J Bacteriol, 1978 Jun, 134(3), 821 - 9 Bacteriophage mu-induced deletions in a plasmid containing the nif (N2 fixation) genes of Klebsiella pneumoniae; MacNeil T et al.; Five plasmids with insertions of a heat-inducible Mu prophage in a Mu-sensitive and P1-sensitive derivative of plasmid pRD1, a recombinant R factor containing the his-nif region of Klebsiella pneumoniae, were isolated and characterized . In one plasmid containing the Mu prophage integrated at the his-distal end of nif, selection for heat resistance resulted in the generation of deletions extending from the Mu prophage into the nif region . Thirty of these deltions were used to map 26 point mutations in nif. J Bacteriol, 1978 Jun, 134(3), 713 - 7 Selective inhibition of Klebsiella aerogenes growth on pentoses by pentitols; Izumori K et al.; Selective inhibition of growth by pentitols was observed when Klebsiella aerogenes M-7 which could not utilize pentitols was grown on pentoses . D-Arabitol inhibited the growth on D-arabinose as a sole carbon source, but had no effect on the growth on L-arabinose, D-xylose, and D-ribose . Similarly, L-arabitol inhibited the growth on D-arabinose and L-arabinose, ribitol inhibited the growth on D-arabinose and L-arabinose, and xylitol inhibited the growth on D-xylose . From the following reasons, we postulated that the selective growth inhibition by pentitols was due to the competitive inhibition of pentose isomerase reaction by the cell by pentitols . (i) D-Arabinose transport activity was not inhibited by pentitols . (ii) Induction of D-arabinose and L-arabinose isomerases was not inhibited by D- and L-arabitol, respectively . (iii) The specificity of growth inhibition by pentitols was the same as that of competitive inhibition of pentose isomerases by pentitols. J Hyg (Lond), 1978 Jun, 80(3), 423 - 5 Bowls and bacteria; Joynson DH; An episode of nosocomial infection with Klebsiella aerogenes in a surgical ward, in which six patients were infected, is described . The cause of the outbreak was identified as being contaminated washing-bowls . It is recommended that each patient should have his own bowl, which should be disinfected after use, dried and stored upside-down. Infect Immun, 1978 Jun, 20(3), 760 - 9 Immuno-stimulation by a ribosomal vaccine associated with a bacterial cell wall adjuvant in humans; Michel FB et al.; We have studied a new vaccine of ribosomal nature associated with glycoprotein cell walls from Klebsiella pneumoniae which served as an immunoadjuvant . Thus vaccine was administered by the aerosol route to working men free of any important disease, especially of respiratory disease . A total of 104 men working for the Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique, all volunteers, were randomly placed into two groups . During the first period, 51 patients (group I) were vaccinated three times a week during 5 weeks, and the second group was used as control . During the second period, which started on day 225, the control group received the vaccine, and the first group was revaccinated . Results of this experience show a significant difference in the immunity of the two groups . The specific antibodies increased with vaccination as illustrated by chi-square test (Yates correction), which corresponds to an independent probability equal to 0 (P = 0.5 X 10-4). Arch Microbiol, 1978 May 30, 117(2), 203 - 7 {Cadaverine is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of arthrobactin and ferrioxamine E (author's transl)}; Schafft M et al.; Cadaverin was more readily incorporated than lysine into arthrobactin from Arthrobacter pascens and into ferrioxamin E from Streptomyces glaucescens . From a racemic mixture only the L-isomer of lysine is incorporated . The L-lysine decarboxylase activity was measured in vivo and in vitro . The enzyme from Arthrobacter pascens is not inducable by lysine and completely repressed by 5.10(-6) M Fe3+ . In Klebsiella pneumoniae, the producer of aerobactin, only a very low activity of L-lysine decarboxylase was detected. Carbohydr Res, 1978 May, 62(2), 321 - 35 Structural investigation of Klebsiella serotype K70 polysaccharide; Dutton GG et al.; By using the techniques of methylation analysis, uronic acid degradation, partial hydrolysis, and periodate oxidation, th structure of the capsular polysaccharide from Klebsiella serotype K70 has been investigated . Nuclear magnetic resonance was used extensively to characterize fragments obtained as a result of the various degradation procedures . The existence of a linear, hexasaccharide repeating unit having a 1-carboxyethylidene group attached to a 2-linked alpha-L-rhamnosyl residue in every second repeating unit has been demonstrated. Ann Microbiol (Paris), 1978 May-Jun, 129(4), 433 - 46 {Klebsiella pneumoniae infection in immunosuppressed mice treated with gentamicin (author's transl)}; Fauchere JL et al.; Experiments have been established in order to study the antagonistic effect of cyclophosphamid treatment on the antibiotic activity of gentamicin in vivo . An immunodepressive state in mice (50 % reduction of neutrophil polymorphonuclear) was obtained with a 5 day treatment of cyclophosphamid, at the dose of 15 mg/kg . The mice were inoculated intraperitoneally with 10 LD50 of Klebsiella pneumoniae . Antibiotherapy was applied in 2 ways differing with the dose of gentamicin given twice a day by subcutaneous route (either 2.5 or 25 mg/kg) and with the time at which treatment was started (either at 1 or at 2 h after bacterial challenge) . The gentamicin activity decreases in immunosuppressed mice when antibiotic is applied with a low dose (2.5 mg/kg), 1 h after infection challenge . This effect disappears when gentamicin is given with high doses (20 mg/kg) or when antibiotherapy is delayed (2 h after infection challenge) . In this case, mortality is important and close to non immunodepressed mice. Eur J Biochem, 1978 May, 86(1), 203 - 8 On the significance of the prosthetic group composition of citrate lyase; Bayer E et al.; 1 . Klebsiella aerogenes contains two different acyl carrier proteins, one specific for citrate lyase, the other for fatty acid synthetase . 2 . The acyl carrier protein of fatty acid synthetase from K . aerogenes was isolated and compared with the corresponding protein from Escherichia coli and with the acyl carrier protein of citrate lyase from K . aerogenes . 3 . As judged from prosthetic group compositions as well as amino acid and fingerprint analyses, the acyl carrier proteins of the two fatty acid synthetases are nearly identical but different from that of citrate lyase from K . aerogenes . 4 . Therefore, the different prosthetic groups alone cannot be responsible for the different specificities of the acyl carrier proteins of fatty acid synthetase and citrate lyase in K . aerogenes . 5 . The prosthetic group of citrate lyase, phosphoribosyl dephospho-CoA, apparently represents no incidental, phosphopantetheine-replacing aberration . The requirement of citrate lyase for the CoA-like prosthetic group may arise from the substrate requirement of both subunit enzymes of the enzyme complex. Infect Immun, 1978 May, 20(2), 581 - 3 Relationship of method of administration to respiratory virulence of Klebsiella pneumoniae for mice and squirrel monkeys; Berendt RF; Klebsiella pneumoniae given by aerosol was significantly less virulent in mice and monkeys than when given by intranasal (mice) or intratracheal (monkeys) instillation. J Bacteriol, 1978 May, 134(2), 562 - 8 Glutamine synthetase of Klebsiella aerogenes: properties of glnD mutants lacking uridylyltransferase; Foor F et al.; The glnD mutation of Klebsiella aerogenes is cotransducible by phage P1 with pan (requirement for pantothenate) and leads to a loss of uridylytransferase and uridylyl-removing enzyme, components of the glutamine synthetase adenylylation system . This defect results in an inability to deadenylylate glutamine synthetase rapidly and in a requirement for glutamine for normal growth . Suppression of the glnD mutation are located at the glutamine synthetase structural gene glnA. Z Gesamte Inn Med, 1978 Apr 15, 33(8), 254 - 6 {Severe Klebsiella serogenes infections}; Gerisch B et al.; It is reported on 2 cases of Klebsiella-septikaemia with difficult course . Germs of the group Klebsiella aerogenes could be proved microbiologically . On the basis of the peculiarities of the clinical course the author adopts a definite attitude to the development of the infection, the pathogenesis, to the microbiological proof and to the aimed antimicrobial chemotherapy . The antibiotic treatment was successful in the first case with karbenicillin and gentamycin and in the second case with cephalotin and gentamycin during 4 weeks when a penicillin allergy was present and following this with chloramphenicol and streptomycin during 3 weeks. Rev Ig Bacteriol Virusol Parazitol Epidemiol Pneumoftiziol Bacteriol Virusol Parazitol Epidemiol, 1978 Apr-Jun, 23(2), 85 - 91 {Additional anti-Klebsiella phages used in lysotyping of Klebsiella strains}; Popovici M et al.; In order to increase the efficiency of lysotyping as a method for differentiating Klebsiella strains the authors tested the activity of 10 additional phages isolated, prepared and studied in the laboratory and compared to the Slopek-Milch set . A number of 734 Klebsiella strains were isolated in different clinical and epidemiological conditions and lysotyped . The phage type was determined in 64.60% of the strains examined, using 15 phages of the Slopek-Milch set . By using additional autochtonous phages the proportion of lysotypable strains reached 77.80%; therefore, 13.20% were sensitive only to the additional phages. J Hyg (Lond), 1978 Apr, 80(2), 295 - 300 Epidemiological patterns of Klebsiella colonization and infection in an intensive care ward; Casewell MW et al.; Twenty-four per cent of 2315 patients admitted to the intensive care unit of St Thomas's Hospital in the 4 year period from November 1969 became colonized or infected with Klebsiella species . Capsular typing of 986 klebsiella isolates from 551 patients showed that there were 695 patient-isolates, mostly derived from the respiratory tract . Capsular types 47 and 21 were the commonest types and together accounted for 19.9% of the patient-isolates . The 14 commonest types accounted for 47.3% of all patient-isolates and all these strains showed clustering, strongly suggesting a changing common source, cross infection, or both. Br J Exp Pathol, 1978 Apr, 59(2), 137 - 47 Microbial iron-chelators and their action on Klebsiella infections in the skin of guinea-pigs; Khimji PL et al.; Preparations of catechols from ethyl acetate extracts of cultures of Klebsiellae in a low-iron medium contained iron-chelators whose potency was measured by the reversal of the bacteristasis of Escherichia coli and klebsiellae in unheated horse serum, and of the growth-inhibition of these two organisms by ethylene diamine di-orthohydroxyphenyl acetic acid (EDDA) . As revealed by in situ tests of paper chromatograms, there was a multiplicity of biologically active chelators in the preparations . Catechols from strains both of high and low virulence for guinea-pigs enhanced the skin infectivity of most of the 10 Klebsiella strains tested . The enhancement was roughly proportional to iron-enhanceability with the 6 iron-enhanceable (E+) strains, though not as great as that by iron . But of the 4 (Eo) strains not enhanceable by iron, two were moderately enhanced by the catechols . The Streptomyces iron-chelator desferrioxamine B also enhanced infectivity, again roughly in proportion to the iron enhanceability of the strains; though one Eo strain was substantially enhanced . The synthetic iron-chelator EDDA did not enhance infection. Ann Rheum Dis, 1978 Apr, 37(2), 146 - 51 Sequential studies in ankylosing spondylitis . Association of Klebsiella pneumoniae with active disease; Ebringer RW et al.; A study of 163 patients with ankylosing spondylitis seen on 433 occasions showed that active inflammatory disease was strongly associated with the presence of Klebsiella pneumoniae in the faeces (P less than 0.001) . Sequential studies showed that in patients with inactive disease the presence of a positive culture for Klebsiella was associated with the subsequent development of active inflammatory disease (P less than 0.001) . These findings support the hypothesis that Kl . pneumoniae may be an initiating agent in ankylosing spondylitis. Clin Chem, 1978 Apr, 24(4), 717 - 9 Radioimmunoassay and radioenzymatic assay of a new aminoglycoside antibiotic, netilmicin; Broughton A et al.; A radioimmunoassay and a radioenzymatic assay for netilmicin, a new aminoglycoside, were developed in our laboratories to assist in the study of the pharmacology of the drug and to establish values for use in its monitoring . The assays are sensitive, precise, and rapid, giving results that correlate (r = 0.90) with each other and with those of a microbiological assay in which Klebsiella pneumoniae is used as the test organism . Preliminary pharmacological studies show the drug to have a biological half-life of 135 min . which is comparable to that for other aminoglycosides. Am J Vet Res, 1978 Mar, 39(3), 425 - 7 Phagocytosis of serum-resistant and serum-sensitive coliform bacteria (Klebsiella) by bovine neutrophils from blood and mastitic milk; Jain NC et al.; Phagocytic activity of neutrophil leukocytes from bovine blood and mastitic milk was determined for 2 strains of Klebsiella, 1 resistant and the other sensitive to serum bactericidal activity . Both strains were easily phagocytized in the presence of an opsonic agent, but milk neutrophils seemed to be less efficient than blood neutrophils in this respect . Phagocytosis was maximal after incubation for 60 minutes at 37 C and decreased markedly with reduction in incubation temperature . The opsonic activity of mastitic milk was considerably higher than that of normal milk and approached that of fresh bovine serum . Precolostral calf serum was deficient in opsonic activity and anti-bovine leukocyte serum was antiphagocytic. Johns Hopkins Med J, 1978 Mar, 142(3), 77 - 84 A descriptive study of nosocomial bacteremias at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, 1968--1974; Spengler RF et al.; Patient, infection and pathogen characteristics are analyzed for 935 cases of nosocomial bacteremia at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, 1968--1974 . The overall nosocomial bacteremia attack rate was 4.1 cases per 1,000 hospital patients . Rougly 6% of all hospital deaths were among patients with nosocomial bacteremias . The case-fatality rate for the seven years was 37.1% compared with an overall hospital mortality rate of 2.7 deaths per 100 hospital patients . The mortality rate for the entire hospital and the case-fatality rate declined significantly (P less than 0.1) over the seven-year study period . There was a significant increase (P less than .01) in Gram-positive nosocomial bacteremias over the seven-year period . During the period, Bacteroides species and Escherichia coli bacteremias increased significantly (P less than .01) while Candida species and Klebsiella species bacteremias had significant decreases (P less than .01) . The nosocomial bacteremia attack rate was high for infacts under one year of age, excluding newborns . The attack rates were low for young adults but increased markedly with age in adults older than 40 . The cardiac surgery service had the highest nosocomial bacteremia attack rate of 12.4 cases per 1,000 patients . Hospital patients with infective diseases, neoplasms, digestive diseases, diseases of early infancy or circulatory diseases had a much greater risk of acquiring nosocomial bacteremias . Of the 935 cases, 9.5% had multiple episodes of bacteremia. Am J Surg, 1978 Mar, 135(3), 325 - 7 Bacterial contamination of the biliary tree after choledochostomy; Silen W et al.; Secondary exogenous contamination of bile after choledochostomy could be an important cause of long-term morbidity if infection persists after removal of the T tube . Surprisingly, documentation of the frequency of conversion of sterile to infected bile after choledochostomy has rarely been recorded . Patients undergoing exploration and T-tube drainage of the common bile duct between July 1966 and January 1975, in whom intraoperative and postoperative cultures of bile were available, were studied . Postoperative cultures were obtained from five to forty days after operation . Of ninety-five patients available for study, contamination developed postoperatively in previously sterile bile in 44 per cent . The common duct bile contained bacteria at operation in 42 per cent and remained sterile throughout in 14 per cent . The most common secondary contaminants were klebsiella group and Escherichia coli . The fate of the contaminating organisms in a biliary tree without anatomic abnormalities is unknown . Two cases are presented which suggest that persistent infection may linger in the biliary tree for many years and give rise to pigment calculi . Since bacterial cannot be eradicated so long as a foreign body remains in the common duct and because such bacteria may cause symptoms even in an anatomically normal biliary tree, we suggest that a closed system of biliary drainage be employed and that appropriate antibiotic therapy be instituted for seven to ten days after removal of the T tubes. Carbohydr Res, 1978 Mar, 61, 345 - 57 Action of Pseudomonas isoamylase on various branched oligo and poly-saccharides; Kainuma K et al.; Pseudomonas isoamylase (EC 3.2.1.68) hydrolyzes (1 linked to 6)-alpha-D-glucosidic linkages of amylopectin, glycogen, and various branched dextrins and oligosaccharides . The detailed structural requirements for the substrate are examined qualitatively and quantitatively in this paper, in comparison with the pullulanase of Klebsiella aerogenes . As with pullulanase, Ps . isoamylase is unable to cleave D-glucosyl stubs from branched saccharides . Ps . isoamylase differs from pullulanase in the following characteristics: (1) The favored substrates for Ps . isoamylase are higher-molecular-weight polysaccharides . Most of the branched oligosaccharides examined were hydrolyzed at a lower rate, 10% or less of the rate of hydrolysis of amylopectin . (2) Maltosyl branches are hydrolyzed off by Ps . isoamylase very slowly in comparison with maltotriosyl branches . (3) Ps . isoamylase requires a minimum of three D-glucose residues in the B- or C-chain. J Bacteriol, 1978 Mar, 133(3), 1329 - 38 Involvement of the product of the glnF gene in the autogenous regulation of glutamine synthetase formation in Klebsiella aerogenes; Gaillardin CM et al.; Mutations in a site, glnF, linked by P1-mediated transduction of argG on the chromosome of Klebsiella aerogenes, result in a requirement for glutamine . Mutants in this gene have in all media a level of glutamine synthetase (GS) corresponding to the level found in the wild-type strain grown in the medium producing the strongest repression of GS . The adenylylation and deadenylylation of GS in glnF mutants is normal . The glutamine requirement of glnF mutants could be suppressed by mutations in the structural gene for GS, glnA . These mutations result in altered regulation of GS synthesis, regardless of the presence or absence of the glnF mutation (GlnR phenotype) . In GlnR mutants the GS level is higher than in the wild-type strain when the cells are cultured in strongly repressing medium, but lower than in the wild-type strain when cells are cultured in a derepressing medium . Heterozygous merodiploids carrying a normal glnA gene as well as a glnA gene responsible for the GlnR phenotype behave in every respect like merodiploids carrying two normal glnA genes . These results confirm autogenous regulation of GS synthesis and indicate that GS is both a repressor and an activator of GS synthesis . The mutation in glnA responsible for the GLnR phenotype has apparently resulted in the formation of a GS that is incompetent both as repressor and as activator of GS synthesis . According to this hypothesis, the product of the glnF gene is necessary for activation of the glnA gene by GS. J Bacteriol, 1978 Feb, 133(2), 680 - 5 Utilization of arginine by Klebsiella aerogenes; Friedrich B et al.; Klebsiella aerogenes utilized arginine as the sole source of carbon or nitrogen for growth . Arginine was degraded to 2-ketoglutarate and not to succinate, since a citrate synthaseless mutant grows on arginine as the only nitrogen source . When glucose was the energy source, all four nitrogen atoms of arginine were utilized . Three of them apparently did not pass through ammonia but were transferred by transamination, since a mutant unable to produce glutamate by glutamate synthase or glutamate dehydrogenase utilized three of four nitrogen atoms of arginine . Urea was not involved as intermediate, since a unreaseless mutant did not accumulate urea and grew on arginine as efficiently as the wild-type strain . Ornithine appeared to be an intermediate, because cells grown either on glucose and arginine or arginine alone could convert arginine in the presence of hydroxylamine to ornithine . This indicates that an amidinotransferase is the initiating enzyme of arginine breakdown . In addition, the cells contained a transaminase specific for ornithine . In contrast to the hydroxylamine-dependent reaction, this activity could be demonstrated in extracts . The arginine-utilizing system (aut) is apparently controlled like the enzymes responsible for the degradation of histidine (hut) through induction, catabolite repression, and activation by glutamine synthetase. J Hyg (Lond), 1978 Feb, 80(1), 43 - 56 The use of a fluorescence typing method in an epidemiological study of Klebsiella infection in a London hospital; Riser E et al.; The fluorescent antibody technique was used to investigate an epidemic of Klebsiella infection in a urological ward and to trace the probable source to a contaminated sink in the treatment room . It was also shown that cross infections by particular capsular types were very common within each ward . Certain types of Klebsiella occurred in cut flower water but could not be associated with the types infecting the patients . Antibiotic resistance patterns within one capsular type were found to vary whether the type was from different sources in one patient or from different patients in the same ward . One capsular type was observed to develop resistance to increasing numbers of antibiotics over a 3-year period . This was probably due to the acquisition of R-plasmids . There also appeared to be a relation between capsular type and the site of infection . The frequency of Klebsiella infections in the urological wards dropped significantly after up-grading the treatment room, improving catheter storage and reducing ampicillin use. J Gen Microbiol, 1978 Feb, 104(2), 277 - 85 Nitrogenase synthesis in Klebsiella pneumoniae: comparison of ammonium and oxygen regulation; Eady RR et al.; Rates of nitrogenase synthesis by Klebsiella pneumoniae were measured by pulse-labelling organisms with a mixture of 14C-labelled amino acids followed by sodium dodecyl sulphate gel electrophoresis and autoradiography . Populations from an NH4+-repressed, SO42--limited chemostat (0.46 mg dry wt ml-1), when released from NH4+ repression, simultaneously synthesized detectable quantities of the three nitrogenase polypeptides 45 min before acetylene-reducing activity was observed . Exposure of populations synthesizing nitrogenase to air or NH4+ (200 microgram N ml-1) repressed synthesis of both component proteins simultaneously, the rate initially decreasing by half in 11 to 12 min; in the presence of NH4+ a second slower phase with an approximate half-life of 30 min was observed . With 5% O2 in N2 the half-lives for the decreases in the rates of synthesis were 30 min for the Fe protein and 33 min for the Mo-Fe protein . Oxygen also repressed nitrogenase in a glutamine synthetase constitutive derivative of K . pneumoniae (strain SK24) which escapes NH4+ repression . Regulation of nitrogenase by O2 may therefore be independent of glutamine synthetase. J Bacteriol, 1978 Feb, 133(2), 686 - 91 Catabolic N2-acetylornithine 5-aminotransferase of Klebsiella aerogenes: control of synthesis by induction, catabolite repression, and activation by glutamine synthetase; Friedrich B et al.; Klebsiella aerogenes formed two N2-acetylornithine 5-aminotransferases (ACOAT) which were separable by diethylaminoethyl-cellulose chromatography . One ACOAT was repressed when the cells grew on arginine-containing medium, indicating its function in arginine biosynthesis . The second ACOAT was induced when arginine or ornithine was present in the medium as the sole source of carbon or nitrogen, suggesting its function in the catabolism of these compounds . The induced enzyme was purified almost to homogeneity . Its molecular weight is 59,000; it is a pyridoxal 5-phosphate-dependent enzyme and exhibits activity with N2-acetylornithine (Km = 1.1 mM) as well as with ornithine (Km = 5.4 mM) . ACOAT did not catalyze the transamination of putrescine or 4-aminobutyrate . The best amino acceptor was 2-ketoglutarate (Km = 0.7 mM) . ACOAT formation was subject to catabolite repression exerted by glucose when ammonia was present in excess . When the cells were deprived of nitrogen, ACOAT escaped from catabolite repression . This activation was mediated by glutamine synthetase as shown by the fact that mutants affected in the regulation or synthesis of glutamine synthetase were also affected in the control of ACOAT formation. Microbios, 1978, 22(88), 93 - 102 The peculiar behaviour of coliphage P1vir mutants on restricting hosts; Satta G et al.; The sensitivity of two vir coliphage P1 mutants, to the host-specificity systems A, K, RII, and B of Escherichia coli, and to the newly identified host-specificity systems Mir and 59 of Klebsiella pneumoniae has been studied . Both 1 vir phages were completely resistant to the E . coli K, but were restricted 10(-5) by the B, mir and 59 systems . The P1 parent, on the contrary, was restricted 10(-2) by all of the above mentioned hosts . The possible role of phage coded proteins in the altered sensitivity of the vir strains has been studied by analysing the sensitivity of both P1, and P1vir to the various systems in the presence of chloramphenicol . Protein synthesis inhibition by chloramphenicol did not significantly influence the sensitivity of P1 and P1vir to various restricting hosts . It is concluded that the altered sensitivity of vir mutants depends on the different affinities of the mutated phage DNA sequence for the enzymes of the various restriction and modification systems . The possibility that the phage repressor contributes to the regulation of the restriction and modification enzymes is also discussed. Microbiol Immunol, 1978, 22(4), 173 - 80 In vivo formation of transmissible resistance factor by recombination between nontransmissible resistance factor and Col B factor; Kameda M et al.; Germ-free swine were artificially contaminated with tetracycline (TC) sensitive strains of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae . One of these strains, E . coli 3306, was infected with a plasmid carrying kanamycin (KM) resistance, i.e., T-kan factor . Another strain, E . coli P-5, carried a conjugally transferable Col B factor . Among the nine strains used, only E . coli P-38 became TC-resistant after TC administration . Three types of TC-resistance E . coli P-38 strains were found; (a) one strain carried nontransferable TC resistance and could not produce colicin, (b) one strain carried TC resistance with a high transmission frequency which could not produce colicin, and (c) one strain carried TC resistance with a low transmission frequency that could produce colicin B . Genetic studies disclosed that the transmissible TC resistance factors, i.e., Rms105 (group b) and Rms104 (group c), were formed by recombination between Col B factor and nontransmissible TC-resistance (tet) determinant which appeared in E . coli P-38 mutants. Hokkaido Igaku Zasshi, 1978, 53(2), 147 - 55 {Clinical and experimental study on hepatorenal syndrome in terms of obstructive jaundice (author's transl)}; Kasai Y et al.; In our department, hepatorenal syndrome was highly associated with obstructive jaundice and was seen in 9.2 percent of patients with obstructive jaundice . This syndrome developed when in underlying hepatic disease, acute renal failure supervened . Histological findings of renal failure caused by obstructive jaundice were summarized as tubular necrosis and the presence of protein-like substance in the glomerulus, which were mostly reversible and similar to those seen in shock . To investigate the pathogenesis of hepatorenal syndrome, experimentally the common duct in dog was ligated to produce obstructive jaundice and B . Klebsiella was injected into the bile duct to produce cholangiolitis . From this study, it was evident that cholangiolar infection was closely correlated with the manifestation of renal failure . In fact, without acquiring infection, renal failure did not occur . Moreover, this infection produced endotoxemia with high incidence . Therefore, it is assumed that this cholangiolar infection plays an important role in the pathogenesis of hepatorenal syndrome caused by obstructive jaundice. Chemotherapy, 1978, 24(3), 154 - 60 Differential susceptibility of indole-positive and -negative strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae to cefazolin, choramphenicol and tetracycline; Nishida M et al.; Biochemical properties and antibiotic susceptibilities of 168 clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae were tested . On the basis of the indole reaction, 30 isolates (18%) were indole-positive and 138 isolates (82%) were indole-negative . A significant difference in antibiotic susceptibility was found in each of the two groups of isolates . Of the indole-negative isolates, 82.6% were susceptible to cefazolin at 6.25 microgram/ml or lower, while the indole-positive isolates varied in susceptibility to cefazolin . All of the indole-positive isolates were susceptible to chloramphenicol and tetracycline, but the indole-negative isolates varied in their susceptibility to these antibiotics . Whereas there was no relationship between indole production and susceptibility to cephalothin among the K . pneumoniae isolates studied, it appeared that there was a correlation between the indole reaction and susceptibility to cefazolin, chloramphenicol and tetracycline. Folia Microbiol (Praha), 1978, 23(2), 108 - 17 Effect of oxygen supply on growth of Klebsiella aerogenes in a multistage tower fermentor; Paca J; The effect of the rate of oxygen supply on biomass growth, consumption of carbon source formation of metabolic by-products, biomass yeilds referred to C-source and oxygen, respiration rate and the respiratory quotient was studied in a multistage tower fermentor with an interstage backflow, i.e . with a continuous reinoculation of the preceding stages . Experiments were done with Klebsiella aerogenes CCM 2318 in a synthetic glucose medium with constant glucose concentration in the feed, at pH 7.0 . temperature 30 degrees C, and dilution rates 0.6 and 0.178 h-1 (referred to one stage) . Different behavior of the culture was found at different dilution rates both with oxygen and under oxygen limitation . As compared with the chemostat system, the regime with an interstage backflow exhibited differences in respiration rate and CO2 formation; this attests to a considerably different physiological state of the cells. Zentralbl Bakteriol {Orig A}, 1978 Jan, 240(1), 22 - 9 Survey of resistance to metals and antibiotics in clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae in Japan; Nakahara H et al.; Clinical isolates of K . pneumoniae (746 isolates) were studied for the resistance to four metals and four drugs . The distribution patterns of their susceptibility to Hg, Cd and As clearly revealed two peaks, but only a single peak of resistance to Pb . It can be seen that resistance was demonstrable in media containing the following concentrations of the metals (micrograms/ml): HgCl2, 10; CdCl2, 400; and Na2HAsO4, 400 . In K . pneumoniae, the frequency fo resistance to these concentrations of Hg, Cd and As were 65,8%, 98,3% and 83,8%, respectively . On the other hand, the frequency to antibiotic resistance of K . pneumoniae were 68,1% of SM, 51,2% of TC, 49,7% of CP and 36,7% of KM . Furthermore, many isolates (99,6%) were metal-resistant . Most of these metal-reisitant strains were multiple-metal-resistant and also multiple-drug-resistance . And about 30% of total isolates were metal-resistant but drug-sensitive, whereas the frequency of the metal-sensitive and drug-resistant strains was 0%. J Clin Pathol, 1978 Jan, 31(1), 16 - 21 Evaluation and application of an improved bacteriocin typing method for Klebsiella aerogenes; Heddell GW et al.; A bacteriocin typing method was evaluated using 200 strains of Klebsiella aerogenes, 93% of which fell into 11 distinct types . The typing technique was successfully applied to the monitoring and control of hospital cross-infection. J Bacteriol, 1978 Jan, 133(1), 415 - 7 Interaction between the fumarate reductase system of Escherichia coli and the nitrogen fixation genes of Klebsiella pneumoniae; Skotnicki ML et al.; For phenotypic expression of nif+Kp genes in Escherichia coli K-12, the anaerobic electron transport system to fumarate must be functional . The role of the fumarate reduction system is to energize the membrane and thus provide the energy necessary for nitrogen fixation. J Bacteriol, 1978 Jan, 133(1), 390 - 1 Primary structure of the Escherichia coli serotype K42 capsular polysaccharide and its serological identity with the Klebsiella K63 polysaccharide; Niemann H et al.; The Escherichia coli K42 capsular polysaccharide consists of leads to 3)-alpha-D-Galp-(1 leads to 3)-alpha-D-GalUAp-(1 leads to 3)-alpha-L-Fucp-(1 leads to repeating units . The E . coli K42 and Klebsiella K63 antigens are serologically identical. J Antibiot (Tokyo), 1977 Dec, 30(12), 1107 - 14 Piperacillin (T-1220), a new semisynthetic penicillin: in vitro antimicrobial activity comparison with carbenicillin, ticarcillin, ampicillin, cephalothin, cefamandole and cefoxitin; Jones RN et al.; Piperacillin (T-1220) is a new semisynthetic penicillin with an unusually broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity . In vitro comparisons of this drug with 6 other beta-lactam antimicrobics (ticarcillin, carbenicillin, ampicillin, cephalothin, cefamandole and cefoxitin) were conducted . These included minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) against 394 bacterial isolates, the minimal lethal concentrations (MLC) against 79 of those, as well as the effect of inoculum size on the MIC and MLC of the drugs . Piperacillin had significantly greater activity than did the other penicillins against Pseudomonas species and Klebsiella pneumoniae . Against P . aeruginosa piperacillin was 8- and 16-fold more active than ticarcillin and carbenicillin, respectively . The MLC of piperacillin rarely differed from the MIC by more than one log2 dilutions except against P . aeruginosa in which the MLC was 4-fold greater or more than the MIC of 45% of isolates tested . Ticarcillin, carbenicillin and cefoxitin showed minimal inoculum size effects . Cefamandole results showed the greatest inoculum size variation with 55% and 37% of isolates showing an 8-fold increase in MIC and MLC respectively by increasing inoculum from 10(5) to 10(7) CFU/ml . Piperacillin was intermediately effected having 25% of strains greater than 8-fold increase in MIC. Mol Gen Genet, 1977 Nov 29, 157(2), 199 - 204 Linkage map of the nitrogen fixation (nif) genes in Klebsiella pneumoniae; Kennedy C; The nif cistrons indentified by complementation analysis in the preceding paper (Dixon et al., 1977) were mapped with respect to hisD and to each other other by P1 cotransduction and three-factor reciprocal crosses . The order obrained was hisD nifB nifA (nifL) nifF nifE nifK nifD nifH . Analysis of hisD2-nif cotransduction data by the Wu equation (Wu, 1966) suggested that the nif genes are divided into two clusters: a his-proximal cluster comprising nifBA(L)F and a his-distal group of nifEKDH. Mol Gen Genet, 1977 Nov 29, 157(2), 189 - 98 Complementation analysis of Klebsiella pneumoniae mutants defective in nitrogen fixation; Dixon R et al.; A series of mutants defective in nitrogen fixation (nif) were isolated in Klebsiella pneumoniae strain M5a1 . The nif mutations were either located on plasmid pRD1 or on the K . pneumoniae chromosome . A total of 37 plasmid mutants and 28 chromosomal mutants were employed in complementation tests using the acetylene reduction technique . Most mutants could be assigned to one of seven nif cistrons: nifA, nifB, nifD, nifE, nifF, nifH, and nifK . Complementation analysis of two nif deletion mutants confirmed transductional evidence that these strains carry nifB-A-F deletions . One deletion mutant had, in contrast to previous transductional analysis, a functional nifK cistron and presumably is deleted for nifB-A-F-E . Examination of the biochemical phenotype of several mutants suggests that the nifA product has a regulatory function, and nifK, nifD and nifH are most probably the structural genes for nitrogenase. J Mol Evol, 1977 Nov 25, 10(2), 111 - 22 A comparison of alternate metabolic strategies for the utilization of D-arabinose; St Martin EJ et al.; Mutants of Klebsiella aerogenes W70 that metabolize the uncommon pentose D-arabinose were isolated . These mutants were found to be either constitutive or indicible by D-arabinose for the synthesis of enzymes in the L-fucose pathway . Such mutants could then utilize L-fucose isomerase to convert the structurally similar D-arabinose molecule to D-ribulose . D-Ribulose is an intermediate and the inducer of an existing ribitol pathway and could thus be metabolized . In those D-arabinose-positive mutants where the ribitol pathway was blocked by mutation, D-ribulose could alternatively be metabolized by using the remaining L-fucose pathway enzymes . When the two D-arabinose catabolic routes were compared, catabolism of D-arabinose via the ribitol pathway was found to be more efficient . Catabolism of D-arabinose using the L-fucose pathway permitted D-ribulose to escape into the media and produced an unmetabolizable end product, L-glycolic acid . A comparison of growth using constitutive versus inducible control of the borrowed L-fucose isomerase did not reveal an advantage for one control type over the other . Several differences were observed, however, when we determined the degree to which these control mutations perturbed the normal functioning of the L-fucose and associated pathways . Growth of the constitutive mutant was impaired with L-fucose as substrate . The inducible-control mutant had altered growth characteristics on ribitol and L-rhamnose. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1977 Nov 23, 485(1), 134 - 40 Affinity chromatography od Klebsiella arylsulfatase on tyrosyl-hexamethylenediamine-beta-1,3-glucan and immunoadsorbent; Murooka Y et al.; A simple and convenient method for preparation of a highly purified arylsulfatase (EC 3.1.6.1) from Klebsiella aerogenes has been developed . Specificity of purification was achieved by using affinity chromatography on a tyrosyl-hexamethylenediamino-beta-1,3-glucan or on a solid phase immunoadsorbent . By using affinity chromatography a homogeneous enzyme was obtained with high yield . It is also proposed that the beads of curdlan type polysaccharide consisting of beta-1,3-glucan can be used as a good matrix for affinity chromatography. Br Med J, 1977 Nov 19, 2(6098), 1315 - 7 Hands as route of transmission for Klebsiella species; Casewell M et al.; Seventeen per cent of the staff of an intensive care ward were found to have Klebsiella spp contaminating their hands, and these strains could be related to serotypes infecting or colonising patients in the ward on the same day . We identified some simple ward procedures that resulted in contamination of nurses' hands with 100-1000 klebsiellae per hand . Klebsiellae survived on artifically inoculated hands for up to 150 minutes . Handwashing with chlorhexidine hand cleanser reliably gave 98-100% reduction in hand counts, and the introduction of routine handwashing by staff before moving from one patient to the next was associated with a significant and sustained reduction in the number of patients colonised or infected with Klebsiella spp . Staff clothing was occasionally contaminated, but ward air and dust rarely contained klebsiellae. J Pharm Sci, 1977 Nov, 66(11), 1520 - 5 Microbiological turbidimetric methods: linearization of antibiotic and vitamin standard curves; Kavanagh F; Procedures were devised to linearize the usually curved calibration lines for turbidimetric microbiological assays . Three new equations relating concentration of drug and turbidity are described; two are for antibiotic assays and one for vitamin assays . One equation is for antibiotic assays employing Klebsiella pneumoniae as the test organism . The accuracy of interpolation from the three equations was studied by means of appropriate mathematical models based on erthromycin, chlortetracycline (K . pneumoniae), and cyanocobalamin assays . The accuracy of the new expressions was significantly superior to those used previously, and they are of general applicability. Carbohydr Res, 1977 Nov, 59(1), 165 - 77 Klebsiella serotype-13 capsular polysaccharide: primary structure and depolymerization by a bacteriophage-borne glycanase; Niemann H et al.; Periodate oxidation and Smith degradation, methylation analysis including uronic acid degradation, partial hydrolysis with acid, bacteriophage degradation, and p.m.r . spectroscopy have been used to elucidate the primary structure of the Klebsiella serotype-13 capsular polysaccharide . The polymer consists of pentasaccharide repeating-units comprising a 4)-beta-D-Manp-(1 leads to 4)-alpha-D-Glcp-(1 leads to 3)-beta-D-Glcp-(1 leads to chain with a 3,4-O-(1-carboxyethylidene)-beta-D-Galp-(1 leads to 4)-alpha-D-GlcAp-(1 leads to branch at position 3 of the mannose . It is shown that there is a glycanase activity associated with particles of Klebsiella bacteriophage No . 13, which catalyses hydrolysis of chain beta-D-Glcp-(1 leads to 4)-beta-D-Manp linkages in the type-13 polysaccharide . The chemical basis of some serological cross-reactions of the Klebsiella K13 antigen is discussed. Biochem J, 1977 Nov 1, 167(2), 457 - 61 Nitrogenase of Klebsiella pneumoniae . Distinction between proton-reducing and acetylene-reducing forms of the enzyme: effect of temperature and component protein ratio on substrate-reduction kinetics; Thorneley RN et al.; Non-linear rates of acetylene reduction and concomitant H2 evolution were observed for the nitrogenase of Klebsiella pneumoniae at 10 degrees C . A lag phase of 1-4 min, dependent on the ratio of Mo-Fe protein to Fe protein present, occurred before linear rates of acetylene reduction were achieved . A complementary burst phase for concomitant H2 evolution in the presence of acetylene was also observed . When the proton was the only reducible substrate present, linear rates of H2 evolution were observed . N2 was a poor substrate under these conditions . Similar lag and burst phases occurred at 30 degrees C, but only when a large molar excess of Mo-Fe protein with respect to Fe protein was present . The results at 10 degrees C show that the binding of acetylene to the enzyme stimulates electron flow, but that these electrons, which initially reduce protons, can only reduce acetylene after a lag phase that cannot be accommodated in the turnover time calculated under steady-state conditions. Invest Urol, 1977 Nov, 15(3), 227 - 31 Bladder response to klebsiella infection: a scanning electron microscopy study; Davis CP et al.; The early response of rat bladder epithelium to Klebsiella pneumoniae was examined using scanning electron microscopy . Increased bacterial adherence with time after challenge paralleled the occurrence of strand formation and ulceration on the bladder epithelium . The early bladder response to the bacteria consisted of altered epithelial membrane structure, strand formation, and exfoliation of some epithelial cells . These observations indicate that K . pneumoniae causes alterations in the bladder epithelium which may trigger an intrinsic bladder defense mechanism consisting of strand entrapment of bacteria, epithelial cell exfoliation, and elimination of attached bacteria via voiding. J Clin Microbiol, 1977 Nov, 6(5), 456 - 60 Acetylene reduction (dinitrogen fixation) by clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae; Chambers CA et al.; Freshly isolated clinical strains of Klebsiella were tested for the ability to fix dinitrogen by the acetylene reduction assay . Ability to detect this trait was markedly affected by cultural conditions . When the test was run at 37 degrees C in the presence of yeast extract (50 mg/liter), only 1.6% of the organisms were diazotrophs, whereas this temperature without yeast extract yielded 12.9% positive cultures . The optimum condition found was 28 degrees C without yeast extract (21.9% positive); therefore, search for diazotrophy in clinical strains should not be conducted at the usual incubation temperature . There was a high incidence of indole-positive strains among diazotrophs . No such correlation was noted with any other biochemical trait or antibiotic susceptibility tested . The significance of this correlation is not apparent. Sci Sin, 1977 Nov-Dec, 20(6), 807 - 17 Genetic analysis of the nitrogen fixation system in Klebsiella pneumoniae; Hsueh CT et al.; Fine structure mapping of nif mutations of Klebsiella pneumoniae was accomplished by means of Pl-transductional crosses and the plasmid R144 drd mediated conjugations . The physical distance between nif mutations based on the percentage of co-transduction with hisD of the nif mutations was estimated . The maximal distance between two mutations was calculated about 3 Kb, and the average distance between different nif mutations was about 1 to 2 Kb . So no "silent region" was shown within the nif cluster nearby the histidine operon . Several hisD-unlinked nif mutants were isolated and investigated genetically and biochemically . They all differed from the glutamineless mutants, one of these mutants was tentatively assigned as a sort of N-assimilation mutant with little activity of glutamate synthetase . It differed from the known N-assimilation mutants in its absence of nitrogenase activity . Since the wild type hisD-linked nif genes carried by the plasmid RP4 failed to complement the defects of the hisD-unlinked nif genes in the recipient cells but they were effective to facilitate E . coli in acquiring the ability to fix nitrogen, which indicates that the hisD-unlinked nif genes necessary for the functioning of the hisD-linked nif genes are present in E . coli. J Gen Microbiol, 1977 Nov, 103(1), 107 - 22 Energetics of biological nitrogen fixation: determination of the ratio of formation of H2 to NH4+ catalysed by nitrogenase of Klebsiella pneumoniae in vivo; Andersen K et al.; Nitrogen fixation (Nif)-derepressed mutants of Klebsiella pneumoniae consumed, under optimum conditions, 7.5 to 8.5 mol glucose per mol N2 fixed . The nitrogenase system of these mutants catalysed the production of about 1.3 mol H2 per mol N2 reduced . Almost one-third of the energy as ATP and reductant used by nitrogenase in vivo may be lost in H2 production, since an ATP/2e ratio of approximately 4 was obtained . Nitrogenase-catalysed H2 production was not substantially suppressed by increasing the partial pressure of N2 from 0.2 atm (20 kPa) to 1 atm (101 kPa) . In the absence of N2, H2 production catalysed by nitrogenase increased about threefold . It is concluded that nitrogenase-catalysed H2 production is of major importance in the overall efficiency of biological N2 fixation in vivo. J Bacteriol, 1977 Oct, 132(1), 219 - 23 A third beta-galactosidase in a strain of Klebsiella that possesses two lac genes; Hall BG et al.; Klebsiella strain RE1544 contains two lac operons, one on the chromosome and one on a lac plasmid . A mutant of RE1544, in which the lacZ genes of both operons produce no active enzyme, was found to synthesize a beta-galactosidase that hydrolyzes ortho-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside but not lactose . Synthesis of this beta-galactosidase (BGase-III) is induced by lactose but not by isopropyl-1-thio-beta-D-galactopyranoside or methyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside . In both the regulation of synthesis and substrate specificity, BGase-III strongly resembles the ebg0 enzyme of Escherichia coli . Nevertheless, by the criteria of immunological cross-reactivity and subunit molecular weight, BGase-III is not related to the ebg0 enzyme. J Clin Pathol, 1977 Oct, 30(10), 943 - 4 Klebsiella: taxonomy, nomenclature, and communication; Barr JG; Differences in the delineation of Klebsiella spp . in the United Kingdom from that in the majority of other countries is discussed . An attempt is made to trace and interpret the reasons for these differences and suggestions are made for a rapid resolution of this problem which hazards communication. Zh Mikrobiol Epidemiol Immunobiol, 1977 Oct, (10), 70 - 3 {Methods of using the antibody neutralization test in intestinal coli-infections}; Kulieva GN; Specificity and sensitivity of the antibody neutralization test intended for detection of the O-antigen of enteropathogenic escherichia were checked under experimental conditions . Only 3 strains of the Klebsiella genus proved to neutralize the antibodies to the enteropathogenic escherichia of the serological group O20:K84 . In the rest of the cases a positive result was obtained only in homologous combinations . In comparative study of the microbial cultures of the infected feces on hard nutrient media by means of bacteriological and serological methods the latter was found to be more sensitive, capable of detecting the homologous O-antigen with the bacterial concentration of not less than 5-10(5) microbial cells per 1 ml. J Bacteriol, 1977 Oct, 132(1), 247 - 53 Immunological study of the regulation of cellular arylsulfatase synthesis in Klebsiella aerogenes; Murooka Y et al.; Regulation of cellular arylsulfatase synthesis in Klebsiella aerogenes was analyzed by immunological techniques . Antibody directed against the purified arylsulfatase from K . aerogenes W70 was obtained from rabbits and characterized by immunoelectrophoresis, double-diffusion, quantitative precipitation, and enzyme neutralization tests . Arylsulfatase was located in the periplasmic space when the wild-type strain was cultured with methionine or with inorganic sulfate plus tyramine, but not with inorganic sulfate without tyramine, as the sole sulfur source . Tyramine oxidase was retained in the membrane fraction prepared from cells grown in the presence of tyramine . Arylsulfatase protein was not synthesized in the presence of tyramine and inorganic sulfate by mutant K611, which is deficient in tyramine oxidase (tynA) . We conclude that the expression of the arylsulfatase gene (atsA) is regulated by the expression of tynA and that inorganic sulfate serves as a corepressor . In addition, strains mutated in the atsA gene were analyzed by using antibody. J Bacteriol, 1977 Oct, 132(1), 106 - 12 Autogenous regulation of the synthesis of glutamine synthetase in Klebsiella aerogenes; Bender RA et al.; We isolated an F' episome of Escherichia coli carrying the glnA+ gene from K . aerogenes and an F' episome of E . coli carrying the glnA4 allele from K . aerogenes responsible for the constitutive synthesis of glutamine synthetase . Complementation tests with these episomes showed that the glnA4 mutation (leading to the constitutive synthesis of active glutamine synthetase) was in the gene identified by mutations glnA20, glnA51, and glnA5 as the structural gene for glutamine synthetase . By using these merodiploid strains we were able to show that the glnA51 mutation lead to the synthesis of a glutamine synthetase that lacked enzymatic activity but fully retained its regulatory properties . Finally, we discuss a model that explains the several phenotypes associated with mutations such as glnA4 located within the structural gene for glutamine synthetase leading to constitutive synthesis of active glutamine synthetase. J Bacteriol, 1977 Oct, 132(1), 100 - 5 Regulatory mutations in the Klebsiella aerogenes structural gene for glutamine synthetase; Bender RA et al.; Glutamine synthetase could be repressed several hundredfold rather than 6- to 10-fold as previously reported . Ammonia was not the primary repression signal for glutamine synthetase . Repression appeared to be mediated by a high level of glutamine and probably by a high ratio of glutamine to alpha-ketoglutarate . Mutations in glnA (the structural gene for glutamine synthetase) were seen to fall into three phenotypic groups: glutamine auxotrophs that produced no detectable glnA product; glutamine auxotrophs that produced a glnA product lacking enzymatic activity (and hence repressibility by ammonia) but were repressible under appropriate conditions; and glutamine synthetase regulatory mutants, whose glnA product was enzymatically active and not repressible under any conditions. Biochem J, 1977 Sep 15, 166(3), 643 - 6 Hexokinase and glucose-phosphoenolpyruvate phosphotransferase synthesis in Klebsiella aerogenes strains growing in continuous culture; Carter IS et al.; Considerable differences in steady-state hexokinase specific activity were found in 16 N.C.I.B . strains of Klebsiella aerogenes grown in identical conditions in glucose-limited chemostats . Strains of N.C.I.B . 8258 had no detectable activity, but its glucose-phosphoenolpyruvate phosphotransferase specific activity and that of the other strains were closely similar, and it is concluded that this phosphotransferase activity regulates the overall utilization of glucose, in which hexokinase plays no essential role . The hexokinase activity was subject to regulation by the availability of phosphorus, but this did not affect the glucose phosphotransferase activity . tlactose-grown organisms (including strain N.C.I.B . 8258) had no glucose phosphotransferase activity, but more than adequate hexokinase activity to phosphorylate the intracellularly liberated glucose. South Med J, 1977 Sep, 70(9), 1144 - 6 Massive pulmonary gangrene; Proctor RJ et al.; A 49-year-old man suffered massive necrosis of the lung subsequent to a pneumococcal lobar pneumonia . Development of massive hemoptysis required emergency lobectomy . The patient is doing well six months after surgery . Pulmonary gangrene is a rare but grave complication of the lobar pneumonia . Both pneumococcal and Klebsiella pneumonias may progress to massive pulmonary gangrene despite antibiotic treatment . Survival seems to depend on the surgical removal of the necrotic tissue, which removes the danger of sudden massive hemoptysis. Am J Med Sci, 1977 Sep-Oct, 274(2), 207 - 9 Persistent meningeal inflammation associated with intrathecal gentamicin; Buckley RM et al.; A 30-year-old woman was treated with intraventricular gentamicin for Klebsiella meningitis . Cultures became sterile, but meningeal inflammation, associated with high central spinal fluid gentamicin levels, persisted until gentamicin was discontinued. Boll Ist Sieroter Milan, 1977 Sep, 56(4), 391 - 6 Effect of some bacterial products on platelet electrophoretic mobility (PEM); Fumarola D et al.; Bacterial LPS, used in our experiments, are able to decrease PEM at concentration of 100 microgram/ml after incubation with 1 X 10(7) platelets/ml for 30 min at 37 degrees C . Such effect is statistically significant for Bacteroides fragilis LPS, S . enteritidis and S . typhi . E . coli LPS 026:B6 W and E . coli 055:B5 W are not effective at all, S . minnesota (incomplete) LPS 595 and 345 free of 0-polysaccharide and partially lacking core in their molecule did not influence PEM, while S . minnesota LPS (S form) (a complete LPS) strongly decreased PEM . This fact could suggest that 0-polysaccharide is involved in this inhibitory effect on PEM . Klebsiella enterotoxin and B . cereus enterotoxin are able to decrease PEM at concentration of 100 microgram/ml, after incubation with 1 X 10(7) platelets for 30 min at 37 degrees C, while no inhibition of PEM was seen when Shighella enterotoxin and V . parahaemoliticus enterotoxin was used in similar way . The AA . conclude that endotoxin and enterotoxin are able to change the electrokinetic charge (negative) of platelets, thereby, causing a decrease of PEM. Neurochirurgia (Stuttg), 1977 Sep, 20(5), 165 - 9 Explusion of SALIBI-clamp from the internal carotied artery in the neck by infection; Potthoff PC; A left infraclinoid carotid aneurysm (3 x 2-5 x 2 cm) in a 60-year old woman presented with total ophthalmoplegia and trigeminal symptoms . A staged internal carotied occlusion in the neck was performed using a SALIBI-clamp . A chronic infectious fistula developed (Klebsiella aerogenes) . When superficial debridement failed, operative removal of the SALIBI-clamp was planned seven months after its insertion . The clamp was found subcutaneously without any relation to the internal carotid artery and was easily removed . Subsequent catheter angiography proved the left internal carotied to be completely occluded in the neck . No cross filling of the aneurysm could be demonstrated from the right carotied nor the vertebro-basilar arteries . The neurological deficit remained unchanged . The wound closed promptly without further signs of infection. Appl Environ Microbiol, 1977 Sep, 34(3), 247 - 50 Reduction of fensulfothion to fensulfothion sulfide by Klebsiella pneumoniae; Wood PA et al.; A cell suspension of Klebsiella pneumoniae converted the organophosphorus pesticide fensulfothion to a product that was shown by chemical oxidation, gas-liquid chromatography, infrared spectrophotometry, and mass spectrometry to be fensulfothion sulfide . Further alteration of this metabolite was not noted. Biotechnol Bioeng, 1977 Sep, 19(9), 1387 - 403 1,4-alpha-Glucan phosphorylase form Klebsiella pneumoniae covalently couple on porous glass; Wengenmayer F et al.; A simplified procedure for the preparation of 1,4-alpha-glucan phosphorylase from Klebsiella pneumoniae is described . An 80-fold purification is achieved in two steps with an overall yield of about 50% . The specific activity of the homogeneous enzyme protein is 17.7 units/mg . Compared with glycogen phosphorylase from rabbit muscle the enzyme from K . pneumoniae shows a markedly higher stability against deforming and chaotropic agents . The 1,4-alpha-glucan phosphorylase was covalently bound to porous glass particles by three different methods . Coupling with glutaraldehyde gave the highest specific activity, i.e., 5.6 units/mg of bound protein or 133 units/g of glass with maltodextrin as substrate . This corresponds to about 30% of the specific activity of the soluble enzyme . With substrates of higher molecular weight, such as glycogen or amylopectin, lower relative activity was observed . The immobilized enzyme preparations showed pH activity profiles which were slightly displaced to higher values and exhibited an increased temperature stability. Biochem J, 1977 Aug 1, 165(2), 255 - 62 Kinetics of nitrogenase of Klebsiella pneumoniae . Heterotropic interactions between magnesium-adenosine 5'-diphosphate and magnesium-adenosine 5'-triphosphate; Thorneley RN et al.; The effects of MgADP and MgATP on the kinetics of a pre-steady-state electron-transfer reaction and on the steady-state kinetics of H2 evulution for nitrogenase proteins of K . pneumoniae were studied . MgADP was a competitive inhibitor of MgATP in the MgATP-induced electron transfer from the Fe-protein to the Mo-Fe-protein . A dissociation constant K'i = 20 micron was determined for MgADP . The release of MgADP or a coupled conformation change in the Fe-protein of K.pneumoniae occurred with a rate comparable with that of electron transfer, k approximately 2 X 10(2)S-1 . Neither homotropic nor heterotropic interactions involving MgATP and MgADP were observed for this reaction . Steady-state kinetic data for H2 evolution exhibited heterotropic effects between MgADP and MgATP . The data have been fitted to symmetry and sequential-type models involving conformation changes in two identical subunits . The data suggest that the enzyme can bind up to molecules of either MgATP or MgADP, but is unable to bind both nucleotides simultaneously . The control of H2 evolution by the MgATP/MgADP ratio is not at the level of electron transfer between the Fe- and Mo-Fe-proteins. Carbohydr Res, 1977 Aug, 57, 163 - 71 Isolation of poly-alpha-L-guluronate lyase from Klebsiella aerogenes; Boyd J et al.; The bacterium Klebsiella aerogenes type 25 produces an extracellular alginolyase which has been partly purified . The enzyme is specific for the alpha-L-guluronosyl linkages in whole alginate and fractions therefrom . The end products of its action on polyguluronic acid blocks are mainly the unsaturated di- and tri-saccharides, with a smaller proportion of the homologous tetrasaccharide . Some general properties of the enzyme are reported. J Bacteriol, 1977 Aug, 131(2), 446 - 52 Urease of Klebsiella aerogenes: control of its synthesis by glutamine synthetase; Friedrich B et al.; Urease was purified 24-fold from extracts of Klebsiella aerogenes . The enzyme has a molecular weight of 230,000 as determined by gel filtration, is highly substrate specific, and has a Km for urea of 0.7 mM . A mutant strain lacking urease was isolated; it failed to grow with urea as the sole source of nitrogen but did grow on media containing other nitrogen sources such as ammonia, histidine, or arginine . Urease was present at a high level when the cells were starved for nitrogen; its synthesis was repressed when the external ammonia concentration was high . Formation of urease did not require induction by urea and was not subject to catabolite repression . Its synthesis was controlled by glutamine synthetase . Mutants lacking glutamine synthetase failed to produce urease, and mutants forming glutamine synthetase at a high constitutive level also formed urease constitutively . Thus, the formation of urease is regulated like that of other enzymes of K . aerogenes capable of supplying the cell with ammonia or glutamate. Mikrobiyol Bul, 1977 Jul, 11(3), 371 - 83 {Biochemical typing of Klebsiella strains isolated from clinical cases}; Bayri G et al.; 228 Klebsiella strains were isolated from 300 Klebsiella suspected materials obtained from Hacettepe Children's Hospital using biochemical methods . 122 strains out of 228 Klebsiella isolations were identified as K . aerogenes, 39 as K . ozaenae, 39 as K . edwardsii, 17 as K . pneumoniae, 9 as K . atlanta and 2 strains as K . rhinoscleromatis . We believe that these biochemical typing methods may be used routinely with certainty. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 1977 Jul, 74(7), 2963 - 7 Recombinant plasmid that carries part of the nitrogen fixation (nif) gene cluster of Klebsiella pneumoniae; Cannon FC et al.; We have cloned fragments of the Klebsiella pneumoniae genome that carry part of the his operon and part of the nitrogen fixation (nif) gene cluster on the amplifiable plasmid pMB9 . One particular plasmid, pCRA37, complements mutations in the hisD, nifB, and nifF loci . The physical map of pCRA37 as determined by restriction enzyme analysis correlates with the genetic map of the his-nif region as determined previously by phage P1-mediated cotransductional analysis. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1977 Jun 10, 482(2), 286 - 300 Nitrogenase of Klebsiella pneumoniae . Water proton NMR relaxation studies on the binding of divalent metal ions and nucleotides to the iron protein; Bishop EO et al.; Interactions between the iron protein, Kp2, of nitrogenase manganese ions, magnesium ions, and the nucleotides ATP or ADP, have been studied in aqueous solution by monitoring the water proton NMR relaxation rate enhancement caused by Mn2+ . Binding of Mn2+ to a molecule of Kp2 occurs at four sites, indistinguishable within experimental error, having a Kd = 350 +/- 50 micron . The Mn2+ - Kp2 complex has a low characteristic enhancement (epsilonb = 6 +/- 0.5) . All four sites can alternatively bind Mg2+, not necessarily with the same dissociation constant, but with a mean Kd = 1.7 +/- 0.3 mM . Ternary complexes with the configuration EMS or (formula: see text) are formed between Kp2, Mn2+ and nucleotide (ATP or ADP) . The ternary complexes with Mg2+ in place of Mn2+ probably have the latter configuration . A novel treatment of enhancement data (a 'high metal' approximation) is given. J Clin Pathol, 1977 Jun, 30(6), 521 - 5 Serum gentamicin assays of 100 clinical serum samples by a rapid 40 degrees C . Klebsiella method compared with overnight plate diffusion and acetyltransferase assays; Shanson DC et al.; We have compared the results of gentamicin assay of 100 clinical serum samples by a rapid 40 degrees C plate diffusion method, an overnight plate assay at 37 degrees C, and radioactive acetyltransferase methods . The results of assay obtained by both plate diffusion methods agreed closely . There was excellent correlation between the results of acetyltransferase and plate assays provided that human serum gentamicin standards were used for the acetyltransferase assay and turbid sera were excluded . Lipaemic sera were associated with falsely high results by the acetyltransferase method . There was no difference in specificity between the methods when antibiotics other than gentamicin were present . Much less skilled technician time was required to perform the rapid 40 degrees C plate method than the radioactive acetyltransferase method . The 40 degrees C plate method is preferred for routine serum gentamicin assays in our clinical laboratories. Can J Microbiol, 1977 Jun, 23(6), 684 - 9 The capsular network of Klebsiella pneumoniae; Cassone A et al.; Attempts at improving chemical fixation for electron-microscopic observation of the capsule of Klebsiella pneumoniae were made . The capsule was preserved by using alcian blue - lanthanum and tris-(1-aziridinyl) phosphine oxide (TAPO) - aldehyde - osmium procedures . Despite the different retention of the overall capsular material and minor variations in morphological details, in both cases the interpretation of ultrastructural patterns suggested that the capsule be composed of a meshed network of thin polysaccharide fibrils radiating from the cell wall . This organization is in keeping with all recognized chemical properties of bacterial polysaccharide capsules or, at least, does not contradict them . Moreover, an effective preservation of bacterial structures other than capsule has been obtained, mostly in specimens fixed by the TAPO-aldehyde-osmium method, a fact which gives further reliability to the technical approach used for capsule visualization. JAMA, 1977 May 9, 237(19), 2097 - 8 Crepitant cellulitis and myonecrosis caused by Klebsiella; DiGioia RA et al.; A fatal case of crepitant cellulitis with myonecrosis, the first caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae, is reported . The infection started in the left thigh but progressed rapidly despite appropriate antibiotics and surgery, which included incision and drainage and later a left-hip disarticulation . This case emphasizes that nonclostridial crepitant cellulitis is potentially severe and that the presence of myonecrosis is an indication for early radical surgery. Bol Med Hosp Infant Mex, 1977 May-Jun, 34(3), 681 - 92 {Massive pulmonary hemorrhage in surgical pathology of the newborn infant}; Iniguez Iniguez J et al.; Massive pulmonary hemorrhage is a complication which frequently leads to death in newborns with conditions susceptible to surgical treatment . Out of 112 postmortem studies, focal hemorrhage was found in 38 (33.9%) and massive in 34 cases (30.3%) . In this series, congenital anomalies were found in digestive tract in 70.5% of the patients . Prematurity andlow weight were not important factors as was hypoxia, which was evident in 70.5% of the cases . Manifestations of respiratory insufficiency, shock, rales in lung fields, bleeding in other places different from the lung, blood leaking through upper respiratory ducts, are all clinical features of diagnostic aid . Disturbances in coagulation tests were detected, the same as drop in figures of hemoglobin, acidosis, hypoxia and hypercapnia . Gram-negative germs, with a predominance of Klebsiella, were isolated in 33 cultures . The radiographic finding with reticulogranular image was unfrequent . Among other precipitating factors of pulmonary hemorrhage, identification was made of the surgical disease by itself, surgical and anesthetic procedures, of ventilatory assistance and therapy with oxygen at high concentration for long periods of time. Infect Immun, 1977 May, 16(2), 432 - 38 Inheritance of lipopolysaccharide-enhanced nonspecific resistance to infection and of susceptibility to endotoxic shock in lipopolysaccharide low-responder mice; Parant M et al.; In a previous study, we demonstrated that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and other bacterial immunostimulants, in contrast to their activity in a closely related high-responder subline, failed to elicit nonspecific resistance in LPS low-responder mice against Klebsiella pneumoniae infection . To investigate the type of inheritance controlling the LPS-induced nonspecific resistance to infection, the present study was performed in low- and high-responder C3H sublines and in F1 and F2 hybrids . In addition, F1 mice were backcrossed to each parental type . Inheritance of susceptibility to endotoxin was also tested in both sublines and their hybrids and backcross progeny . For these latter assays, mice were previously adrenalectomized because removal of this gland considerably enhances their sensitivity . Our present findings are consistent with the hypothesis that LPS enhances nonspecific resistance to infection and that susceptibility to endotoxin shock in the absence of corticoids may be determined by a single autosomal dominant gene. J Bacteriol, 1977 May, 130(2), 939 - 42 Stepwise selection of defective nitrogen-fixing phenotypes in Escherichia coli K-12 by dimethyl sulfoxide; Skotnicki ML et al.; Storage in dimethyl sulfoxide of Escherichia coli K-12 hybrids carrying Klebsiella pneumoniae nif+ genes can result in selection of a defective nitrogen-fixing phenotype . Dimethyl sulfoxide appears to affect particular inner membrane proteins associated with energy metabolism in E . coli K-12. Ann Hum Biol, 1977 May, 4(3), 281 - 4 Bacteriostatic inhibition of Klebsiella pneumoniae by three human transferrins; Lawrence TH 3rd et al.; Three human transferrin variants verified by rivanol precipitation were separated using vertical block polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by elution convection . A bacteriostatic inhibition measurement in vitro of the three transferrins was made . The data indicate that human transferrin variants exhibit different degrees of inhibition on Klebsiella pneumoniae. Zentralbl Bakteriol {Orig A}, 1977 May, 238(1), 51 - 8 Mercury resistance and R plasmids in clinical isolates of Kebsiella pneumoniae; Nakahara H et al.; The mercury and antibiotic resistance of 155 clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae (K . pneumoniae) was determined . Resistance to mercury tested was found in 64.5% of the total isolates . The frequencies of resistance to SM, TC, CP, KM and GM were 65.8%, 49.0%, 48.4%, 37.4% and 3.9%, respectively . And we selected 94 mercury and drug resistant strains, and they were tested for their ability to transfer the resistance to the mercury and drug sensitive recipients of E . coli K12 ML 1410-Nx and E . coli JE 17-Rif . Among 94 strains of Hg resistant K . pneumoniae, 86 R plasmids with Hg resistance could be demonstrated . It should be noted that transferable R plasmids with Hg resistance were demonstrated in 92% of the Hg-resistant isolates . Furthermore, R (Hg; SM, TC, CP, KM) plasmids were isolated most frequently, followed by R (Hg; SM, TC, CP), R (Hg; SM, KM), and R (Hg; SM, TC) plasmids. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 1977 May, 74(5), 2089 - 93 Enhancement of nonspecific immunity to Klebsiella pneumoniae infection by a synthetic immunoadjuvant (N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine) and several analogs; Chedid L et al.; N-Acetylmuramyl-L-alanyl-D-isoglutamine and four other synthetic adjuvants that are structural analogs of part of the mycobacterial peptidoglycan monomer are shown to enhance the nonspecific immunity of mice infected by Klebsiella pneumoniae . These compounds are active by various routes, including oral administration; they are also effective when administered after challenge . Of the seventeen other analogs tested, none is able to increase significantly resistance to infection, although seven of these molecules are adjuvant-active in saline . Previous results have shown that in contrast to lipopolysaccharides, these synthetic adjuvants are devoid of immunogenicity, mitogenicity, and toxicity in normal or adrenalectomized mice. Am J Clin Pathol, 1977 May, 67(5), 499 - 502 Isolation of Klebsiella ozaenae and Klebsiella rhinoscleromatis in a general hospital; Berger SA et al.; Klebsiella ozaenae and Klebsiella rhinoscleromatis are uncommon organisms usually associated with granulomatous or necrotizing disease of the upper airways . Seven patients are described, non of whom had characteristic clinical manifestations of infection with these species . The organisms were recovered from mixed wound infections or sputum of five patients, and from the blood of three patients . Antibiotic sensitivity patterns were unusual and included susceptibility to both ampicillin and carbenicillin. Medicine (Baltimore), 1977 May, 56(3), 241 - 54 Gram-negative bacillary pneumonia in the compromised host; Valdivieso M et al.; The clinical and radiological characteristics of 217 consecutive episodes of gram-negative bacillary pneumonia occurring in 189 adult cancer patients between November 1968 and December 1974 were analyzed . The majority of patients had acute leukemia (54%) . Fever larger than or equal to 101 degrees F was the single most common symptom and sign of the presence of infection (90%) . Next in frequency were crepitant rales (65%), cough (41%), dyspnea (19%) and chest pain (18%) . Radiographic evidence of pneumonia was found in 83% of cases and it consisted mainly of alveolar infiltrates involving both lung fields and predominantly the bases . Up to one-third of the patients had normal chestx-ray examinations at the onset of infection, though they subsequently became abnormal in 42% of them . The majority of patients (81%) whose initial chest x-rays did not reveal the presence of pneumonia were neutropenic (less than 1000 circumlating neutrophils/mm3) . Klebsiella sp . and Pseudomonas sp . were the most common infecting organisms . The overall cure rate was 61%; 70% for Klebsiella sp . infections and 64% for Pseudomonas sp . infections . Pulmonary abscesses occurred in 14% of the cases . Cures were related to the antibiotic sensitivity of the infecting organisms and to the number of circulating neutrophils during the period of infection . Best results were obtained with the administration of gentamicin, the newer aminoglycoside antibiotic sisomicin, tobramycin and amikacin, or the combination of gentamicin with carbenicillin or with cephalosporins . Early and vigorous therapy of gram-negative bacillary pneumonia with appropriate antibiotics has improved the prognosis of this infection at our institution. Carbohydr Res, 1977 May, 55, 49 - 63 Structural investigation of Klebsiella serotype K36 polysaccharide; Dutton GG et al.; Klebsiella D36 capsular polysaccharide has been investigated by methylation, Smith-periodate oxidation and partial hydrolysis techniques . The structure was found to consist of a hexasaccharide repeating unit as shown . The anomeric configurations of the sugar residues were determined by 1H and 13Cn.m.r.spectroscopy on isolated oligomers obtained during the degradative studies and on the intact polysaccharide. J Mol Evol, 1977 Apr 29, 9(2), 181 - 90 Growth of Klebsiella aerogenes on xylitol: implications for bacterial enzyme evolution; Inderlied CB et al.; When Klebsiella aerogenes was grown in continuous culture with xylitol . an unnatural pentitol, as the growth limiting substrate, the structural gene which codes for ribitol dehydrogenase, an enzyme which gratuitously catalyzes the oxidation of xylitol to D-xylulose, was duplicated . It appears that the duplication mechansim only duplicates the gene which is subjected to selective pressure and not any of the other closely linked genes . The degree to which the ribitol dehydrogenase gene is duplicated does not appear to be strictly correlated with the ability to grow faster on xylitol . Duplication mutants do, in fact, grow faster than their parent strain, but when challenged to grow at even higher growth rates there is a catabolic repression of enzyme activity . Thus a situation is created in which a structural gene is duplicated in response to selective pressure; these mutants can grow faster on the new substrate, but faster growth results in a "silencing" of a portion of the genes by catabolite repression. J Bacteriol, 1977 Apr, 130(1), 74 - 81 Genetic control of arylsulfatase synthesis in Klebsiella aerogenes; Murooka Y et al.; It was shown that at least four genes are specifically responsible for arylsulfatase synthesis in Klebsiella aerogenes . Mutations at chromosome site atsA result in enzymatically inactive arylsulfatase . Mutants showing constitutive synthesis of arylsulfatase (atsR) were isolated by using inorganic sulfate or cysteine as the sulfur source . Another mutation in which repression of arylsulfatase by inorganic sulfate or cysteine could not be relieved by tyramine was determined by genetic analysis to be on the tyramine oxidase gene (tyn) . This site was distinguished from the atsC mutation site, which is probably concerned with the action or synthesis of corepressors of arylsulfatase synthesis . Genetic analysis with transducing phage PW52 showed that the order of mutation sites was atsC-atsR-atsA-tynA-tynB . On the basis of these results and previous physiological findings, we propose a new model for regulation of arylsulfatase synthesis. J Bacteriol, 1977 Apr, 130(1), 366 - 74 Klebsiella serotype 25 capsular polysaccharide: primary structure and depolymerization by a bacteriophage-borne glycanase; Niemann H et al.; By partial acid hydrolysis, methylation and gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry of the methylated monomers (as the alditol acetates), mass spectrometry of trimethylsilylated disaccharide alditols, as well as proton magnetic resonance, the primary structure of the Klebsiella serotype 25 capsular polysaccharide was elucidated . A glycanase activity, associated with the particles of newly isolated Klebsiella bacteriophage no . 25, was shown to catalyze the hydrolysis of the glycan. Geburtshilfe Frauenheilkd, 1977 Apr, 37(4), 268 - 77 {Severe infections in our obstetric-gynecologic case material including nosocomial infections (1972--1976) (author's transl)}; Hofer U et al.; A consideral by increased incidence of severe infections in 1975 provided the impetus for a critical analysis of such cases (n = 29) during the last four years . In the group of infections acquired outside the hospital setting, 13 were adnexal infections and 2 were amniotic infections . The group of true hospital infections (n = 14) consisted of 4 entoplastic cases, 7 cases with contaminated infusions and 3 cases of amniotic infections . A shift in the pathogenic spectrum in favor of gram-negative bacteria, particularly Klebsiella, Pseudomonas and anaerobes, was observed in those infections acquired within the hospital setting-- The mortality rate for the whole group was 10% (!).-- In addition to the usual hygienic measures used in hospitals to successfully combat endemic diseases resulting from severe nosocomial infections, a short-term perioperative prophylactic antibiotic, the advantages and disadvantages of which were mentioned, was integrated in the resistance dispositive . In severe adnexal inflammation (2 times in connection with an intrauterine device), the method of choice for surgical therapy was adnexectomy or, if necessary, hysterectomy and drainage . Septicemic diseases in connection with venipuncture material (entoplastic) can be avoided, for the most part, by carefully selecting the type and nature of the material as well as through preventive hygienic measures . The infusions contaminated exclusively by Klebsiella led to particularly serious infectious disease. An Esp Pediatr, 1977 Apr, 10(4), 381 - 8 {Treatment with Chloranphenicol of neonatal sepsis-meningitis by gram-negative bacteria (author's transl)}; Rodriguez-Alarcon Gomez J et al.; Eight newborn infants having previously received broad spectrum antibiotics were treated with intravenous chloranphenicol succinate for sepsis-meningitis during a klebsiella neumoniae outbreak . Five of them survived without sequelae . Over the third week of treatment two infants developed a transient bone marrow suppresion accompanied by a "pseudo-septic" clinical picture; this syndrome, that we have not found previously reported, was benign, disappearing when the drug was discontinued. Can J Microbiol, 1977 Apr, 23(4), 448 - 51 Relation of colonial morphologies in soft agar to morphological and biological properties of the K-9 strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae and its variants; Takahashi M et al.; During repeated subcultures of strain K-9 of Klebsiella pneumoniae, three variants, A, B, and C, were obtained showing different colonial morphologies in soft agar . The parent strain K-9 produced colonies that were large, smooth, and globular; variant A, wedged balloon forms somewhat elongate; variant B, rain-drop-like with some streaming; and variant C, small compact rough globules . These colonial forms in soft agar medium correlated well with the size of capsule determined by cell volume index and light microscopy . Organisms exhibiting large globular colonies did possess extra large capsules while strains producing compact-type colonies in soft agar were lacking capsules . Capsular size of the strains correlated well with mouse virulence, but most biochemical properties, including the amount of endotoxic substance, were the same in all strains. J Pediatr, 1977 Apr, 90(4), 555 - 9 Sepsis and congenital asplenia; Waldman JD et al.; Fifty-nine children with congenital asplenia were reviewed for episodes of severe infection . Seven children had isolated asplenia and 52 had asplenia associated with complex congenital heart disease (asplenia syndrome) . A control group of eusplenic children with comparable cardiac lesions were assembled and used for comparative statistical analysis . There were 16 instances of documented sepsis among 59 children (27%) . In those less than six months of age, the invading organism was usually gram-negative (Escherichia coli or Klebsiella) . In children six months of age or older, the infecting organism was usually a pneumococcus or H . influenzae . When those with asplenia syndrome were compared to the control population, the former group had a significantly greater incidence of sepsis . Children with asplenia syndrome who survived the first month of life were at greater risk of dying from sepsis than from their heart disease . It is recommended that prophylactic antibiotics be administered to children with congenital absence of the spleen, commencing at three months of age, to be continued indefinitely. Ann Microbiol (Paris), 1977 Apr, 128A(3), 289 - 95 {Detection among "E . aerogenes" strains of capsular antigens related to those of "klebsiella" . Interest of growth in metahydroxybenzoate to differenciate "E . aerogenes" and "K . pneumoniae" (author's transl)}; Richard C; Forty-three strains of E . aerogenes isolated chiefly in Morocco and France have been studied . Thirty-five strains (81%) are surrounded with a thin capsule, antigenically related to Klebsiella capsular antigens: K4 (2 strains), K4, 59 (1 strain), K11 (2 strains), K26 (7 strains), K42 (5 strains), K59 (3 strains), K68 (14 strains) . One strain is capsulated but not typable with Klebsiella capsular antisera . E . aerogenes and Klebsiella capsular antigens are not identical but share common fractions yielding cross reactions . To differenciate E . aerogenes from K . pneumoniae in addition with the three major characters, i.e . motility, ornithine-decarboxylase and urease, the author points out the value of growth in metahydroxybenzoate as sole source of carbon and energy (positive test with E . aerogenes and negative with K . pneumoniae). Surgery, 1977 Mar, 81(3), 357 - 9 Mycotic cervical carotid aneurysm; Howell HS et al.; A case of ruptured mycotic aneurysm involving the extracranial carotid artery is presented . Klebsiella was found to be the responsible pathogen . Carotid artery mycotic aneurysms are discussed with emphysis on the dilemma of surgical treatment . After aneurysm resection the carotid flow either must be re-established or the carotid vessels ligated . A review of the literature reveals that the majority of grafts or arterial repairs fail if reconstruction is carried out in an infected field . The consequences of acute carotid artery ligation are reconsidered. J Biol Chem, 1977 Feb 10, 252(3), 963 - 70 Studies on the mechanism of the adenosylcobalamin-dependent diol dehydrase reaction by the use of analogs of the coenzyme; Toraya T et al.; A series of 16 analogs of 5'-deoxy-5'-adenosylcobalamin (adenosylcobalamin) were examined for their effects on the diol dehydrase system of Klebsiella pneumoniae (Aerobacter Aerogenes) . Four analogs, ara-adenosyl-, aristeromycyl-, 3-isoadenosyl-, and nebularylcobalamin, were able to function as coenzymes in the diol dehydrase reaction, coenzyme activity decreasing in that order . Like the native holoenzyme, complexes of the enzyme with these four analogs show a cob(II)alamin-like absorption peak or shoulder in the presence of 1,2-propanediol . Analogs containing hypoxanthine, cytosine, or benzimidazole do not function as coenzymes, but are weak competitive inhibitors in the presence of adenosylcobalamin . Analogs in which the D-ribosyl moiety is replaced by L-ribose or by an alkyl chain of 2 to 6 carbons are inactive as coenzymes, but act as competitive inhibitors with extremely high affinity for the apoenzyme . Complexes with the inactive analogs showed visible spectra similar to those of the corresponding free cobalamins . Upon anaerobic photolysis and subsequent aeration, complexes with the first group of inactive analogs produced unusually stabilized cob(II)alamin, while complexes with the second group of inactive analogs were readily photolyzed to a hydroxocobalamin-enzyme complex . Complexes with adeninylpentyl- and L-adenosylcobalamin were stable to light under the same conditions . These findings suggest that both the ribose and the adenine moiety of the nucleoside participate in enzyme-coenzyme interaction, involving not only the binding to the apoenzyme but also the activation of the carbon-cobalt bond. J Gen Microbiol, 1977 Feb, 98(2), 551 - 7 Expression of Klebsiella pneumoniae nitrogen fixation genes in nitrate reductase mutants of Escherichia coli; Kennedy C et al.; Nitrate reductase (nar) A, B and E mutants of Escherichia coli with plasmids carrying Klebsiella pneumoniae nitrogen fixation (nif) genes reduced acetylene independently of added molybdate, but nar D mutants showed pleiotropic dependence on the concentration of added molybdate for expression of both nar and nif . No complementation of nar mutations by nif occurred; nitrite but not nitrate repressed nif in nar hosts . Derepression of nif occurred in molybdenum-deficient nar D (nif) strains since nitrogenase peptides were present . nifB mutants, thought to have a lesion in the pathway of molybdenum to nitrogenase, as well as nif deletion mutants, had normal nitrate reductase activity. Clin Nephrol, 1977 Feb, 7(2), 76 - 80 Immune complex glomerulonephritis associated with Klebsiella pneumoniae infection; Forrest JW Jr et al.; The kidneys of three patients who died of pneumonia due to Klebsiella pneumoniae were studied at autopsy by light and immunofluoerescent microscopy . One had no clinical evidence of renal disease; two had only microscopic hematuria and mild proteinuria . Light microscopy revealed focal proliferative glomerulonephritis in all three cases . Also in all three, immunofluorescent microscopy revealed a granular deposition of capsular polysaccharide antigens of Klebsiella pneumoniae in association with immunoglobulins and complement components in the mesangium and along the glomerular basement membrane . Furthermore, the glomerular bound immunoglobulins were eluted and demonstrated to contain antibodies specific to a capsular polysaccharide antigen of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from each patient . These findings may illustrate that the capsular polysaccharides of Klebsiella pneumoniae are antigenic, and that the immune complex deposition in the kidney during infection with this agent can be associated with renal morphological changes . Whether or not clinical evidence of nephritis occurs may depend on the characteristics of the infection and the host factors. Infect Immun, 1977 Feb, 15(2), 586 - 93 Pathogenesis of respiratory Klebsiella pneumoniae infection in rats: bacteriological and histological findings and metabolic alterations; Berendt RF et al.; Gram-negative bacterial pneumonias have been increasingly important as nosocomial infections . The following model was developed to study the pathogenesis and evaluate therapy of such infections . Intranasal instillation of rats with a suspension of 5 x 10(6) Klebsiella pneumoniae caused bronchopneumonia with 24 h . Bacteria were isolated from the lungs in large numbers (greater than 10(5) colony-forming units {CFU} for at least 13 days after inoculation . Thereafter, the viable concentration decreased to about 10(3) CFU at 21 days but increased to 10(4) CFU at 25 days . Mortality rarely exceeded 25% . Plasma zinc concentration decreased, and plasma seromucoid, lysozyme, and alpha2-macrofetoprotein increased during respiratory K . pneumoniae infection in rats . There seemed to be a linear relationship between seromucoid concentration and the concentration of K . pneumoniae in the lung expressed in log10 units . Plasma zinc, alpha2-macrofetoprtoein, or lysozyme levels, however, did not change until the concentration of bacteria retrieved fron lungs exceeded 4 to 5 logs, Analysis of blood samples obtained serially from the orbital sinuses revealed that rats that succumbed to infection had significantly higher levels of seromucoid, alpha2-macrofetoprotein, and lysozyme and lower levels of plasma zinc than infected rats that survived . Progressive increases in seromucoid and particularly in lysozyme and alpha2-macrofetoprotein appeared to be predicative of death . It is postulated that the threshold effect observed for alpha2-macrofetoprotein and lysozyme reflect significant damage to lung tissue, and thus these two variables are good indexes of the severity of this infection . We propose that this model may be of value in elucidating the pathogenesis of respiratory K . pneumoniae as well as in assessing various models of therapy. J Bacteriol, 1977 Feb, 129(2), 993 - 1000 Glutamine synthetase of Klebsiella aerogenes: genetic and physiological properties of mutants in the adenylylation system; Janssen KA et al.; Mutations resulting in defects in the adenylylation system of glutamine synthetase (GS) affect the expression of glnA, the structural gene for GS . Mutants with lesions in glnB are glutamine auxotrophs and contain repressed levels of highly adenylylated GS . Glutamine-independent revertants of the glnB3 mutant have acquired an additional mutation at the glnE site . The glnE54 mutant is incapable of adenylylating GS and produces high levels of enzyme, even when ammonia is present in the growth medium . The fact that mutations in glnB and glnE simultaneously disturb both the normal adenylylation and repression patterns of GS in Klebsiella aerogenes indicates that the adenylylation system, or adenylylation state, of GS is critical for the regulation of synthesis of GS. J Bacteriol, 1977 Feb, 129(2), 880 - 7 Regulation of glnA messinger ribonucleic acid synthesis in Klebsiella aerogenes; Weglenski P et al.; We examined wild-type and mutant strains of Klebsiella aerogenes for the relative amounts of ribonucleic acid (RNA) hybridizing specifically to deoxyribonucleic acid from a transducing phage carrying glnAK, the structural gene for glutamine synthetase . Our data showed a positive correlation between the intracellular level of glutamine synthetase and the level of glnA messenger RNA; we were unable to detect glnA messinger RNA in strains devoid of glutamine synthetase protein . Therefore, it is possible that transcription of glnA is not regulated simply by repression mediated through the glutamine synthetase protein; rather, autogenous control in this system may involve activation of transcription . Our experiments also suggest that the promotor of the glnA gene is located at the rha proximal end of the gene. J Bacteriol, 1977 Feb, 129(2), 1001 - 9 Biochemical parameters of glutamine synthetase from Klebsiella aerogenes; Bender RA et al.; The glutamine synthetase (GS) from Klebsiella aerogenes is similar to that from Escherichia coli in several respects: (i) it is repressed by high levels of ammonia in the growth medium; (ii) its biosynthetic activity is greatly reduced by adenylylation; and (iii) adenylylation lowers the pH optimum and alters the response of the enzymes to various inhibitors in the gamma-glutamyl transferase (gammaGT) assay . There are, however, several important differences: (i) the isoactivity point for the adenylylated and non-adenylylated forms in the gammaGT assay occurs at pH 7.55 in K . aerogenes and at pH 7.15 in E . coli; (ii) the non-adenylylated form of the GS from K . aerogenes is stimulated by 60 mM MgCl2 in the gammaGT assay at pH 7.15 . A biosynthetic reaction assay that correlates well with number of non-adenylylated enzyme subunits, as determined by the method of Mg2+ inhibition of the gammaGT assay, is described . Finally, we have found that it is necessary to use special methods to harvest growing cells to prevent changes in the adenylylation state of GS from occurring during harvesting. JAMA, 1977 Jan 24, 237(4), 352 - 4 Sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim for infections in cancer patients; Grose WE et al.; A combination of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim (Bactrim) was given orally to 35 cancer pattients with infections . Thirty-two patients did not respond to an initial antibiotic regimen that consisted primarily of carbenicillin disodium and an aminoglycoside . There were 18 single-organism, Gram-negative infections . The overall cure rate was 54% . The most common infection was pneumonia (47% responded to treatment) . Eighty precent of the cases of septicemia were cured . The most common infecting organism was Klebsiella pneumoniae (45% with this infection responded) . Eight cases of infection of unknown origin occurred (63% responded to treatment) . Overall, 47% of the patients whose neutrophil count remained unchanged or decreased responded, while 61% of those whose neutrophil count remained unchanged or increased responded . There was no close correlation between the minimum inhibitory concentrations and the clinical responses . Sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim orally is a well tolerated and effective form of antimicrobial therapy. S Afr Med J, 1977 Jan 8, 51(2), 34 - 8 Studies on a naturally occurring R factor harbouring a chromosomal nutritional marker; Van Rensburg LJ et al.; A naturally occurring R factor which carried resistance determinants to tetracycline and chloramphenicol as well as a marker for lactose fermentation was found in a strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from sewage . The TcCmlac+ factor was transferred by conjugation to E . coli K12 . It showed no recombination or stable coexistence with R factors of the fi- class . Studies in recombination-deficient (rec-) strains of E . coli K12 showed that the TcCmlac+ factor is an autonomously replicating plasmid . Preparative ultracentrifugation and electron microscopic studies revealed the presence of more than one molecular species . Average contour lengths for two of these species were 11,20 +/- 1,55 mum and 16,14 +/- 1,45 mum, which correspond to molecular weights of about 23,18 X 10(6) and 34,63 X 10(6) daltons, respectively. Eur J Biochem, 1977 Jan 3, 72(1), 87 - 91 Myo-Inositol transport in Klebsiella aerogenes . scyllo-Inositol, a non-metabolizable substrate for the study of the myo-inositol transport system; Deshusses J et al.; 1 . Scyllo-Inositol is transported against a concentration gradient by Klebsiella aerogenes, but is not metabolized . 2 . The apparent KT of scyllo-inositol is 0.05 X 10(-3) M while that of myo-inositol is 0.23 X 10(-3) M . The V values are respectively 32 and 12 nmol min(-1) mg cells(-1) (dry weight) . 3 . Both cyclitols bind to the same carrier, since typical competitive inhibition kinetics are observed . 4 . Neither phosphoenolpyruvate phosphotransferase nor a periplasmic binding protein seems to be involved in the scyllo-inositol transport system . 5 . The induction of the transport system is not repressed by malate, furmarate, citrate, succinate or pyruvate; however, acetate represses the induction . The activity of the transport system is increased when the growth medium is supplemented with adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate. Eur J Biochem, 1977 Jan 3, 72(1), 101 - 6 Assymetry of the myo-inositol transport system in Klebsiella aerogenes . Energy is necessary to create the assymetry of the transport system; Deshusses J et al.; 1 . In Klebsiella aerogenes the influx of myo-inositol proceeds during the steady state at a rate equal to that of efflux . 2 . The kinetic parameters of influx during the steady state are similar to those observed at the initial time of uptake . 3 . Efflux and influx processes share the same transport system . 4 . The ability of other cyclitols to chase the accumulated scyllo-inositol is dependent on their affinity for the transport system . 5 . A counter transport can be observed in preloaded cells only in poisoned cells and under anaerobiosis . 6 . The efflux process is not temperature-dependent . 7 . The KT of influx in poisoned cells is larger than that in normal cells . 8 . Although no saturation kinetics of efflux could be observed, it can be inferred that the KT of efflux is at least 50-fold larger than the KT of influx; 9 . The results suggest that in the transport of myo-inositol by K . aerogenes energy coupling enhances the affinity of the carrier for the substrate at the outer side of the cytolplasmic membrane by lowering the KT. Eur J Biochem, 1977 Jan 3, 72(1), 93 - 9 Transport of cyclitols by a proton symport in Klebsiella aerogenes; Reber G et al.; The respiration and the ATP content of Klebsiella aerogenes in the presence of various inhibitors were compared to the transport of scyllo-inositol . The ATPase was found to be inhibited by dicyclohexyl carbodiimide . The transport has been tested in anaerobiosis and aerobiosis . From the results obtained it is concluded that either ATP or respiration can sustain the transport activity in independent manner . 2 . The energy derived from the respiratory chain reactions or the ATP hydrolysis results in electrogenic extrusion of protons . The electrochemical potential created drives the accumulation of scyllo-inositol, as shown by an increase of pH of the medium on addition of the substrate to cells in anaerobiosis . With non-induced cells no change in pH occurs, which demonstrates that proton flow is really linked to the transport . No H+/Na+ or K+ exchange is observed and the proton conductor carbonylcyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone abolishes the pH shift caused by substrate addition . The stoichiometry of the symport H+/cyclitol is 1 and the half-maximum value of the pH variation as a function of the amount of scyllo-inositol added corresponds to a concentration of scyllo-inositol very close to the KT of influx. J Bacteriol, 1977 Jan, 129(1), 59 - 65 Tyramine oxidase and regulation of arylsulfatase synthesis in Klebsiella aerogenes; Okamura H et al.; The participation of tyramine oxidase in the regulation of arylsulfatase synthesis in Klebsiella aerogenes was studied . Arylsulfatase was synthesized when this organism was grown with methionine or taurine as the sulfur source (nonrepressing conditions) and was repressed by inorganic sulfate or cysteine; this repression was relieved by tyramine and related compounds (derepressing conditions) . Under nonrepressing conditions, arylsulfatase synthesis was not regulated by tyramine oxidase synthesis . However, derepression of arylsulfatase and induction of tyramine oxidase synthesis by tyramine were both antagonized by glucose and other carbohydrate compounds . The derepressed synthesis of arylsulfatase, like that of tyramine oxidase, was released from catabolite repression by use of tyramine as the sole source of nitrogen . A mutant strain that exhibits constitutive synthesis of glutamine synthetase and high levels of histidase when grown in glucose-ammonium medium was subject to the catabolite repression of both tyramine oxidase and arylsulfatase syntheses . Mutants in which repression of arylsulfatase could not be relieved by tyramine could not utilize tyramine as the sole source of nitrogen and were defective in the gene for tyramine oxidase. Med Pediatr Oncol, 1977, 3(4), 379 - 85 A study of antibiotic therapy in fever of unknown origin in neutropenic cancer patients; Bjornsson S et al.; Neutropenic cancer patients were given carbenicillin, cephalothin, and gentamicin (CCG) during 51 evaluable episodes of fever of unknown origin . Patients in whom fever persisted despite these antibiotics and in whom infection had not been documented were randomized after 3 days either to discontinue antibiotics or to add chloramphenicol or clindamycin to CCG . During 19 episodes (37%) an infection was documented during the first 3 days, and during an additional 12 episodes (24%) there was a response in 3 days without a focus of infection or an identifiable organism . Two patients died within 3 days, and one developed renal failure . Seventeen febrile episodes (33%) were unresponsive to CCG after 3 days and were randomized . Klebsiella was cultured in 4 of 6 patients randomized to stop antibiotics within a week of cessation, and 3 of these patients died . Of 11 episodes randomized to continue antibiotics, all patients were alive at 2 weeks after randomization and 9 after 4 weeks . This study, albeit small, demonstrates no advantage to withholding treatment in unremitting fever of unknown etiology and indeed strongly suggests that in this clinical setting, antibiotics once started should be continued until bone marrow recovery. Ann Immunol (Paris), 1977 Jan-Mar, 128(1-2), 265 - 6 {Immunostimulating activities in vivo of extract from Klebsiella pneumoniae}; Lefevre A et al.; The adjuvant and immunostimulating activities of a glycoprotein preparation (GP) extracted from Klebsiella pneumoniae have been studied . When injeted with an ovalbumin in incomplet Freund adjuvant emulsion, the GP induces delayed hypersensitivity to the antigen and increases the level of antibody developed . When it is injected before the antigen to C57Bl/6 mice, the GP provokes an increase of plaque forming cells, rosette forming cells, and antibody responses . With the doses that are used, no mechanism can be detected which could be due to an antigenic activity of the GP . The immunostimulating properties decribed cannot be due to a lipopolysaccharide since the preparation contains less than 1 p . 100 of endotoxin. South Med J, 1977 Jan, 70(1), 33 - 5 Nosocomial Klebsiella infections in an intensive care nursery; Cichon MJ et al.; Nosocomial infections in an intensive care nursery (ICN) due to kanamycin-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae during a four-month period with an infection rate of 12% and mortality of 47% are reported . Emergence of this organism was thought to be due to the widespread use of kanamycin . Transmission probably occurred via hands of personnel contaminated during care of colonized or infected infants . Control measures advocated are better handwashing technic and discriminate use of antibiotics . This report emphasizes the need for awareness of this continuous threat and for infection surveillance in an ICN. Isr J Med Sci, 1977 Jan, 13(1), 62 - 4 Rhinoscleroma; Altmann G et al.; Rhinoscleroma may present a diagnostic problem when encountered outside endemic region . Two young men from Gaza with tumor-like masses of scleroma in the nasal cavities and the nasopharynx are described . Histological examination of biopsy material from the nasal lesions showed pathognomonic Mikulicz cells, and cultures grew Klebsiella rhinoscleromatis . Both patients responded well to antibiotic treatment. Mikrobiyol Bul, 1977, 11(4), 479 - 85 {In vitro reaction to antibiotics in Klebsiella group organisms isolated from clinical cases (author's transl)}; Gunalp A et al.; According to the antibiotic sensitivity tests of 228 Klebsiella, they were found most sensitive resistant to ampicillin and penicillin . A great percentage of them had multiple resistance. C R Seances Soc Biol Fil, 1977, 171(4), 819 - 22 {The effect of a mixture of bacterial ribosomes and membrane fractions of Klebsiella pneumoniae on the development of a transplanted epithelial cancer in rats}; Deloince R et al.; An association of bacterial ribosomes and cell-wall of Klebsiella pneumoniae was shown to reduce the incidence of an epidermoid carcinoma in Sprague-Dawley rats when administered subcutaneously prior the tumoral graft . Mononuclear cells accumulate around the tumor . This association was considered as a non specific adjuvant stimulating the host's intrinsic immunity to tumor antigens. Ann Immunol (Paris), 1977 Jan-Mar, 128(1-2), 225 - 7 {Cross reactions of higher type-specific capsular polysaccharides of Klebsiella in antipneumococcal sera}; Heidelberger M et al.; Qualitative and quantitative precipitin reactions are given of the polysaccharides K60, K61, K65, K67-69, K70, K71, K73, and K83, also of depyruvylated K1 . As expected, the last reacts more strongly in antipneumococcal (anti-Pn) VIII and X than does intact K1 . K65 and K67 precipitate much of the same large fraction of anti-PnXXIII as does K47, showing that K65 and K67 also possess lateral non-reducing end-groups of L-rhamnose . The massive reaction of K83 in anti-PnII confirms the chemically demonstrated non-reducing end-groups of D-glucuronic acid in the repeating unit, Such groups, or 1,2-linked D-glcA, will probably also be found in K71. Can Med Assoc J, 1976 Dec 18, 115(12), 1225 - 9 Clindamycin plus gentamicin as expectant therapy for presumed mixed infections; Chow AW et al.; The prevalence of obligate anaerobes was studied prospectively in 60 patients with severe sepsis of intra-abdominal, soft tissue, female genital or oropulmonary origin . In addition, the efficacy of clindamycin (for anaerobes) plus gentamicin (for aerobic bacteria, especially coliforms) as initial empiric therapy in these patients was evaluated . Among 54 patients with cultural proof of infection, anaerobic pathogens were recovered from 52% . Nineteen patients had bacteremia; Bacteroides fragilis and Klebsiella pneumoniae were the most prevalent pathogens, being isolated in five patients each . Infection was eradicated in 56 of the 60 patients (93%) . Mortality related to sepsis was 7% in the entire group, 16% in patients with bacteremia and 2% in patients without bacteremia . Eighty-five percent of aerobic isolates tested were susceptible in vitro to either gentamicin or clindamycin; 97% of anaerobic isolates were inhibited by 5 mug/ml of clindamycin. Can J Microbiol, 1976 Dec, 22(12), 1762 - 7 Isolation of Klebsiella pneumoniae from lake water; Campbell LM et al.; The question of the importance of aquatic borne Klebsiella pneumoniae to public health has been argued as the organism has appeared often in both polluted effluents and oligotrophic systems . Using a selective medium, double violet agar, which also differentiates K . pneumoniae from other organisms found in aquatic systems, we sampled water from three ponds and a large man-made lake, over a 3-month period . Results indicate that K . pneumoniae can be isolated consistently and in high numbers from eutrophic waters even when environmental stress reduces total numbers, but that isolations from cleaner waters are erratic . We conclude that mere isolation of the organism as an