Barile, Michael F. (Division of Biologics Standards, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.), Robert T. Schimke, and Donald B. Riggs. Presence of the arginine dihydrolase pathway in Mycoplasma. J. Bacteriol. 91:189-192. 1966.-The presence of the arginine dihydrolase pathway was examined in 61 Mycoplasma strains representing at least 18 Mycoplasma species isolated from nine different sources: human, bovine, avian, murine, swine, goat, canine, sewage, and tissue cell culture origin. Some species were represented by only one or two strains. Different strains of the same species gave the same results. Ten species (56%) were positive. Many nonpathogenic Mycoplasma species (M. hominis, type 1 and 2, M. fermentans, M. salivarium, and M. gallinarum) were positive, whereas most pathogenic species (M. pneumoniae, M. gallisepticum, M. neurolyticum, and M. hyorhinis) were negative. The presence of arginine dihydrolase activity among Mycoplasma species may prove to be useful for purposes of identification and classification.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1965

Ultrastructure of Mycoplasma hominis.

Anderson, Douglas R. (National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Md.), and Michael F. Barile. Ultrastructure of Mycoplasma hominis. J. Bacteriol. 90:180-192. 1965.-Both thin-sectioning and negative staining were used in an electron microscopic study of the morphology of pleuropneumonia-like organism (PPLO) strain HEp-2 (Mycoplasma hominis, type I) grown in an artificial liquid medium. The morphology is quite variable and seems to depend, in part, on the age of the culture. The smallest form observed ("elementary body") is 80 to 100 mmu in diameter. The internal components of the larger PPLO cells (0.5 to 1 mu) are variable-some have ribosomelike granules and nuclear areas of netlike strands, and others have only irregular dense areas in a pale groundplasm. Some of the forms have dense cytoplasmic bodies which look much like elementary bodies. Others have vacuoles which may contain structures which look like smaller organisms. Especially in older cultures, very large (10 mu) vacuolated organisms are seen, probably corresponding to the "large bodies" described by light microscopists. Filamented forms are also seen. These observations suggest several possible modes of reproduction, each perhaps operating under different cultural conditions or at different ages of the culture.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1965

Comparison of the ultrastructure of several rickettsiae, ornithosis virus, and Mycoplasma in tissue culture.

Anderson, Douglas R. (National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Md.), Hope E. Hopps, Michael F. Barile, and Barbara C. Bernheim. Comparison of the ultrastructure of several rickettsiae, ornithosis virus, and Mycoplasma in tissue culture. J. Bacteriol. 90:1387-1404. 1965.-In an effort to make a valid comparison of the ultrastructure of several intracellular parasites, selected agents were propagated under identical conditions in a single type of tissue culture cell; such infected preparations were processed for examination by electron microscopy by use of a standardized procedure for fixation and embedding. The organisms studied were: the Breinl and E strains of epidemic typhus, Rickettsia prowazeki; the Bitterroot strain of R. rickettsii; the Karp strain of R. tsutsugamushi (R. orientalis); R. sennetsu; the P-4 strain of ornithosis virus; and the HEp-2 strain of Mycoplasma hominis type I. Each of the rickettsial species examined had a cell wall and a plasma membrane, and contained ribosomes and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in a ground substance. However, certain differences were noted. Both strains of R. prowazeki contained numerous intracytoplasmic electron-lucent spherical structures (4 to 10 mmu), not previously described. R. sennetsu, unlike the other rickettsiae, was not free in the host cytoplasm but was always enclosed in a vacuole. R. rickettsii was observed intranuclearly and in digestive organelles of the host cell as well as in the cytoplasm. Cells infected with ornithosis virus contained several forms representing the stages in its life cycle. The "initial bodies," made up of ribosomes and DNA strands, were morphologically similar to the rickettsiae. In cultures infected with M. hominis, most of the cells became large and multinucleate. Although the Mycoplasma organisms were readily cultivated from these cultures, only a few could be found in the electron microscope preparations. These organisms were extracellular and lacked a cell wall, being bound only by a unit membrane. Again, the internal components were ribosomes and DNA strands. Under the uniform preparative conditions employed here, the three groups of organisms were morphologically distinguishable from one another.

Chlamydia↗

PubMed1965

Immunization against neonatal tetanus in New Guinea. Antitoxin response of pregnant women to adjuvant and plain toxoids.

Immunization of pregnant women in New Guinea with three injections of plain toxoid had previously been shown to prevent neonatal tetanus. In the present study antitoxin levels induced by two oil-adjuvant toxoids (one injection), one AlPO(4) toxoid (two injections) and one plain toxoid (three injections) were compared with those induced by the same plain toxoid as used in the earlier study. At term there was no significant difference in the levels for the five toxoids, but those for the plain toxoids later declined rapidly. AlPO(4)-toxoid titres were significantly higher than the titres for the plain toxoids at the end of a year, but lower than the oil-adjuvant titres, which were the highest and most persistent. However, unacceptable side-effects (induced by subsequent lots of oil-adjuvant toxoids) preclude their routine use at present.The results indicate that a maternal antitoxin level at delivery of 0.01 unit/ml is protective. Aluminium-compound toxoid rapidly achieved titres that were better than this for at least a year, with minimal side-effects. Hence such toxoids are recommended for maternal immunization to prevent neonatal tetanus.

Female↗

PubMed1965

Mycoplasma (PPLO), leukemia and autoimmune disease.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Anemia, Hemolytic, Autoimmune↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Cloning of Ureaplasma urealyticum DNA sequences showing genetic homology with urease genes from gram-negative bacteria.

DNA chromosomic sequences from Ureaplasma urealyticum were shown, by DNA hybridization, to possess homology with Providencia stuartii urease genes. The homologous ureaplasma DNA fragment was cloned in Escherichia coli and a DNA probe, designated IC61 probe was specific for only the urease-producing U. urealyticum among the Mollicutes. Genetic homology shown between the IC61 probe and urease genes from Campylobacter pylori, E. coli and P. stuartii suggests that (1) the cloned DNA fragment from U. urealyticum contains urease encoding sequences, and that (2) the urease genes possess conserved sequences among phylogenetically distant prokaryotes.

Cloning, Molecular↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Competitive inhibition and attachment assays in cell cultures to detect pathogenic binding components of mycoplasmas: a review.

A microattachment assay for quantitating adherence of radiolabelled Mycoplasma pneumoniae to human WiDr cell culture monolayers is described. Preincubating the WiDr cell monolayers with a protein-rich extract of M. pneumoniae inhibited the subsequent attachment of radiolabelled organisms. Competitive attachment inhibition provided a quantitative procedure to determine M. pneumoniae-binding components in the extract. The microattachment assays also measured attachment inhibition by the sialoglycoconjugates ceruloplasmin, orosomucoid and gangliosides, indicating that these reagents may be structural analogues of the mammalian cell receptor. Attachment of virulent M. pneumoniae strains to glutaraldehyde-treated monolayers was reduced approximately 60% and showed a different temperature dependence compared with untreated cells. These results suggest that maximal attachment of virulent M. pneumoniae may require two or more different receptors and binding components.

Adhesiveness↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Rheumatoid arthritis: new findings on the failure to isolate or detect mycoplasmas by multiple cultivation or serologic procedures and a review of the literature.

Using 12 different and elaborate broth, agar, and cell culture procedures, we failed to isolate mycoplasmas, ureaplasmas, spiroplasmas, or chlamydiae from the synovial fluid of 10 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and from six patients with non-rheumatoid arthritis (NRA). In addition, sera from 35 patients with RA and 12 patients with NRA also were examined. Although some of the sera had moderately high titers of metabolism-inhibiting antibody to some of the 10 human Mycoplasma species, especially to the common respiratory pathogen Mycoplasma pneumoniae, and to some of the eight Ureaplasma urealyticum serovars, especially serovars V and VII, there were no significant differences between titers of these antibodies in the two groups of patients. Among RA patients serum antibody titers to M. pneumoniae were 1:32 in five and 1:16 in eight; two patients had higher synovial fluid titers (1:16) than serum titers (1:4). The geometric mean titer (GMT) of antibody to serovar V in synovial fluid was higher in RA patients than in NRA patients, but the difference did not reach significance (P = .056). Reports on the possible role of infectious agents in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis are reviewed.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

DNA homologies and serologic relationships among ureaplasmas from various hosts.

The available data on the serologic and genomic relationships among the established and unspeciated Ureaplasma species and serovars isolated from various hosts can be summarized as follows. Ureaplasma urealyticum (human) is composed of 14 serovars separated into two genomic clusters. Ureaplasma diversum (bovine) is antigenically complex, has three serologic clusters and requires the three representative antisera to identify all U. diversum strains. The nonhuman primate strains form four serologic groups, and each serogroup is composed of strains isolated from primates belonging to one of four distinct zoologic primate families. The ovine-caprine strains have two serologic clusters. Canine strains form four serologic clusters but serovars 1 and 2 are closely related by DNA homology. Avian strains belong to one serogroup with two genomic clusters. The DNA homology data indicate that phenotypic information alone, including antigenic serotypic data, is not always adequate for species designation among the ureaplasmas and that comparative analyses of the genome provide invaluable data for establishing new species. Although there are only two established species, the published data support the contention that the nonhuman primate, ovine-caprine, canine, feline and avian ureaplasmas are genomically and phenotypically distinct from each other based on the serologic, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis protein and DNA cleavage patterns and DNA homology studies and that these ureaplasmas from various hosts may represent new species or subspecies within the genus.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Mycoplasma hominis- tissue cell interactions: a review with new observations on phenotypic and genotypic properties.

Strains of Mycoplasma hominis isolated from different tissues of patients with a variety of disease processes and from cell culture substrates show marked phenotypic and genotypic heterogeneity, as determined by their antigenic and isozyme properties and by [3H]DNA-DNA hybridization and DNA cleavage pattern analyses. Strains isolated from the same tissues (blood of postpartum patients or human urogenital tract or cell culture substrates) have very high genomic homology and form clusters of similar strains. Clusters of strains that colonize similar specialized urogenital tissues may initiate diseases that reflect damage to the particular tissue colonized. Antigenic markers such as those for attachment components for different strain clusters may help determine the role, if any, played by strain differences in the etiology of a family of urogenital diseases.

Adhesiveness↗