PAGE analysis of F78 immunoprecipitates confirmed that the epitope recognized by this mAb resides on a heat-dissociable complex containing snRNP-related peptides B, B', D, E, F, and G, but lacking U1-associated peptides. F78 mAb therefore defines a subset of snRNP which lack anti-RNP associated U1 RNA as well as peptides known to be selectively associated with this RNA species. It apparently recognizes an epitope associated with an assembled form of these particles and may be useful in examining structures involved in RNA processing.
Because hormonal influences on autoimmune disease in MRL-lpr and MRL-+/+ mice have not been defined completely, we examined animals which had been castrated and implanted with the opposite sex hormone. Antibodies directed at non-DNA antigens in a calf thymus nuclear extract (designated CTE) and specific anti-DNA antibodies were increased in estrogen-treated males, testosterone-treated females, and sham-operated female controls compared to sham-operated males. Analysis by sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation revealed that gonadal hormones exerted marked differences in the distribution and nature of circulating IgM anti-CTE antibodies. Although 19 S IgM was the predominant form of anti-CTE antibodies in experimental groups showing elevated anti-CTE responses, estrogen-treated male MRL-lpr mice expressed a large additional population of anti-CTE IgM antibody released by acid dissociation of apparently cryptic complexes. An unexpected additional finding was the presence of cryptic anti-CTE IgG (7 S) in all groups of MRL-lpr and MRL-+/+ mice, revealed only in sucrose gradient analysis under acid conditions. It is suggested that sex-related factors may account, in part, for apparent differences in levels of circulating autoantibodies observed in MRL mice by influencing the degree to which autoantibody populations exist in circulating complexes.
Genomic restriction fragments isolated from Mycoplasma hyorhinis and Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae were shown by DNA hybridization and nucleotide sequence analyses to contain sequences common to these two species, as well as another porcine-derived mycoplasma, Mycoplasma flocculare. Intraspecies hybridization experiments using these fragments as probes indicated that the sequence is highly redundant in several strains of M. hyorhinis, but that there is diversity in the sizes of restriction fragments detected among these strains. In contrast, repetition of the sequence was limited in M. hyopneumoniae and M. flocculare, and no homologies to this repeated element were apparent in mycoplasma species isolated from animal hosts other than the swine. The reiterated sequence may reflect intraspecies genomic diversification in M. hyorhinis and its selective presence in otherwise unrelated species raises the possibility that it has been horizontally transmitted between these organisms.
Triton X-114 (TX-114)-phase fractionation was used to identify and characterize integral membrane surface proteins of the wall-less procaryote Mycoplasma hyorhinis GDL. Phase fractionation of mycoplasmas followed by analysis by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed selective partitioning of approximately 30 [35S]methionine-labeled intrinsic membrane proteins into the TX-114 phase. Similar analysis of [3H]palmitate-labeled cells showed that approximately 20 proteins of this organism were associated with lipid, all of which also efficiently partitioned as integral membrane components into the detergent phase. Immunoblotting and immunoprecipitation of TX-114-phase proteins from 125I-surface-labeled cells with four monoclonal antibodies to distinct surface epitopes of M. hyorhinis identified surface proteins p120, p70, p42, and p23 as intrinsic membrane components. Immunoprecipitation of [3H]palmitate-labeled TX-114-phase proteins further established that surface proteins p120, p70, and p23 (a molecule that mediates complement-dependent mycoplasmacidal monoclonal antibody activity) were among the lipid-associated proteins of this organism. Two of these proteins, p120 and p123, were acidic (pI less than or equal to 4.5), as shown by two-dimensional isoelectric focusing. This study established that M. hyorhinis contains an abundance of integral membrane proteins tightly associated with lipids and that many of these proteins are exposed at the external surface of the single limiting plasma membrane. Monoclonal antibodies are reported that will allow detailed analysis of the structure and processing of lipid-associated mycoplasma proteins.
A previously defined immunoglobulin M(kappa) monoclonal antibody reacting with a surface epitope of Mycoplasma hyorhinis is shown in this report to mediate specific, complement-dependent mycoplasmacidal activity. Immunoblot analysis of mycoplasma components and their tryptic cleavage products showed that the epitope recognized was present on a protein with an apparent molecular weight of 23,000 (p23) and on a limit tryptic fragment of this protein with an apparent molecular weight of 18,000 (p18). Both p23 and p18 are shown by Triton X-114 phase fractionation to partition efficiently into the hydrophobic detergent phase. Other antigens bearing epitopes not expressed at the cell surface were present among the numerous hydrophilic proteins found in the aqueous phase. The external orientation and membrane association of the p23 antigen were further established by demonstrating that trypsin treatment of intact mycoplasmas generated the antigenic p18 fragment, which remained tightly associated with the organism. These results localize an epitope responsible for antibody-mediated mycoplasma killing onto a specific, surface-exposed region of an integral membrane protein of this organism. Since the monoclonal antibody used in this study does not bind to the surface of all strains of M. hyorhinis, the epitope identified also defines a structural marker of antigenic surface variation within this species, a feature previously observed during serological classification of the organism. Analysis of the antigenic and structural features of the p23 surface antigen may therefore be useful in establishing mechanisms of surface antigen variation among integral membrane proteins of mycoplasmas that could dictate important antigenic characteristics recognized during chronic disease caused by these agents.
Surface protein antigens of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae were identified by direct antibody-surface binding or by radioimmunoprecipitation of surface 125I-labeled proteins with a series of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). Surface proteins p70, p65, p50, and p44 were shown to be integral membrane components by selective partitioning into the hydrophobic phase during Triton X-114 (TX-114)-phase fractionation, whereas p41 was concomitantly identified as a surface protein exclusively partitioning into the aqueous phase. Radioimmunoprecipitation of TX-114-phase proteins from cells labeled with [35S]methionine, 14C-amino acids, or [3H] palmitic acid showed that proteins p65, p50, and p44 were abundant and (with one other hydrophobic protein, p60) were selectively labeled with lipid. Covalent lipid attachment was established by high-performance liquid chromatography identification of [3H]methyl palmitate after acid methanolysis of delipidated proteins. An additional, unidentified methanolysis product suggested conversion of palmitate to another form of lipid also attached to these proteins. Alkaline hydroxylamine treatment of labeled proteins indicated linkage of lipids by amide or stable O-linked ester bonds. Proteins p65, p50, and p44 were highly immunogenic in the natural host as measured by immunoblots of TX-114-phase proteins with antisera from swine inoculated with whole organisms. These proteins were antigenically and structurally unrelated, since hyperimmune mouse antibodies to individual gel-purified proteins were monospecific and gave distinct proteolytic epitope maps. Intraspecies size variants of one surface antigen of M. hyopneumoniae were revealed by a MAb to p70 (defined in strain J, ATCC 25934), which recognized a larger p73 component on strain VPP11 (ATCC 25617). In addition, MAb to internal, aqueous-phase protein p82 of strain J failed to bind an analogous antigen in strain VPP11. These studies establish that a highly restricted set of distinct, lipid-modified hydrophobic membrane proteins are major surface antigens of M. hyopneumoniae and that structural variants of surface antigens occur within this species.
A library of monoclonal antibodies (McAbs) raised against Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae was screened to select McAbs that bound both to surface epitopes on intact organisms and to corresponding proteins identified by immunoblot analysis. Four proteins (indicated by MW in kilodaltons) were established as surface antigens: p65, p50, p44 and p41. Triton X-114 detergent phase fractionation of whole organisms clearly distinguished p65, p50 and p44 as hydrophobic integral membrane proteins, whereas p41 was identified as a hydrophilic surface protein apparently extrinsic to the membrane. This technique also provided a rapid and efficient method for isolating the relatively small number of hydrophobic proteins associated with M. hyopneumoniae. Preliminary evidence suggests that p65, p50 and p44 are linked covalently to lipids, which may be important in dictating their interaction with the membrane. Immunoblot analysis of antibodies from swine immunized with M. hyopneumoniae also suggests that p65 and p44 may be "immunodominant" antigens in this host.