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traT gene sequences, serum resistance and pathogenicity-related factors in clinical isolates of Escherichia coli and other gram-negative bacteria.

The R6-5 plasmid-specified outer membrane protein, TraT protein, has previously been shown to mediate resistance to bacterial killing by serum. Colony hybridization with a 700 bp DNA fragment carrying most of the traT gene was used to examine the prevalence of traT in Gram-negative bacteria, particularly strains of Escherichia coli, isolated from clinical specimens. traT was found in isolates of E. coli, Salmonella, Shigella and Klebsiella, but not in Pseudomonas, Aeromonas or Plesiomonas, nor in the few isolates of Enterobacter, Proteus, Acinetobacter, Citrobacter, Serratia or Yersinia that were examined. It was detected in a significantly higher proportion of the E. coli strains isolated from the blood of patients with bacteraemia/septicaemia or from faeces of patients with enteric infections (50-70%) than in that of strains isolated from normal faeces (20-40%). The incidence of traT in strains isolated from cases of urinary tract infections was variable. traT was found to be frequently associated with production of the K1 capsule and with the carriage of ColV plasmids, but not with the carriage of R plasmids, nor with serum resistance or the production of haemolysin.

Autoradiography↗

Characterization of enterobacteria by esterase specific-activity profiles.

The spectrum of specific activities and the electrophoretic mobilities of esterases produced by 550 strains of Enterobacteriaceae belonging to 36 species and subclassified into six groups (group 1, Escherichia coli, Shigella and Escherichia hermanii; group 2, genus Salmonella and genus Citrobacter; group 3, genus Klebsiella and genus Enterobacter; group 4, genus Serratia and Serratia fonticola; group 5, genus Proteus, genus Providencia and genus Morganella; and group 6, genus Yersinia) were analysed by acrylamide/agarose gel electrophoresis using standardized methods for staining and mobility comparisons. Nineteen types of esterase were defined by their respective esterase specific-activity profile (ESAP). A multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) of the ESAP data enabled 82% of the strains in the 36 species to be correctly classified. In each group, the species were clearly delineated after MCA on both ESAP and electrophoretic mobility data. In addition, the smallest number of characters providing species identification of Yersinia strains by esterase polymorphism was identified by means of a binary segmentation tree technique.

Enterobacteriaceae↗

In vitro characterization of intra-generic inhibition of growth in Salmonella typhimurium.

The intra-generic inhibition of bacterial growth observed previously in vivo and in vitro with strains of Salmonella, Citrobacter and E. coli was studied in vitro using S. typhimurium strain F98. There was complete inhibition of multiplication of S. typhimurium when it was added to stationary-phase broth cultures of different Salmonella serotypes, but only partial inhibition when added to broth cultures of E. coli. The degree of inhibition between different mutants of F98 was affected by the numbers of bacteria of the inhibiting strain, but this was not the only factor, since exponential-phase bacterial cells were less inhibitory than stationary-phase cells. The inhibitory effect was produced at temperatures between 20 degrees C and 40 degrees C. The complete inhibition of growth observed between F98 mutants was abolished by ampicillin, rifampicin and streptomycin, but not by nalidixic acid. Inhibition was also prevented by separating the two cultures by a dialysis membrane. A TnphoA insertion mutant of F98 was produced which did not show inhibition in vitro but was still inhibitory in vivo. It is suggested that this complete inhibition of bacterial multiplication between organisms of the same genus, which is greater than that produced between organisms from different genera, is mediated by a cell surface protein.

Animals↗

The Vi antigen of Salmonella typhi: molecular analysis of the viaB locus.

Strains of Salmonella typhi isolated from the blood of patients with typhoid fever invariably express a capsular polysaccharide, termed the Vi antigen. Vi antigen expression is controlled by two separate chromosomal loci, viaA and viaB. The viaA locus is commonly found in enteric bacteria. In contrast, the viaB locus appears to be specific to Vi-expressing strains of Salmonella and Citrobacter. Here the cloning, expression and analysis of viaB determinants from S. typhi Ty2 is described. Whole-cell DNA from strain Ty2 was size-fractionated and cloned into the pLA2917 cosmid vector. A recombinant cosmid, pVT1, conferring a Vi-positive phenotype upon Escherichia coli and upon the Vi-non-expressing strain Ty21a of S. typhi, was characterized and used for further studies. Transposon Tn5 insertion mutagenesis demonstrated that the Vi-antigen-encoding region on pVT1 consisted of a 15 kb fragment. A subclone, designated pVT3, which contained an 18 kb insert, was sufficient to confer Vi antigen expression upon E. coli and S. typhi Ty21a. Results of recombination experiments indicated that this DNA sequence was the viaB locus of S. typhi Ty2. In E. coli SE5000 maxicells, the viaB determinants encoded at least eight polypeptides, with molecular masses of 80, 65, 59, 48, 44, 39, 35 and 28 kDa. Functional characterization of viaB mutations in S. typhi Ty2 suggested that the 80 and 65 kDa proteins were required for cell-surface localization of the Vi antigen.

Antigens, Bacterial↗

Immunological relatedness of the LamB proteins among members of Enterobacteriaceae.

We have studied the immunological relatedness of LamB proteins from a wide range of enterobacterial species, using antibodies directed against denatured Escherichia coli K12 and Klebsiella pneumoniae LamB proteins (LamBE.c. and LamBK.p., respectively), and anti-peptide antibodies directed against 10 distinct loops of LamB from E. coli K12 predicted to protrude either side of the outer membrane. We have shown that a protein immunologically related to LamBE.c. and LamBK.p. was present in all members of Enterobacteriaceae tested. A protein recognized by several anti-peptide antibodies was identified in E. coli, Shigella sonnei, Salmonella typhimurium and Kleb. pneumoniae, as well as in two Citrobacter species, two Enterobacter species and Kluyvera ascorbata. The recognition patterns obtained with the anti-peptide antibodies were in agreement with the LamB protein sequence data available. They indicated that the cell surface and also the periplasmic loops of LamB are subject to great antigenic variability.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

beta-Lactamase of Lysobacter enzymogenes: cloning, characterization and expression of the gene and comparison of the enzyme to other lactamases.

The gene for the periplasmic beta-lactamase of Lysobacter enzymogenes was isolated as part of a 1017 bp EcoRI fragment and the nucleotide sequence of the gene was determined. It has a G+C content of 71.5% and encodes a 27 amino acid signal sequence and the mature beta-lactamase of 276 amino acids which has a mass of 29,146 Da. The enzyme appears to be unique to L. enzymogenes but its amino acid sequence shows a high degree of homology with the amino acid sequences of the lactamase from Citrobacter diversus and other Class A beta-lactamases. The beta-lactamase gene of L. enzymogenes was expressed in Escherichia coli using pUC118 as the vector. The production of active beta-lactamase was highest after the active growth phase of the expression host and reached levels which were about three times higher than those obtained with L. enzymogenes.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

The distribution of enteric bacteria from Australian mammals: host and geographical effects.

Bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae were isolated from 642 mammalian hosts, representing 16 families and 79 species, collected from throughout Australia. Escherichia coli was the most common of the 24 enteric species recovered and represented almost half of the isolates. Association analysis revealed that most other species of bacteria were less likely to be recovered from hosts in which E. coli was present. The composition of the enteric community of a host was found to be determined by both the taxonomic family to which the host belonged and the geographical area from which the host was collected. Hosts collected from the northern areas of Queensland and the Northern Territory had more diverse enteric communities than hosts collected from New South Wales or Western Australia. Hosts of the families Petauridae and Vespertilionidae had more diverse enteric communities than did members of the Macropodidae or Phalangeridae. The probability of occurrence of Citrobacter freundii, Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Hafnia alvei, Klebsiella oxytoca and K. pneumoniae in a host was found to vary with respect to host family and/or host locality. The non-random distribution of these species demonstrates the presence of extensive population structure and may suggest the existence of adaptations specific to both the primary and secondary habitats of these enteric bacteria.

Animals↗

The genetic structure of enteric bacteria from Australian mammals.

A total of 246 isolates representing five species of the family Enterobacteriaceae, taken from a variety of Australian mammal species, were characterized using multi-locus enzyme electrophoresis. Genome diversity estimates varied significantly among species, with the Klebsiella pneumoniae sample exhibiting the lowest diversity and the Citrobacter freundii sample the highest. Multi-locus linkage disequilibrium estimates revealed that alleles were non-randomly associated in all five species samples, but the magnitude of the estimates differed significantly among species. Escherichia coli had the lowest linkage disequilibrium estimate and Klebisella oxytoca the largest. Molecular analyis of variance was used to determine the extent to which population structure explained the observed genetic variation in a species. Two population levels were defined: the taxonomic family of the host from which the isolate was collected and the geographical locality where the host was collected. The amount of explained variation varied from 0% for K. oxytoca to 22% for K. pneumoniae. Host locality explained a significant amount of the genetic variation in the C. freundii (12%), E. coli (5%), Hafnia alvei (17%) and K. pneumoniae (22%) samples. Host family explained a significant fraction of the variation in E. coli (6%) H. alvei (7%) and K. pneumoniae (20%). Estimates of effective population size for all five species, based on the probability that two randomly chosen isolates will be identical, failed to reveal any relationship between the effective population size and the genetic diversity of a species.

Alleles↗

Development of a P1 phagemid system for the delivery of DNA into Gram-negative bacteria.

The inability to transform many clinically important Gram-negative bacteria has hampered genetic studies addressing the mechanism of bacterial pathogenesis. This report describes the development and construction of a delivery system utilizing the broad-host-range transducing bacteriophage P1. The phagemids used in this system contain a P1 pac initiation site to package the vector, a P1 lytic replicon to generate concatemeric DNA, a broad-host-range origin of replication and an antibiotic-resistance determinant to select bacterial clones containing the recircularized phagemid. Phagemid DNA was successfully introduced by infection and stably maintained in members of the families Enterobacteriaceae (Escherichia coli, Shigella flexneri, Shigella dysenteriae, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Citrobacter freundii) and Pseudomonadaceae (Pseudomonas aeruginosa). In addition to laboratory strains, these virions were used successfully to deliver phagemids to a number of strains isolated from patients. This ability to deliver genetic information to wild-type strains raises the potential for use in antimicrobial therapies and DNA vaccine development.

Bacteriophages↗

Differentiation of Serratia marcescens and Serratia liquefaciens by tests for lipase and phospholipase production.

The production of lipase and phospolipase by certain members of the Enterobacteriaceae was examined by thin-layer chromatography of resting-cell suspensions incubated with triolein or lecithin. Most strains of Serratia marcescens produced both enzymes while most strains of Serratia liquefaciens exhibited strong lipase but only a minor phospholipase activity. Enterobacter spp. (25 strains), Klebsiella pneumoniae (20 strains), Escherichia coli (15 strains), Citrobacter freundii (7 strains) and Proteus spp. (20 strains) lacked both types of enzymic activity except for the following: three strains of Enterobacter cloacae, two of Proteus mirabilis and three of Proteus vulgaris possessed slight lipase activity; about one-half of the Enterobacter aerogenes and Enterobacter hafniae strains examined produced slight phospholipase activity. It is suggested that tests for lipase and phospholipase should be used in conjunction with those for DNAase production and sugar fermentation for the differentiation of S. marcescens and S. liquefaciens.

Arabinose↗

An R plasmid of broad host-range, coding for resistance to nine antimicrobial agents endemic in Gram-negative nosocomial isolates.

Of 3952 clinical isolates of Enterobacteriaceae, 246 exhibited resistance to at least carbenicillin, gentamicin and tobramycin. All these isolates, representing eight genera, were resistant to at least nine antimicrobial agents in common, including the three key antibiotics and streptomycin, kanamycin, sisomycin, ampicillin, cephalothin and sulphonamide. The strains could be subdivided into seven groups depending upon additional resistance traits and some were resistant to as many as 15 antibiotics. When mated with a standard strain of Escherichia coli, 85% of 123 randomly selected donors transferred resistance to at least the nine core antibiotics. Some donors occasionally transferred resistance to two additional antibiotics, neomycin and tetracycline, while one Citrobacter freundi donor always transferred linked resistance to all 11 drugs. Although many donors were found to harbour more than one species of plasmid DNA, all except a strain of C. freundi contained at least a plasmid of mol. wt 89 x 10(6). Analysis of E. coli transconjugants showed this plasmid to be responsible for transferable resistance to the nine core antibiotics. Restriction-endonuclease analysis indicates that the 89 x 10(6) plasmids originating from different isolates were essentially identical with each other. These results show that a particular R plasmid has established itself among the Enterobacteriaceae at Hines VA Hospital. This R plasmid appears to be the predominant genetic element responsible for linked resistance to carbenicillin, gentamicin and tobramycin among these hospital-associated bacteria.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Rhodanese activity: a simple and reliable taxonomic tool for gram-negative bacteria.

The thiosulphate: cyanide sulphurtransferase (rhodanese) test of Vandenbergh, Bawdon and Berk (1979) has been simplified and 2469 strains from a wide variety of sources representing different biochemical, serological or phage-pattern entities were tested. The percentages of rhondanese-producing strains were: Escherichia coli 98%, Shigella flexneri serovars 1-5%, X and Y 0%, other shigellae 73-100%, Yersinia spp. 0%, Salmonella subgenera I-IV 0%, Citrobacter freundi 16%, Klebsiella 37%, Enterobacter 4%, Hafnia alvei 61%, Proteus spp. 0%, Pseudomonas spp. 98-100%. Rhondanese production by S. flexneri serovar 6 supports the view that this group of bacteria should be removed from S. flexneri and placed in another species of Shigella.

Bacteria↗

Ribosomal-RNA patterns of Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium and related Enterobacteriaceae.

rRNA sequences are usually highly conserved among species. In Enterobacteriaceae we have shown that Salmonella typhimurium does not have an equivalent to the 23S rRNA of Escherichia coli but its 23S rRNA is cleaved in vivo into two smaller species. This cleavage appears to be a result of a difference between the S. typhimurium and E. coli rRNA sequences rather than to differences in ribonuclease activity. We have surveyed a wide range of Enterobacteriaceae for the presence or absence of 23S rRNA and found this rRNA species to be present in all strains of E. coli, Shigella and Citrobacter and all salmonellae examined except S. typhimurium. All S. typhimurium cultures, isolated at different times and from several different countries, lack an intact 23S rRNA. Thus, the presence or absence of this rRNA species is an excellent diagnostic characteristic for S. typhimurium.

Animals↗

Invasion of Vero cells by Salmonella species.

The invasiveness of Salmonella strains for Vero cells was studied by quantitative bacteriology; the technique was more sensitive than phase contrast microscopy. All of 59 Salmonella strains, of 19 different serotypes, were more invasive than Escherichia coli K12. Three strains of Shigella were as invasive as most of the Salmonella strains whereas 29 strains of E. coli, two of Proteus, three of Klebsiella and one of Serratia were much less invasive. Two Citrobacter strains exhibited intermediate invasiveness. Eleven Salmonella strains were also shown to be invasive in HeLa, int 407, bovine kidney, chick kidney and chick embryonic fibroblast cells. The difference between invasive and non-invasive organisms was apparent irrespective of the numbers of bacteria in contact with Vero cells or the duration of bacteria-cell contact. There was little intracellular multiplication of S. typhimurium in Vero cells. Unlike the situation with Shigella, incubation of Salmonella or Salmonella-cell mixtures at 41 degrees C, 22 degrees C or 0 degree C had little effect on invasiveness. Non-viable Salmonella organisms were non-invasive. Incubation of Vero cells with cholera toxin, dinitrophenol, iodoacetic acid, cytochalasin B or D-mannose did not substantially reduce invasiveness. Virulence-associated plasmids were not essential to invasion by S. typhimurium, S. gallinarum or S. pullorum. Neither somatic antigens nor mannose-sensitive haemagglutinins were essential to the invasiveness of an S. infantis strain, but an additional factor, eliminated by N-methyl, N-nitro, N-nitrosoguanidine mutagenesis did contribute to invasiveness.

2,4-Dinitrophenol↗

Incidence of an aminoglycoside 6'-N-acetyltransferase, ACC(6')-1b, in amikacin-resistant clinical isolates of gram-negative bacilli, as determined by DNA-DNA hybridisation and immunoblotting.

Seventy amikacin-resistant clinical isolates of gram-negative bacteria belonging to nine genera were examined by immunoblotting and by DNA-DNA hybridisation for the presence of ACC(6')1b enzyme, previously called AAC(6')-4, or its encoding gene aacA1b. The organisms mostly had resistance profiles compatible with AAC(6') production and were from South and North America, the Far East and Europe. Polyclonal (rabbit) anti-AAC(6')-1b antisera and an intragenic aacA1b (aacA4) probe derived from the multiresistance plasmid pAZ007 were used. The aacA1b gene was found to be widespread. Positive hybridisation, and immunologically cross-reactive proteins, were observed in 44% of the isolates examined. They were present most frequently (greater than or equal to 70%) in isolates of Klebsiella, Escherichia and Enterobacter spp., but less often (less than or equal to 25%) in Serratia, Citrobacter, Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas spp. The strains that reacted with the probe produced enzymes that varied in their apparent mol. wts between c. 24,000 and 26,000. The existence of multiple electrophoretic forms of amikacin-acetylating enzymes of the ACC(6')-1b type may be useful in epidemiological surveys of AAC(6')-mediated amikacin resistance.

Acetyltransferases↗

The signal transducer encoded by ampG is essential for induction of chromosomal AmpC beta-lactamase in Escherichia coli by beta-lactam antibiotics and 'unspecific' inducers.

Chemical mutagenesis of the AmpC beta-lactamase-hyperinducible Escherichia coli strain SN0301/pNu305 carrying the cloned ampC and ampR genes from Citrobacter freundii OS60 gave four independent mutants in which beta-lactamase was no longer inducible, or was inducible only to a low level, by beta-lactam antibiotics. The genes ampC, ampR, ampD and ampE, which were essential for beta-lactamase induction, were functional in these mutants. In all four mutants, the sites of mutation were mapped to 9.9 min on the E. coli chromosome. Complementation with wild-type ampG restored inducibility of beta-lactamase to wild-type levels. The nucleotide sequence of all four mutant ampG alleles (ampG1, ampG3, ampG4 and ampG5) was determined. In three of the mutants, a single base exchange led to an amino acid change from glycine to aspartate at different sites in the deduced amino acid sequence. In the fourth mutant (ampG4), with low-level inducibility, the nucleotide sequence was identical to wild-type ampG. Spontaneous back-mutation of the chromosomal ampG1 mutant resulted in restoration of wild-type inducibility and a return to the wild-type ampG sequence. Unspecific induction by components of the growth medium was also dependent on intact ampG function.

Alleles↗

Characterization of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Kuwait and UK strains identified by the Vitek system, and subsequent comparison of the Vitek system with other commercial ESBL-testing systems using these strains.

Two hundred and fifty-one unique patient isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae (123), Escherichia coli (114), Klebsiella oxytoca (7), Enterobacter cloacae (5) and Citrobacter freundii (2), flagged as extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) positive by the Vitek system (GNS-526 card), were collected. These strains were isolated from a variety of clinical specimens submitted to the clinical bacteriology laboratories of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE), Edinburgh, UK (and associated GP practices), Hairmyers Hospital, Glasgow, UK, and the Amiri and Farwania Hospitals, Kuwait. Of the 101 RIE strains tested, 15 E. coli strains were found to be ESBL negative by Etest ESBL strips. On retesting the 15 E. coli strains with the Vitek GNS-532 card, 14 were found to be ESBL negative, despite being originally flagged as ESBL positive. The remaining 236 ESBL-producing strains were also subjected to the double disc-diffusion (DDD) technique for the detection of ESBLs. Of these, two were false negatives by Etest ESBL test strips (using both cefotaxime and ceftazidime strips), and 38 were false negatives by the DDD method. The Etest false-negative ESBL-producing strains of K. pneumoniae were positive by DDD. Technically, the Vitek method was the least demanding method to perform, as it was an integral part of the routine susceptibility test card. Etest strips were reliable, but were the most expensive of all the techniques used. The DDD test, while relatively inexpensive, was technically subjective, and in our hands, seven of the ESBL-positive strains that were confirmed by the other two techniques were not detected. Despite the false-positive ESBL-producing E. coli strains, the Vitek susceptibility card with its integral ESBL test offers the clinical laboratory a valuable and quick option to screen for ESBL-producing Klebsiella spp. and E. coli as part of the routine laboratory methodology.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Effects of chemotherapeutics on bacterial ecology in the water of ponds and the intestinal tracts of cultured fish, ayu (Plecoglossus altivelis).

Drug-resistant gram-negative bacilli conferred with R factors were isolated with high frequencies from the intestinal tracts of ayu (Plecoglossus altivelis) cultured in ponds, in which chemotherapeutics had often been used, and with relatively low frequencies from ayu which received no administration of chemotherapeutics. Drug-resistant bacteria were also isolated at low frequencies from the intestinal tracts of wild ayu in rivers, as well as from the water of ayu-culturing ponds and some of them carried R factors. The drug-resistant bacteria carrying R factors were Aeromonas liquefaciens, Citrobacter, Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Hafnia and unidentified strains. All the R factors were classified as the Fi-(F) type, except the two R factors detected in an E. coli strain and in an unidentified strain.

Animals↗