Microorganism

Infect Immun, 1982 May, 36(2), 531 - 4
Energy metabolism of the contagious equine metritis bacterium; Lindmark DG et al.; The energy metabolism of the English E-CMO strain of contagious equine metritis bacterium was studied in whole cells and cell extracts . This bacterium appears to have an active Krebs cycle and probably obtains energy by oxidative phosphorylation since glycolysis and the hexose monophosphate pathways appear to be absent . These conclusions are based on the findings that {U-14C}glucose incorporation by this bacterium is below the level of detection, and that respiration is stimulated by Krebs cycle intermediates (i.e., malate, citrate, and succinate), but not by glucose, fructose, maltose, or sucrose . Furthermore, support comes from the fact that enzymes generally associated with the Krebs cycle and electron transport (i.e., malate dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, fumarate hydratase, malate dehydrogenase {decarboxylating}, cytochrome oxidase, superoxide dismutase, NADH dehydrogenase, and catalase) were detected . Those enzymes normally associated with glycolysis and the hexose monophosphate pathways (i.e., hexokinase, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, fructose biphosphate aldolase, glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, pyruvate kinase, phosphate acetyl transferase, acetate kinase, alcohol dehydrogenase, and lactate dehydrogenase) were below the level of detection.

Dis Colon Rectum, 1982 May-Jun, 25(4), 368 - 70
Actinomycetoma masquerading as an abdominal neoplasm; Thompson JR et al.; Despite the fact that infection accompanying actinomycotic organisms is relatively rare, the possibility of such infection should be kept in mind because the organism is known to be commensal in the oral cavity, lungs, and intestinal tract . Abdominal lesions may mimic a neoplasm in many ways--physical findings, clinical course, and roentgenographic changes . Since the bacterium is anaerobic and difficult to grow on culture, one may have to rely on histologic confirmation for diagnosis . The infection can usually be eradicated by large doses of antibiotic (penicillin) over an extended period of time.

J Bacteriol, 1982 May, 150(2), 905 - 15
Isolation and characterization of cytoplasmic membranes and chlorosomes from the green bacterium Chloroflexus aurantiacus; Feick RG et al.; A method was developed which allows the isolation and purification of cytoplasmic membranes and chlorosomes from cells of Chloroflexus aurantiacus grown under different light conditions . The dipolar ionic detergent Deriphat (0.08%) and a sodium iodide gradient centrifugation were used in isolating cytoplasmic membranes . Chlorosomes were prepared with 0.16% of the dipolar ionic detergent Miranol and purified by a sucrose gradient centrifugation . Cytoplasmic membrane fractions prepared from either high- (3,000 W m-2), medium-(200 W m-2) or low- (7 W m-2) light-grown cells had near infrared absorption bands at 866, 808, and 755 nm in a constant characteristic absorbance ratio of 6:3.8:1 . In all cytoplasmic membrane preparations, the amount of bacteriochlorophyll a (Bchl a) per cytochrome, the amount of Bchl a per reaction center, and reaction center per milligram of cytoplasmic membrane protein was found to be constant . No Bchl c was present . Five respiratory enzyme activities have been measured in the cytoplasmic membrane fraction . Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of denatured cytoplasmic membrane showed many bands, but a major polypeptide with an apparent molecular weight of 8,000 . In contrast, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of purified chlorosomes did not contain the 8,000-molecular-weight band but revealed only three distinct protein bands with molecular weights of 15,000, 12,000, and 6,000 . Isolated chlorosomes contained Bchl c and a small, yet constant, amount of Bchl a (absorbing at 790 nm) in a molar ratio of 25:1 . The data indicated that the components of the photosynthetic apparatus in the cytoplasmic membrane of Chloroflexus aurantiacus remained constant and only the amount of antenna Bchl c varied with light conditions.

J Bacteriol, 1982 May, 150(2), 471 - 82
Interconversion and uptake of nucleotides, nucleosides, and purine bases by the marine bacterium MB22; Foret M et al.; Whole cells and isolated membranes of the marine bacterium MB22 converted nucleotides present in the external medium rapidly into nucleosides and then into bases . Nucleosides and purine bases formed were taken up by distinct transport systems . We found a high-affinity common transport system for adenine, guanine, and hypoxanthine, with a Km of 40 nM . This system was inhibited noncompetitively by purine nucleosides . In addition, two transport systems for nucleosides were present: one for guanosine with a Km of 0.8 microM and another one for inosine and adenosine with a Km of 1.4 microM . The nucleoside transport systems exhibited both mixed and noncompetitive inhibition by different nucleosides other than those translocated; purine and pyrimidine bases had no effect . The transport of nucleosides and purine bases was inhibited by dinitrophenol or azide, thus suggesting that transport is energy dependent . Inside the cell all of the substrates were converted mainly into guanosine, xanthine, and uric acid, but also anabolic products, such as nucleotides and nucleic acids, could be found.

J Virol, 1982 May, 42(2), 547 - 57
Construction of a cloned library of the EcoRI fragments from the human cytomegalovirus genome (strain AD169); Tamashiro JC et al.; The DNA genome of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) strain AD169 is 158 x 10(6) Mr . Cleavage of the HCMV DNA with the restriction endonuclease EcoRI yields 35 major fragments ranging in size from 0.54 x 10(6) Mr . We have constructed a cloned library of the EcoRI fragments of this strain of HCMV, using the plasmid pACYC184 and the recipient bacterium Escherichia coli strain HB101 RecA- . The viral origin of the cloned inserts was determined by hybridization to viral DNA . The fragments were characterized further by digestion with other restriction enzymes . Several clones were obtained which contained sequences spanning the junction between the long (L) and short (S) components of the viral DNA sequences . These clones differed in molecular weight by multiples of 0.3 x 10(6) to 0.4 x 10(6) Mr . The variability found in the clones was also reflected in the genome . Each clone containing a junction sequence hybridized to a series of bands on Southern filters of EcoRI-digested HCMV DNA . This "ladder effect" provided evidence for a region of heterogeneity within the L-S junction.

Am J Clin Pathol, 1982 May, 77(5), 601 - 5
Localization of Legionella pneumophila in tissue using FITC-conjugated specific antibody and a background stain; Lowry BS et al.; Lightly staining formalin-fixed or fresh tissue with Gram's crystal violet obviates interfering nonspecific fluorescence by acting as a metachromatic stain in ultraviolet light . Against the easily recognized background of tissues and cells fluorescein isothiocyanate-tagged Legionella pneumophila antibodies can then identify this bacterium in or on individual cells . This procedure can be run at room temperature in two hours and has the potential for further widespread applicability.

Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 1982 Apr 22, 215(1198), 1 - 18
The Leeuwenhoek Lecture, 1981 . The biochemical and genetic approach to the study of bioenergetics with the use of Escherichia coli: progress and prospects; Gibson F; How the 'energy currency' of the cell, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), is produced consequent upon the oxidation of foodstuffs (oxidative phosphorylation) is, despite prolonged research, still a matter of debate and the molecular mechanism of the process is unknown . It appears that the problem of oxidative phosphorylation can be approached with the aid of the biochemical genetics of the bacterium Escherichia coli . The ease of manipulation of bacteria and definitive results obtained by this approach have been invaluable in solving other major biochemical problems . Mutants affected in oxidative phosphorylation have been isolated and characterized by genetic and biochemical techniques . These 'unc' mutants are affected in the adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) multiprotein complex which is part of the cell membrane and responsible for the terminal stages of ATP synthesis . Seven distinct genes concerned with oxidative phosphorylation have been characterized in E . coli and shown to be part of an operon . The relationships between the different classes of unc genes and the various components of the ATPase have been established . Information about the assembly of the ATP synthesizing complex in the cell membrane has also been obtained and the stage set for further studies on the assembly, control and function of the ATP synthesizing system.

J Biol Chem, 1982 Apr 10, 257(7), 3379 - 81
Reduction of cytochromes b6 and f in isolated plastoquinol-plastocyanin oxidoreductase driven by photochemical reaction centers from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides; Prince RC et al.; Photochemical reaction centers isolated from the bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides are able to donate electrons to cytochromes b6 and f in the plastoquinol,-platocyanin oxidoreductase isolated from spinach chloroplasts . The reduction reactions occur only after the second single turnover flash, in a reaction which is sensitive to inhibitors of the reactions in the chloroplast membranes . When all the components of the b6f complex are oxidized prior to activation, both cytochromes b6 and f are reduced after the second flash . If cytochrome f is reduced prior to activation, cytochrome b6 is still reduced after the second flash, but as the potential is lowered so that the Rieske iron-sulfur cluster is reduced prior to activation, the reduction of cytochrome b6 fails . The b6f complex thus functions in such a way that a two-electron redox couple, probably a quinone, is capable of reducing both cytochrome b6 and cytochrome f, the latter via the Rieske iron-sulfur cluster, in a coupled reaction where both electrons must leave the two-electron carrier . Cytochrome b6 is thus reduced in a manner analogous to "oxidant-induced reduction."

J Bacteriol, 1982 Apr, 150(1), 348 - 57
Structure of the regular surface layer of Aquaspirillum serpens MW5; Stewart M et al.; The structure of the regular surface layer of Aquaspirillum serpens MW5 has been investigated by electon microscopy supplemented by computer image processing and least-squares analysis . The layer has a ribbed appearance, both on the bacterium and in isolated, negatively stained fragments . However, detailed analysis indicated that the layer was composed of two hexagonal sheets having p6mm symmetry and a = 16 nm . One sheet was staggered by one half repeat along a (1,0) line of the p6nm lattice relative to the second so that, in projection, the pattern of the composite layer was a translational moire, characterized by a series of ribs spaced 16 nm apart . The ribbed layer had cmm symmetry with a = 32 nm and b = 18.5 nm . Analysis of this pattern indicated that the two p6nm hexagonal sheets were unevenly stained, and this was confirmed by using least-squares methods to simulate the observed pattern by combining two hexagonal patterns . The general structure of the layer was consistent with a role as a selective and protective barrier on the cell surface.

J Clin Microbiol, 1982 Apr, 15(4), 720 - 2
Pneumonia and bacteremia caused by a previously undescribed Moraxella-like bacterium; Goetz MB et al.; Immunocompromised patients are frequently subject to unusual infections . We recently treated a renal allograft recipient for pneumonia due to a hitherto undescribed Moraxella-like bacterium which most closely resembles M-5 . M-5 has previously been associated in humans only with dog bites and wound infections . The patient responded well to treatment with aminoglycosides and cephalosporins . Susceptibility to these drugs was demonstrated in vitro by a broth dilution technique . On the basis of the known ability of Moraxella species to colonize the oropharynx and the patient's lack of animal exposure, we propose that our patient's illness was secondary to aspiration of colonized oropharyngeal contents.

J Periodontol, 1982 Apr, 53(4), 231 - 8
An analysis of peripheral blood and salivary polymorphonuclear leukocyte function, circulating immune complex levels and oral status in patients with inflammatory bowel disease; Lamster IB et al.; In an earlier case report, we described a 28-year-old man with active Crohn's disease and rapidly progressive alveolar bone loss, who presented with enhanced peripheral blood polymorphonuclear leukocyte activity as assessed by phagocytosis and lysis of a target bacterium . To assess the significance of this finding, peripheral blood polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) from thirty patients with active or inactive inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) were examined for spontaneous and stimulated hexose monophosphate shunt (HMS) activity . Analysis revealed the PMN from active IBD patients displayed greater metabolic activity than PMN from inactive IBD patients, which in turn were more active than PMN from normal subjects . Since circulating immune complex (CIC) levels might be of importance in the in vivo activation of PMN, analysis of serum CIC levels via polyethylene glycol 6000 precipitation was carried out . This indicated that active IBD patients had higher levels of CIC activity then inactive IBD patients . Ten of these patients were evaluated for spontaneous HMS activity by salivary PMN . As compared to controls, comparable numbers of salivary PMN from IBD patients displayed an average of 45% less activity than control salivary PMN . Analysis of the oral status of 10 IBD patients referred to the Peter Bent Brigham Dental Clinic indicated that two patients had overt oral pathoses apparently attributable to IBD . These two patients also had the highest CIC levels observed in the 30 serum samples tested.

J Bacteriol, 1982 Apr, 150(1), 46 - 51
Carbon dioxide assimilation by Thiobacillus novellus under nutrient-limited mixotrophic conditions; Perez RC et al.; The contribution of CO2 to cell material synthesis in Thiobacillus novellus under nutrient-limited conditions was estimated by comparing 14CO2 uptake rates of steady-state autotrophic cultures with that of heterotrophic and mixotrophic cultures at a given dilution rate . Under heterotrophic conditions, some 13% of the cell carbon was derived from CO2; this is similar to the usual anaplerotic CO2 fixation in batch cultures of heterotrophic bacteria . Under mixotrophic conditions, the contribution of CO2 to cell material synthesis increased with increasing S2O3 2- -to-glucose ratio in the medium inflow; at a ratio of 10, ca . 32% of the cell carbon was synthesized from CO2 . We speculate that the use of CO2 as carbon source, even when the glucose provided is sufficient to fulfill the biosynthetic needs, may augment the growth rate of the bacterium under such nutrient-limited conditions and could therefore be of survival value in nature . Some of the CO2 assimilated was excreted into the medium as organic compounds under all growth conditions, but in large amounts only in autotrophic environments as very low dilution rates.

Am J Physiol, 1982 Apr, 242(4), G360 - 3
Escherichia coli heat-stable toxin: its effect on motility of the small intestine; Mathias JR et al.; Escherichia coli heat-stable enterotoxin is a low-molecular-weight substance that has been shown to induce the active secretion of fluid and electrolytes in the small intestine . In this study, we have characterized the effects of purified E . coli heat-stable toxin (ST, strain 18D, serotype 042:K86:H37) on the motility of rabbit small intestine by using myoelectric recording techniques . Substances, such as cholera toxin, that activate the adenylate cyclase-cAMP system induced predominantly migrating action-potential complex activity . E . coli ST, a toxin that activates the guanylate cyclase-cGMP system, was infused into isolated in vivo ileal loops of New Zealand White rabbits . Inactivated toxin was also studied by exposing the ST to 1 mM dithiothreitol for 90 min . Active E . coli ST induced only repetitive bursts of action potentials . When the toxin was inactivated with dithiothreitol, no alteration in myoelectric activity was observed . We speculate that repetitive bursts of action-potential activity may represent a virulent factor of the bacterium, altering motor activity to slow transit and allowing for bacterial proliferation and invasion.

J Bacteriol, 1982 Apr, 150(1), 410 - 3
Construction of a hybrid plasmid capable of replication in the bacterium Escherichia coli and the cyanobacterium Anacystis nidulans; Sherman LA et al.; A hybrid plasmid was constructed between the 5.3-megadalton plasmid (pUH24) of Anacystis nidulans R2 and the Escherichia coli plasmid pBR322 . This was accomplished by adding a transposon to pBR322 and transforming this DNA into A . nidulans . One resultant hybrid, pLS103, had a molecular weight of 6.8 x 10(6), replicated in both organisms, had unique sites for two restriction endonucleases, conferred ampicillin resistance on both organisms, and could be used as a cloning vector in A . nidulans.

Infect Immun, 1982 Mar, 35(3), 943 - 6
Virulence conversion of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 by passage in guinea pigs and embryonated eggs; Elliott JA et al.; When virulent Legionella pneumophila is passaged on supplemented Mueller-Hinton agar, it remains virulent for guinea pigs and embryonated hen eggs for two passages . However, by the fifth passage the cultures become avirulent for guinea pigs . Flagella were not produced by L . pneumophila on the first passage on supplemented Mueller-Hinton agar . In contrast, 12 passages on charcoal-yeast extract agar did not result in the reduction of virulence or the loss of flagella of L . pneumophila . Growth in supplemented yeast extract broth or on Norit-A-filtered supplemented yeast extract agar also did not result in a reduction of the virulence of L . pneumophila . However, L . pneumophila did not produce flagella when grown on these two media . Thus, it appears that the production of flagella is not required for the virulence of L . pneumophila when administered by the intraperitoneal route of infection . A virulent flagellated form of L . pneumophila was recovered by passing an avirulent form six times in guinea pigs . When avirulent L . pneumophila was passaged 12 times in embryonated eggs, a nonflagellated form of the bacterium was recovered which had an increased virulence for guinea pigs and embryonated eggs . However, virulent forms were not recovered by passage of avirulent forms on commonly used laboratory media . These results support the suggestion that a suitable host is required for the selection of the virulent form of L . pneumophila from avirulent cultures.

J Bacteriol, 1982 Mar, 149(3), 852 - 63
Nutrition and carbon metabolism of Methanococcus voltae; Whitman WB et al.; Methanococcus voltae is a heterotrophic, H2-oxidizing methanogenic bacterium . In complex medium, this bacterium has a doubling time of 1.2 h at its temperature optimum of 38 degrees C . In defined medium, optimal growth is obtained with 0.75 mM isoleucine, 0.75 mM leucine, 2.5 mM acetate, 5 mM NH4Cl, 84 mM MgSO4, 0.4 M NaCl, 1 mM CaCl2, 10 microM Fe2O3, and 0.2 microM NiCl2 . In addition, pantothenate, sodium selenate, and cobalt stimulate growth . Optimal growth is obtained between pH 6.0 and 7.0 with either H2 or formate as the electron donor . The volatile fatty acids 2-methylbutyrate and isovalerate can substitute for isoleucine and leucine, respectively . Cellular carbon is derived from acetate (31%), isoleucine (22%), leucine (25%), and carbon dioxide (23%) . The amino acids and fatty acids are incorporated almost exclusively into protein . A comparison of the incorporation of U-14C-amino acids and 1-14C-fatty acids indicated that the fatty acids are degraded during incorporation into cell protein . The distribution of carbon from the amino acids suggests that acetyl coenzyme A is not a major intermediate in the degradation of these compounds . Thus, M . voltae may convert isoleucine and leucine to other amino acids by a unique mechanism . The lipid carbon is derived largely from acetate . Thus, the isoprenoid lipids are synthesized de novo from acetate rather than by degradation of leucine . The carbon in the nucleic acids is derived from carbon dioxide (45%), the C-1 of acetate (25%), the C-2 of acetate (22%), and isoleucine and leucine (7%) . This labeling pattern is consistent with known biochemical pathways.

J Gen Microbiol, 1982 Mar, 128(Pt 3), 639 - 50
Control mechanisms governing the infectivity of Chlamydia trachomatis for hela cells: modulation by cyclic nucleotides, prostaglandins and calcium; Ward ME et al.; Chlamydia trachomatis causes common infections of the eyes and genital tract in man . The mechanism by which this obligate intracellular bacterium is taken into epithelial cells is unclear . The results described here support the concept that chlamydial infections of HeLa cells is under bidirectional cyclic nucleotide control, with guanosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP) acting as a stimulator, and adenosine 3':5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) as an inhibitor . Treatment of the HeLa cells with the divalent cation ionophore A23187, with carbamoylcholine, or with prostaglandins known to increase the concentration of endogenous cGMP, also increased host cell susceptibility to chlamydial infection . Cyclic GMP was only effective if added at or before chlamydial inoculation, suggesting that its main effect was on chlamydial uptake . The stimulatory effect of cGMP, but nt antagonism, by cAMP, was abolished if the cells were first treated with any of four different inhibitors of prostaglandin synthesis, suggesting a critical role for endogenous prostaglandin synthesis . Centrifugation of chlamydiae on to host cells was followed by a rapid increase in the mobility of Ca2+ across the cell membrane . The interrelationships of these observations and the possibility that chlamydiae and other intracellular pathogens might evoke alterations in host cell prostaglandin and cyclic nucleotide concentrations to aid their own uptake are discussed.

Biokhimiia, 1982 Mar, 47(3), 355 - 60
{Low potential c-type cytochrome of Thiocapsa roseopersicina}; Korsunskii OF et al.; The low potential c-type cytochrome from the phototrophic purple sulphur bacterium Thiocapsa roseopersicina, strain BBS was isolated in electrophoretically homogeneous state . The bulk of the cytochrome (approximately 90%) after disruption of the cells remained in the membrane fraction . The absorption spectrum of the cytochrome was characterized by the maxima at 420, 523 and 552 nm in the reduced state and at 408 nm in the oxidized one . The cytochrome interacted with CO in the reduced state . The molecular weight of the cytochrome is 50 000 . The cytochrome contains great amounts of phenylalanine, leucine, valine, aspartic and glutamic acids and can be reduced by dithionite but not by cysteine, sulfide or ascorbate . Besides, the cytochrome can also be reduced by NAD(P)H in the presence of NAD(P)-reductases of T . roseopersicina, when ferredoxin of Spirulina platensis or benzyl viologen are added to the reaction mixture . The cytochrome can act as an electron donor (acceptor) for T . roseopersicina hydrogenase.

J Biol Chem, 1982 Feb 10, 257(3), 1189 - 95
13C nuclear magnetic resonance studies of the biosynthesis by Microbacterium ammoniaphilum of L-glutamate selectively enriched with carbon-13; Walker TE et al.; 13C NMR of isotopically enriched metabolites has been used to study the metabolism of Microbacterium ammoniaphilum, a bacterium which excretes large quantities of L-glutamic acid into the medium . Biosynthesis from 90% {1-13C}glucose results in relatively high specificity of the label, with {2,4-13C2}glutamate as the major product . The predominant biosynthetic pathway for synthesis of glutamate from glucose was determined to be the Embden Meyerhof glycolytic pathway followed by P-enolpyruvate carboxylase and the first third of the Krebs cycle . Different metabolic pathways are associated with different correlations in the enrichment of the carbons, reflected in the spectrum as different 13C-13C scalar multiplet intensities . Hence, intensity and 13C-13C multiplet analysis allows quantitation of the pathways involved . Although blockage of the Krebs cycle at the alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase step is the basis for the accumulation of glutamate, significant Krebs cycle activity was found in glucose grown cells, and extensive Krebs cycle activity in cells metabolizing {1-13C}acetate . In addition to the observation of the expected metabolites, the disaccharide alpha, alpha-trehalose and alpha, beta-glucosylamine were identified from the 13C NMR spectra.

J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo), 1982 Feb, 28(1), 21 - 6
The presence of glutamate mutase in a methanol-utilizing bacterium, Protaminobacter ruber; Ueda S et al.; Cell-free extracts of a facultative methylotroph and strict aerobe, Protaminobacter ruber, could catalyze formation of beta-methylaspartate from glutamate . beta-Methylaspartate formed was further converted to mesaconate . From these results, it was found that the cells of P . ruber contained a sequential reaction system of glutamate mutase and beta-methylaspartase . The level of glutamate mutase activity was almost constant throughout the period of cultivation . When P . ruber was grown on several non-one-carbon compounds in addition to methanol as a sole carbon source, the activity of glutamate mutase was not markedly affected by the kinds of carbon sources.

J Biochem (Tokyo), 1982 Feb, 91(2), 725 - 30
Short-chain acyl-coenzyme A synthetases in Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides; Maruyama K; Two short-chain fatty acyl-CoA synthetases were extracted from the photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides, and partially purified by column chromatography on Sephacryl S-200 and DEAE-cellulose . One enzyme activated propionate, valerate, acrylate, butyrate, and acetate, and was designated as propionyl-CoA synthetase, since the highest activity and lowest Km value (0.6 mM) were observed with propionate . The other enzyme activated acetate, propionate and acrylate . It showed the highest activity and lowest Km value (0.37 mM) for acetate, and was identified as acetyl-CoA synthetase {EC 6.2.1.1}.

Biophys J, 1982 Feb, 37(2), 539 - 51
An x-ray absorption study of the iron site in bacterial photosynthetic reaction centers; Bunker G et al.; Measurements were made of the extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) of the iron site in photosynthetic reaction centers from the bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides . Forms with two quinones, two quinones with added o-phenanthroline, and one quinone were studied . Only the two forms containing two quinones maintained their integrity and were analyzed . The spectra show directly that the added o-phenanthroline does not chelate the iron atom . Further analysis indicates that the iron is octahedrally coordinated by nitrogen and/or oxygen atoms located at various distances, with the average value of about 2.14 A . The analysis suggests that most of the ligands are nitrogens and that three of the nitrogen ligands belong to histidine rings . This interpretation accounts for several unusual features of the EXAFS spectrum . We speculate that the quinones are bound to the histidine rings in some manner . Qualitative features of the absorption edge spectra also are discussed and are related to the Fe-ligand distance.

Biophys J, 1982 Feb, 37(2), 523 - 38
The electronic structure of Fe2+ in reaction centers from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides . II . Extended x-ray fine structure studies; Eisenberger P et al.; Extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) studies were performed on reaction centers (RC) of the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides R-26 . RC containing two, one, and no quinones (2Q, 1Q, 0Q) samples were studied . The average ligand distance of the first coordination shell was determined to be 2.10 +/- 0.02 A with a more distant shell at 4.14 +/- 0.05 A . The Fe2+ site in RC was found to have a very large structural disorder parameter, from which a spread in ligand distance per iron site of approximately +/- 0.1 A was deduced . The most likely coordination number of the first shell is six, with a mixture of oxygens and nitrogens as ligands . The edge absorption results are consistent with the Fe2+ being in distorted octahedral environment . The EXAFS spectra of the 2Q and 1Q samples with and without O-phenanthroline were found to be the same . This indicates that either the secondary quinone and o-phenanthroline do not bind to Fe2+ or that they replace an equivalent ligand . The 0Q sample showed a 12% decrease in the EXAFS amplitude, which was restored upon addition of o-phenanthroline . These results can be explained by either a loss of a ligand or a severe conformational change when the primary quinone was removed.

J Bacteriol, 1982 Feb, 149(2), 708 - 17
Nitrogenase from the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas capsulata: purification and molecular properties; Hallenbeck PC et al.; Nitrogenase proteins were isolated from cultures of the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas capsulata grown on a limiting amount of ammonia . Under these conditions, the nitrogenase N2ase A was active in vivo, and nitrogenase activity in vitro was not dependent upon manganese and the activating factor . The nitrogenase proteins were also isolated from nitrogen-limited cultures in which the in vivo nitrogenase activity had been stopped by an ammonia shock . This nitrogenase activity, N2ase R, showed an in vitro requirement for manganese and the activating factor for maximal activity . The Mo-Fe protein (dinitrogenase) was composed of two dissimilar subunits with molecular weights of 55,000 and 59,500; the Fe protein (dinitrogenase reductase), from either type of culture, was composed of a single subunit (molecular weight), 33,500) . The metal and acid labile sulfur contents of both nitrogenase proteins were similar to those found for previously isolated nitrogenases . The Fe proteins from both N2ase A and N2ase R contained phosphate and ribose, 2 mol of each per mol of N2ase R Fe protein and about 1 mol of each per mol of N2ase A Fe protein . The greatest difference between the two types of Fe protein was that the N2ase R Fe protein contained about 1 mol per mol of an adenine-like molecule, whereas the N2ase A Fe protein content of this compound was insignificant . These results are compared with various models previously presented for the short-term regulation of nitrogenase activity in the photosynthetic bacteria.

Biophys J, 1982 Feb, 37(2), 465 - 73
Photoelectric currents across planar bilayer membranes containing bacterial reaction centers . Response under conditions of single electron turnover; Packham NK et al.; Light-induced electric current and potential responses have been measured across planar phospholipid membranes containing reaction centers from the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides . Under conditions in which the reaction centers are restricted to a single electron turnover, the responses can be correlated with the light-induced electron transfer reactions associated with the reaction center . The results indicate that electron transfer from the bacteriochlorophyll dimer to the primary ubiquinone molecule, and from ferrocytochrome c to the oxidized dimer occur in series across the planar membrane . Electron transfer from the primary to secondary ubiquinone molecule is not electrogenic.

Biochemistry, 1982 Jan 5, 21(1), 82 - 8
Phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent fructose phosphotransferase system of Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides: purification and physicochemical and immunochemical characterization of a membrane-associated enzyme I; Brouwer M et al.; The phosphotransferase system (PTS) of the phototrophic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides consists of a component located in the cytoplasmic membrane and a membrane-associated enzyme called "soluble factor" (SF) {Saier, M . H., Feucht, B . U., & Roseman, S . (1971) J . Biol . Chem . 246, 7819--7821} . SF has been partially purified by a combination of hydrophobic interaction and ion-exchange and gel-permeation chromatography . SF is similar to Escherichia coli enzyme I in its molecular characteristics and enzymatic properties . It has a molecular weight of 85 000 and readily dimerizes . Phosphoenolpyruvate and Mg2+ stabilize the dimer . The enzyme catalyzes the conversion of phosphoenolpyruvate into pyruvate and becomes phosphorylated in the process . The phosphoryl group is subsequently transferred to fructose in the presence of R . sphaeroides membranes . SF substitutes for E . coli enzyme I in fructose or glucose phosphorylation with E . coli enzyme II and HPr . The activities of SF with the R . sphaeroides PTS and the E . coli PTS reside on structurally distinct molecules as shown by their response to limited proteolytic digestion and by immunochemical studies . The activity of SF with the E . coli PTS arises during the isolation procedure and is most likely due to the removal of HPr-like protein from SF.

Acta Microbiol Acad Sci Hung, 1982, 29(3), 181 - 5
Methylated nucleic acid bases in Mycobacterium and mycobacteriophage DNA; Somogyi PA et al.; Methylated bases of the DNA of two mycobacteria (Mycobacterium phlei and Mycobacterium smegmatis var . butyricum) and two mycobacteriophages (Phage phlei and Phage butyricum) have been studied . In both the bacterial and the phage DNAs 5-methyl-cytosine and 6-methyl-aminopurine could be detected . Using L-(methyl-H3)-methionine as methyl donor not only the methylated bases of bacterium and phage DNA proved to be radioactive, but also the non-methylated purine residues and thymine . Possible pathways of this phenomenon are discussed.

J Virol, 1982 Jan, 41(1), 345 - 7
Genetic analysis of bacteriophage T4 transducing bacteriophages; Young KK et al.; Mutations in the genes for nuclear disruption (ndd), endonuclease IV (denB), and the D1 region of the T4 genome are essential for converting bacteriophage T4 into a generalized transducing phage . These mutations gave rise to a very low frequency of transduction, about 10(-8) per infected bacterium . The addition of an rII mutation raised the transduction frequency about 20-fold . An additional 100-fold increase in the transduction frequency was observed with mutations in genes 42, 56, and alc . High-frequency generalized transduction by T4 results from the cumulative effect of these mutations.

Differentiation, 1982, 21(2), 71 - 8
Localization of surface structures during procaryotic differentiation: role of cell division in Caulobacter crescentus; Huguenel ED et al.; Asymmetric cell division in Caulobacter crescentus produces two cell types, a stalked cell and a new swarmer cell, with characteristics surface structures . We have examined the role of the cell cycle in the differentiation of these two cells using adsorption of bacteriophage phi LC72, the assembly of the polar flagellum, and stalk formation as assays for changes in surface morphology . Previous studies of this aquatic bacterium {17,25} have suggested that the replicating chromosome acts as a "clock' in timing the formation of the flagellar filament at one pole of the new swarmer cell . the analysis of conditional cell cycle mutants presented here extends these results by showing that DNA synthesis is also required for adsorption of phage phi LC72 and, more importantly, they also suggest that a late cell division step is involved in determining the spatial pattern in which the phage receptors and flagella are assembled . We propose that this cell division step is required for formation of "organizational' centers which direct the assembly of surface structures at the new cell poles, and for the polarity reversal in assembly that accompanies swarmer cell to stalked cell development.

Mikrobiologiia, 1982 Jan-Feb, 51(1), 156 - 60
{Effect of Fe3+ ions on Thiobacillus ferrooxidans oxidation of ferrous oxide at various temperatures}; Kovalenko TV et al.; The inhibition of the rate of ferrous iron oxidation by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans with ferric ions was shown to depend on their concentration, the temperature of the medium, and the phase of the cultural growth . Ferrous iron oxidation was inhibited with ferric ions both at low (below 1.0 g/l) and high (ca . 10 g/l) concentrations, the process being temperature dependent: the rate of inhibition decreased with a fall of the temperature . The bacterium was most sensitive to unfavourable Fe3+ concentrations at 8-26 degrees C during the lag phase; Fe2+ oxidation was inhibited during the exponential phase of growth only at 26 degrees C . The Ki for Fe3+ at 27, 10 and 5 degrees C were 3.09-3.39, 11.4-22.8 and 46.0 g/l Fe3+, respectively . Therefore, the affinity of the enzyme for the inhibitor Fe3+ decreases with a fall of the temperature.

Folia Parasitol (Praha), 1982, 29(1), 79 - 83
The role of Hydrotaea armipes Fall . (Diptera, Muscidae) in the transmission of infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis; Dusbabek F et al.; The tests to isolate the IBK causative agent Moraxella bovis from the flies Hydrotaea armipes Fall., captured while feeding on tears in the eye region of infected calves, have failed . Many successful isolations of Branhamella catarrhalis from the digestive tract of the flies and the smears taken from the eyes of the infected calves indicate that this agent is acquired by the flies while sucking tears from the eyes of the sick animals . A similar transmission is presumed by the authors with Moraxella bovis . In experiment this bacterium survives on the body surface of Hydrotaea armipes for 14 hours, in the digestive tract for 15 hours and even longer.

J Clin Invest, 1982 Jan, 69(1), 85 - 98
A quantitative analysis of the interactions of antipneumococcal antibody and complement in experimental pneumococcal bacteremia; Brown EJ et al.; The mechanism of protection of type-specific antipneumococcal antibody and complement in bacteremia was investigated with purified rabbit antibody and a guinea pig model of pneumococcal bacteremia . IgG and IgM were isolated from the sera of rabbits immunized with type 7 pneumococci (Pn), and their binding to Pn was quantitated . The number of antibody-binding sites on the pnuemococcal capsule was also determined . Pn were incubated with various amounts of the immunoglobulin preparations before intravenous injection into nonimmune guinea pigs . Whereas 120 molecules of IgM per Pn were sufficient to enhance bloodstream clearance of Pn, 1,400 molecules of IgG per bacterium were required to produce this effect . As the amount of either IgG or IgM added to the Pn was increased, the rate of bloodstream clearance accelerated . In striking contrast, greater than 1,000 molecules of IgM had no effect on the rate of clearance in C4-deficient guinea pigs, which cannot activate complement via the classic pathway . Similarly, 5,000 molecules of IgG had only minimal effect in C4-deficient guinea pigs, and 24,000 molecules of IgG had no effect in guinea pigs depleted of complement by cobra venom factor . Thus, the in vivo opsonic effects of both IgG and IgM anticapsular antibody are mediated via their ability to activate complement . IgG anti-pneumococcal cell wall antibody, raised by intravenous injection of rabbits with unencapsulated Pn, had no effect on the rate of bloodstream clearance of Pn or on the polymorphonuclear leukocyte killing of type 7 Pn in an in vitro bacterial assay . Because the opsonic effects of anticapsular antibody required complement activation, the ability of anticell wall IgG to activate complement was compared with the two classes of anticapsular antibody . As judged by depletion of C3 and C4 from guinea pig serum, as well as by the fixation of radiolabeled C3 to Pn, IgM anticapsular antibody was the best complement activator . However, anticell wall IgG was somewhat more active than anticapsular IgG in each of these tests of complement activation and fixation . When equivalent amounts of C3 were fixed to Pn by each of the three antibodies, Pn sensitized with IgG and IgM anticapsular antibodies caused immune adherence, whereas Pn sensitized with anticell wall IgG did not . This may explain the failure of anticell wall antibody of mediate complement-dependent phagocytosis of Pn in vivo or in vitro . Although anticell wall IgG is capable of activating complement and fixing C3 to Pn, it is not opsonic; the most likely reason is that the nonopsonic antibody mediates C3 deposition in sites on the Pn that cannot interact efficiently with phagocytic cell C3 receptors.

Z Erkr Atmungsorgane, 1982, 158(1-2), 149 - 54
{Prognosis and treatment of tuberculosis in the pre-chemotherapeutical era}; Tetzner W; After discovery of the agent, treatment of tuberculosis was carried out in a variety of ways, the main forms of approach including: 1 . Direct action on the bacterium-failed . 2 . Influencing the organism by rest and irradiation therapy . 3 . Surgical intervention for cavity destruction . 4 . Improvement of social conditions . Before surgical intervention was practiced on a large scale prospects for bacteria-excreting patients were very poor, two thirds of them dying within the first 3 years . Where de-bacillization was successful, more than 75 per cent of patients survived 10 years . Nevertheless, none of the forms of treatment had any decisive influence on the tuberculosis situation as a whole.

Scand J Infect Dis Suppl, 1982, 33, 32 - 6
Hydrophobic interaction--a mechanism of bacterial binding; Magnusson KE; Hydrophobic interaction or the hydrophobic effect is a chemical reaction between two or more substances or particles in an aqueous phase with elimination of the water associated with each of the particles . A gain in free energy results, since the state of separate particles surrounded by water is more energy requiring than the bound state . Low surface tension, solubility in organic solvents, hydrophobicity and attractive van der Waals interaction are often used as synonyms of hydrophobic interaction . The liability to hydrophobic interaction of bacteria and animal cells can be assessed in several ways, including contact angel measurements, engulfment at solidification fronts, critical surface tension of binding or desorption, aqueous polymer two-phase partitioning and hydrophobic interaction chromatography . In general, hydrophobic surface properties of bacteria seem to promote their association with different animal cells, comprising interactions enhanced by envelope mutations (S leads to R), immunoglobulins (IgG) or lectins (fimbriae), although the interacting structures on the bacterium and the animal counterpart are structurally distinct in each reaction.

Arch Oral Biol, 1982, 27(4), 319 - 24
Differences in lymphoproliferative responses to the bacterium Actinomyces viscosus in various mammalian species; Chen P et al.; A water-soluble extract of Actinomyces viscosus (AVS) was tested for its capacity to induce DNA synthesis in lymphocytes from man, monkeys, mice and guinea pigs . The results indicated that the AVS induced an in-vitro lymphoproliferative response, as assessed by tritiated thymidine incorporation, in mouse-spleen cells, in the majority of human peripheral blood samples tested and in macaque monkey spleen cells . The AVS also elicited a blastogenic response from spleen, lymph node and peripheral blood lymphocytes from guinea pigs immunized with A . viscosus . The AVS did not elicit a lymphoproliferative response from human-cord blood cells, monkey peripheral blood lymphocytes, or peripheral blood and spleen lymphocytes from non-immunized guinea pigs . Thus there was a difference in the ability of A . viscosus to induce DNA synthesis in lymphocytes from the different animal species tested.

DNA, 1982, 1(4), 329 - 33
Cloning and expression of Treponema pallidum protein antigens in Escherichia coli; Stamm LV et al.; Difficulties in culturing the bacterium Treponema pallidum have greatly hindered syphilis research . Recently, several laboratories have accomplished the expression of T . pallidum antigens in Escherichia coli . It is anticipated that treponemal antigens produced by recombinant DNA technology will provide new tools for investigating the pathogenesis and immunobiology of T . pallidum infection.

Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol Suppl, 1982, 7, 9 - 20
Renin synthesis and gene cloning; Morris BJ et al.; 1 . The present study describes the biosynthesis and gene cloning of mouse submandibular gland renin . 2 . After translation of mRNA coding for renin a Mr 46 000 protein is produced (preprorenin) . However, rapid removal of the 'pre' segment from the nascent chain would account for the fact that in pulse-chase and continuous labelling experiments the largest renin-immunoreactive protein seen was of Mr 44 500, pI 6.4 (determined by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis) . This 'prorenin' was rapidly converted to a Mr 40 000, pI 6.2 species and then more slowly to forms of Mr 35 500, pI 5.6 and Mr 34 000, pI 5.4, which correspond in Mr and pI to renin isolated in pure form from mouse submandibular glands . 3 . Colonies of the bacterium Escherichia coli strain RRI, containing plasmid pBR322 into which mouse submandibular gland cDNA had been inserted at the PstI site, were screened with affinity-purified anti-renin . Of 500 colonies, two were found that reacted positively with the antibody . These contained protein that could be immunoprecipitated with anti-renin and cDNA which was capable of inter-colony hybridization and which had a HinfI restriction site in each case.

Int J Biochem, 1982, 14(11), 1019 - 23
Characterisation of the electron transport chain of an obligate methylotroph, strain 4025; Vrdoljak M et al.; 1 . The obligate methanol-utilising bacterium strain 4025 contains cytochromes b and c . Cytochrome a is never present . 2 . The soluble cytochrome c is similar to that from other methylotrophs in reacting (slowly) with carbon monoxide and it can be separated into two types, differing markedly in their isoelectric points . 3 . Some of the cytochrome b reacts rapidly with carbon monoxide and is thus the likely cytochrome oxidase (cytochrome o) . 4 . The partially purified, NAD+-independent methanol dehydrogenase is similar to such enzymes from the other methanol-utilising bacteria in respect of its prosthetic group, dependence on ammonia or methylamine for activity and its wide substrate specificity . 5 . The fluorescence seen in colonies of this organism is probably due to a flavin derivative . 6 . This study of electron transport components does not shed any light on the unusually high copper requirement shown by this methylotroph.

Infection, 1982, 10(4), 209 - 14
Rapid identification of P-fimbriated Escherichia coli by a receptor-specific particle agglutination test; Svenson SB et al.; Most (greater than 90%) Escherichia coli strains isolated from children with acute non-obstructive pyelonephritis exhibit a specific type of filamentous protein appendage known as P-fimbriae . These fimbriae enable the bacterium to adhere to human uroepithelial cells by the specific recognition of and binding to a particular class of glycosphingolipids correlated to the human P-blood group antigens . In this paper a new method for the rapid and reliable identification of such P-fimbriated pyelonephritogenic bacteria is described . The method is based on particles to which the minimal glycoside receptor structure recognized by P-fimbriae is attached . Mixing these receptor-containing particles with P-fimbriated bacteria results in a strong and immediate agglutination reaction . The specificity and sensitivity of this new particle agglutination test proved to be superior to the haemagglutination assay previously used.

J Biol Chem, 1981 Dec 10, 256(23), 12589 - 95
Localization of myxobacterial hemagglutinin in the periplasmic space and on the cell surface of Myxococcus xanthus during developmental aggregation; Nelson DR et al.; During the period of developmental aggregation which precedes fruiting body formation, the bacterium Myxococcus xanthus produces a large amount of a lectin called myxobacterial hemagglutinin (MBHA) . Sequential cell washing, osmotic shock, and disruption of developmental cells showed that as much as 90% of the total hemagglutinating activity can be recovered in the wash and shock fractions . Analysis of the wash and shock fluids by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that these fractions are enriched in MBHA . MBHA was detected on the surface of developmental cells but not vegetative cells by immunofluorescent staining procedures . The fluorescence was localized in distinct patches which were usually located at one or both of the cell poles, although patches of fluorescence could also be seen at additional sites as well . The presence of MBHA on the cell surface was also detected by electron microscopy of developmental cells stained with ferritin-conjugated antibody . Most of the cells showed distinct patches of ferritin staining at one or both of the cell poles; nonpolar staining, which was also observed, was always accompanied by membrane protuberances . The amino acid sequence of the NH2 terminus of MBHA was determined and found to be extremely hydrophobic, suggesting that it may function as a nonprocessed signal for transmembrane transport . The site-specific localization of MBHA at the cell poles suggests that it may function in end-to-end cellular interactions during aggregation.

Am J Clin Pathol, 1981 Dec, 76(6), 816 - 8
Legionnaires' disease in Vermont . 1972-1976; Gerber JE et al.; One hundred four autopsy cases with previously diagnosed pneumonitis were examined for evidence of Legionnaires' disease . The peak epidemic months of July, August, and September in the five years before the 1977 Vermont epidemic were chosen for study . The bacterium, Legionella pneumophila (serogroup 1) was demonstrated in lung tissue by direct immunofluorescence and the Dieterle silver impregnation stain . There was no clustering of Legionnaires' disease in any one year., The clinical presentation and pulmonary pathology were similar to that of Legionnaires' disease previously reported in Vermont . Seven out of 104 cases were identified as previously undiagnosed Legionnaire's disease . In this time frame, it can be concluded that the disease has been endemic in Vermont.

Clin Exp Immunol, 1981 Dec, 46(3), 633 - 9
The role of TG lymphocytes in cell-mediated immunity in patients with periodontal disease; Ivanyi L et al.; Blood mononuclear cell suspensions from patients with a severe form of periodontal disease failed to respond by in vitro stimulation to a sonicate from the oral bacterium, Veillonella alcalescens . The proliferative response could be restored by the depletion of TG cells by rosetting with IgG-coated ox erythrocytes and by reconstitution of the cell suspension with 10% plastic-adherent monocytes . Small but statistically significant restoration of the Veillonella response was also achieved by the addition of indomethacin or mefenamic acid to unfractionated cell cultures, indicating only a minor role of prostaglandin (PG) synthesis in the expression of suppressor cells . Since the in vitro response to an unrelated antigen PPD had been found unimpaired, the described TG-cell-mediated suppression of the Veillonella response is apparently antigen-specific.

Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol, 1981 Dec, 52(6), 591 - 3
Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans infection in the oral cavity; Peel MM et al.; An abscess that developed following the extraction of periodontally involved teeth persisted after surgical drainage and ampicillin therapy . Subsequent culture of pus from this abscess gave a pure growth of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans which was resistant to ampicillin . Surgical drainage and the use of appropriate antibiotic therapy cleared the infection . The identification of A . actinomycetemcomitans and the types of infection it causes are described . The probable mechanism of infection by the bacterium is discussed . A case that illustrates the importance of the microbiologic examination of pus from dental abscesses is reported.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 1981 Dec, 78(12), 7393 - 7
Swainsonine: an inhibitor of glycoprotein processing; Elbein AD et al.; Swainsonine, an indolizidine alkaloid, inhibits the processing of asparagine-linked glycoproteins in both cell-free extracts and animal cells in culture . Thus, in a liver particulate enzyme preparation, swainsonine at 0.1-1.0 microM inhibited the mannosidase that releases {3H}mannose from a high mannose glycopeptide but only slightly inhibited the release of glucose from a glucose-labeled glycopeptide . MDCK and Chinese hamster ovary cells in culture incorporate {2-3H}mannose and {6-3H}glucosamine into both high mannose and complex types of oligosaccharides . When these cells were incubated with swainsonine and then labeled with mannose or glucosamine, there was a dramatic decrease in the amount of label in the complex type of glycopeptide and a substantial increase in the radioactivity in the high mannose type . This change was monitored by the increase in radioactivity that became susceptible to digestion by endoglucosaminidase H with increasing concentrations of swainosine . The endoglucosaminidase H-released oligosaccharide(s) from swainsonine-treated cells was larger and more homogeneous than that from controls and eluted from Bio-Gel P-4 at the position of Man9GlcNAc . Several tissue culture cell lines were grown in the presence of swainsonine to determine its effect on cell surface glycoproteins . Cells grown in the alkaloid showed an increased capacity to bind Escherichia coli B886, a bacterium that binds to high mannose glycoproteins . These cells also showed an increasing binding of {3H}concanavalin A.

J Virol, 1981 Nov, 40(2), 403 - 10
Partial replication of UV-irradiated T4 bacteriophage DNA results in amplification of specific genetic areas; Ling SK et al.; Upon infection of Escherichia coli with bromodeoxyuridine-labeled t4 phage that had received 10 lethal hits of UV irradiation, a sizable amount of phage DNA was synthesized (approximately 36 phage equivalent units of DNA per infected bacterium), although very little multiplicity reactivation occurs . This progeny DNA was isolated and analyzed . This DNA was biased in its genetic representation, as shown by hybridization to cloned segments of the T4 genome immobilized on nitrocellulose filters . Preferentially amplified areas corresponded to regions containing origins of T4 DNA replication . The size of the progeny DNA increased with time after infection, possibly due to recombination between partial replicas and nonreplicated subunits or due to the gradual overcoming of the UV damage . As the size of the progeny DNA increased, all of the genes were more equally represented, resulting in a decrease in the genetic bias . Amplification of specific genetic areas was also observed upon infection with UV-irradiated, nonbromodeoxyuridine-substituted (light) phage . However, the genetic bias observed in this case was not as great as that observed with bromodeoxyuridine-substituted phage . This is most likely due to the higher efficiency of multiplicity reactivation of the light phage.

J Bacteriol, 1981 Nov, 148(2), 435 - 42
Ammonium and methylammonium transport by the nitrogen-fixing bacterium Azotobacter vinelandii; Gordon JK et al.; Azotobacter vinelandii, grown with NH4+ as nitrogen source, was shown to possess an active transport system which can take up NH4+ against a concentration gradient of 58-fold . The properties of the NH4+ uptake system were investigated with the NH4+ analog CH3NH3+ . The use of this analog was justified on the basis of the conclusion that the uptake of NH4+ and CH3NH3 involves a common binding site, as shown by the competitive inhibition of CH3NH3+ uptake by NH4+ (Ki approximately 3 microM) . A Lineweaver-Burk plot for CH3NH3+ uptake revealed a biphasic curve, suggesting the existence of two CH3NH3+ (NH4+) uptake systems with apparent Km's for CH3NH3+ equal to 61 microM and 661 microM . The uptake of CH3NH3+ was inhibited by arsenate, as well as by cyanide or carbonyl cyanide-m-chlorophenyl hydrazone, indicating that phosphate bond energy is required.

Mikrobiologiia, 1981 Nov-Dec, 50(6), 985 - 91
{Effect of phenobarbital on the luminescence system of luminous bacteria}; Vysotskii ES et al.; The effect of phenobarbital on the luminescent system of Beneckea harveyi was studied . The inhibition of luminescence with phenobarbital was shown to be due to a disorder in the synthesis of an aldehyde factor, the endogenous substrate of bacterial luciferase . Upon the action of phenobarbital, the bacterium acquires the properties of "aldehyde" mutants, i . e . their luminescence is stimulated with exogenous decyl aldehyde . The luminescence of the cells was also stimulated with long-chain aldehydes, fatty acids and their analogues: apparently, the aldehyde factor is formed via incorporation of an oxygen atom into the terminal methyl of a saturated fatty acid or its analogue . Phenobarbital has no effect on the bacterial growth; however, it increases the content of luciferase in the culture . The results suggest that phenobarbital is not a direct inductor of luciferase synthesis . Possibly, the stimulating action of phenobarbital involves the inhibition of synthesis of the aldehyde factor and, consequently, an increase in the concentration of intermediate products of its synthesis.

Science, 1981 Oct 16, 214(4518), 337 - 9
Phase variation of type 1 fimbriae in Escherichia coli is under transcriptional control; Eisenstein BI; An operon fusion of the lac genes to those required for synthesis of type 1 fimbriae (pili) has been achieved in a K12 strain of Escherichia coli lysogenized by the bacteriophage mu d (Ap4, lac) . Synthesis of beta-galactosidase, therefore, reflected pil gene transcription and was used as a probe of fimbrial regulation . Expression of the operon fusion was found to oscillate, demonstrating that phase variation between fimbriate and nonfimbriate states is under transcriptional control . The transition rates from fimbriate to nonfimbriate were 1.05 X 10(-3) per bacterium per generation and from nonfimbriate to fimbriate, 3.12 X 10(-3) per bacterium per generation.

Am J Vet Res, 1981 Oct, 42(10), 1735 - 7
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the quantitation of immunoglobulin G bound to Escherichia coli; Mueller R et al.; Two strains of Escherichia coli were opsonized by incubation in heat-inactivated bovine blood serum and in whey . The opsonized bacteria were then immobilized by complexing with anti-bovine antibodies previously coated to walls of polystyrene tubes . The amount of bovine immunoglobulin (Ig) G in the immobilized complex was then determined by a direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, using peroxidase as enzyme . Thus, a direct measurement of one class of opsonic substances on the surface of the organisms was determined . The sensitivity for measurement of IgG ranged from nanograms to micrograms . After incubation in blood serum, 500-fold more IgG was found on the surface of the serum-resistant strain . The amount of IgG absorbed from whey in each instance was much less than that absorbed from serum . The number of bound molecules per bacterium ranged between 2,000 and 2,000,000, depending on both the strain and the serum.

Can J Comp Med, 1981 Oct, 45(4), 388 - 91
Electron microscopy of a spiral-shaped bacterium in the blood and bone marrow of a rhinoceros iguana; Simpson CF et al.; Spiral shaped bacteria present in blood smears and bone marrow of a sick rhinoceros iguana were examined by light and electron microscopy . The organisms averaged 10 micron in length and had at least three spiral turns . The cell contained nuclear areas, vacuoles and ribosomes, except at the poles where there was a virtual absence of organelles . The bacterium was found by a cell membrane, cell wall and enveloping sheath . "Blebs" were present with regularity on the cell surface . About 14 flagella were present at each pole, and at these sites there was a specialized thickening of the cell membrane . Organisms were present within a phagocytic vacuole of macrophages in the blood and bone marrow, and often these engulfed organisms were degenerated . The taxonomic position of the bacterium is unknown.

J Bacteriol, 1981 Oct, 148(1), 308 - 14
Dissociation and reassembly of Escherichia coli type 1 pili; Eshdat Y et al.; Escherichia coli type 1 pili, which mediate the mannose-sensitive adherence of the bacterium to eucaryotic cells, are comprised of very stable arrays of pilin protein subunits (molecular weight, approximately 17,000) . Previous methods for the dissociation of pili caused their irreversible denaturation . We have found that incubation of pili in saturated guanidine hydrochloride at 37 degrees C led to their complete dissociation, as evidenced by nephelometry and electron microscopy . Gel chromatography of the dissociated pili on a Sepharose CL-6B column in the presence of saturated guanidine hydrochloride yielded a single protein peak with a molecular weight corresponding to that of pilin . Dialysis of this peak against 5 mM tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane hydrochloride (pH 8.0) and rechromatography in the same buffer afforded a major protein peak, probably consisting of pilin dimers . About 25% of the protein in this peak bound to a mannan-sepharose column and could be eluted with methyl alpha-D-mannoside . The pilin dimer gave a single protein band upon polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of 0.1% sodium dodecyl sulfate (molecular weight, 16,600) or 10 M urea and penetrated completely into 7% gels in the absence of denaturants . Reassembly of the pilin dimers into pili was achieved upon dialysis against the tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane buffer containing 5 mM MgCl2, as observed by electron microscopy . Thus, the conditions used allow renaturation of the dissociated subunits and may aid in further studies of the structure-function relationship of pili.

Biochim Biophys Acta, 1981 Sep 18, 677(1), 146 - 52
Purification and immunological studies of glutathione reductase from rat liver . Evidence for an antigenic determinant at the nucleotide-binding domain of the enzyme; Carlberg I et al.; Glutathione reductase has been purified to homogeneity by a method which is an improvement of an earlier procedure (Carlberg, I . and Mannervik, B . (1975) J . Biol . Chem . 250, 5475-5480) . The new steps in the purification scheme include affinity chromatography on 2',5' ADP-Sepharose 4B . Antibodies to glutathione reductase from rat liver were raised in rabbits and used for analysis of the enzyme by quantitative 'rocket' immunoelectrophoresis . Glutathione reductase from human erythrocytes, porcine erythrocytes, and calf-liver gave precipitin lines showing partial identity with the rat liver enzyme in Ouchterlony double diffusion experiments . Enzyme from spinach, yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), and the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum did not give precipitates with the antibodies to the enzyme from rat liver . Titration of glutathione reductase from the different sources with antibodies confirmed the cross-reactivity of the mammalian enzymes; the human enzyme giving the strongest heterologous reaction . No reaction was observed with the enzyme from spinach, yeast, and Rhodospirillum rubrum . NADPH, NADP+, and 2',5' ADP were found to inhibit the interaction between antibodies and glutathione reductase from rat liver and human erythrocytes . NADH, glutathione, or glutathione disulfide did not protect the enzyme from reacting with the antibodies . It is concluded that glutathione reductase has an antigenic binding site for the antibodies at the pyridine nucleotide-binding site of the enzyme molecule.

J Bacteriol, 1981 Sep, 147(3), 1032 - 9
Semiaerobic induction of bacteriochlorophyll synthesis in the green bacterium Chloroflexus aurantiacus; Sprague SG et al.; Comparison of Chloroflexus aurantiacus J-10-fl cells by freeze-fracture electron microscopy showed that cell shape and dimensions did not depend on oxygen tension or light intensity during growth . The major morphological difference between cells cultured anaerobically in the light and aerobically in the dark was the absence of chlorosomes in aerobically grown cells . C . aurantiacus cells cultured aerobically in the dark began bacteriochlorophyll synthesis immediately when shifted to either phototrophic or semiaerobic conditions . Cells adapting to phototrophic conditions grew to the same density and synthesized as much bacteriochlorophyll as nonadapting phototrophic cultures grown at the same light intensity . Cells adapting to reduced oxygen tension (semiaerobic conditions) in the dark entered an 8- to 12-h growth lag during which the bacteriochlorophyll content increased significantly . Despite variations in the initial bacteriochlorophyll content and in the length of the growth lag, the amounts of bacteriochlorophyll a and c were constant at the end of the semiaerobic growth lag . At later times during adaptation to semiaerobic conditions, after growth resumed, variations in the ratio of bacteriochlorophyll c/bacteriochlorophyll a were observed and suggested independent regulation of the two bacteriochlorophylls.

J Bacteriol, 1981 Sep, 147(3), 1021 - 31
Isolation and development of chlorosomes in the green bacterium Chloroflexus aurantiacus; Sprague SG et al.; Freeze-fracture electron microscopy was used to study further the changes in chlorosome structure during the development of the photosynthetic apparatus in Chloroflexus aurantiacus J-10-fl . During development, in response to decreased light intensity or lower oxygen tension, the number of chlorosomes per cell increased . The same conditions also led to a general thickening of chlorosomes but did not affect their length or width . The thickening of the chlorosomes paralleled increases in the bacteriochlorophyll c/bacteriochlorophyll a ratio . Semiaerobic induction of the photosynthetic apparatus did not produce a synchronous assembly of chlorosomes in all cells of a given culture . Even adjacent cells of a single filament showed great variations in the rate and extent of response . Parallel appearance of (i) approximately 5-nm particles (in a lattice configuration) in the membrane attachment site, (ii) the crystalline baseplate material (with a periodicity of approximately 6 nm) adjacent to the membrane attachment site, and (iii) the chlorosome envelope layer preceded addition of longitudinally oriented, rodlike elements (diameter, congruent to 6 m) to the chlorosome core . It is estimated that each chlorosome can funnel energy into approximately 100 reaction centers . Chlorosomes could be isolated by a simple density gradient procedure only from cells grown at low light intensity . A bacteriochlorophyll a species absorbing at 790 nm was associated with isolated chlorosomes . Lithium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of chlorosomes showed only a few low-molecular-weight polypeptides (less than 15,000).

Biochim Biophys Acta, 1981 Aug 17, 676(2), 226 - 9
Crystallization of a derivative of a new coenzyme, methoxatin; Forrest HS et al.; A new compound, derived from a parent compound to which we have given the trivial name, methoxatin, has been isolated from a methanol-oxidizing bacterium, and crystallized . Its chemical structure was determined by X-ray crystallography . Methoxatin is implicated as a coenzyme in the oxidation of substrate alcohols . This report describes the purification and crystallization of the derivative, acetonyl methoxatin.

Eur J Biochem, 1981 Aug, 118(1), 113 - 8
Energy conservation in the terminal region of the respiratory chain of the methylotrophic bacterium Methylophilus methylotrophus; Dawson MJ et al.; Reduced + CO minus reduced difference spectra of respiratory membranes prepared from methanol-limited cultures of Methylophilus methylotrophus confirm the presence of three CO-binding cytochromes i.e . cytochromes aa3, o and cco . The kinetics of cyanide inhibition indicate that the respiratory chain of this organism is branched at the level of cytochrome c to two major terminal oxidases, viz . cytochromes aa3 and o; cytochrome cco is probably not a physiologically significant oxidase . Determination of proton and charge translocation stoichiometries (leads to H+/O and leads to K+/O quotients) during oxidation of ascorbate-N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine shows that the terminal oxidase system of this organism exhibits a net inward translocation of 2e-, but no net proton translocation, when a pair of electrons are passed from cytochrome c to oxygen . The use of appropriate concentrations of cyanide to selectively inhibit cytochrome o indicates that the overall translocation stoichiometries are achieved by the two oxidases, aa3 and o, functioning similarly . These and other results suggest that methanol oxidase is organised as a simple redox arm with the methanol oxidation site and oxygen consumption site(s) on the periplasmic and cytoplasmic faces of the inner membrane respectively.

Eur J Biochem, 1981 Aug, 118(1), 53 - 9
An NAD-linked acetoacetyl-CoA reductase from Zoogloea ramigera I-16-M; Shuto H et al.; An NAD-linked acetoacetyl-CoA reductase of Zoolgoea ramigera I-16-M was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity . In contrast to the D(-)-3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA-specific NADP-linked acetoacetyl-CoA reductase from the same bacterium {Saito, T . et al (1977) Arch . Microbiol . 114, 211 - 217}, the purified enzyme was strictly stereospecific to L(+)-3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA, and was active not only with NAD+ but also with NADP+, although NADP+ was less effective than NAD+ as coenzyme . The enzyme showed a pH optimum at 6.3 for the reduction of acetoacetyl-CoA and at 8.0 for the oxidation of L(+)-3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA . In the reduction reaction, Km values for acetoacetyl-Coa and NADH were 8.8 microM and 6.5 microM, respectively, and in the oxidation reaction, Km values for L(+)-3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA and DNA+ were 7.0 microM and 32 microM, respectively . Among various 3-hydroxyacyl-CoAs tested, L(+)-3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA and L(+)-3-hydroxyvaleryl-CoA were the most active substrates . Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) synthesis from acetyl-CoA, by a system reconstituted from purified preparations of 3-oxothiolase, acetoacetyl-CoA reductase and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) synthase, was observed when the NADP-linked but not the NAD-linked reductase was used . These findings indicate that the NAD-linked acetoacetyl-CoA reductase is not directly involved in the biosynthesis of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate).

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 1981 Aug, 78(8), 5212 - 5
Obligately barophilic bacterium from the Mariana trench; Yayanos AA et al.; An amphipod (Hirondellea gigas) was retrieved with decompression in an insulated trap from an ocean depth of 10,476 m . Bacterial isolates were obtained from the dead and cold animal by using silica gel medium incubated at 1000 bars (1 bar = 10(5) Pa) and 2 degrees C . The isolate designated MT41 was found to be obligately barophilic and did not grow at a pressure close to that of 380 bars found at average depths of the sea . The optimal generation time of about 25 hr was at 2 degrees C and 690 bars . The generation time at 2 degrees C and 1,035 bars, a pressure close to that at the depth of origin, was about 33 hr . Among the conclusions are: (i) pressure is an important determinant of zonation along the water column of the sea; (ii) some obligately barophilic bacteria survive decompressions; (iii) the pressure of optimal growth at 2 degrees C appears to be less than the pressure at the depth of origin and may be diagnostic for the depth of origin; (iv) rates of reproduction are slow yet significant and an order of magnitude greater than previously thought; and (v) much of deep-sea microbiology may have been done with spurious deep-sea organisms due to warming of samples.

J Bacteriol, 1981 Jul, 147(1), 161 - 9
Localization of dehydrogenases, reductases, and electron transfer components in the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio gigas; Odom JM et al.; Various dehydrogenases, reductases, and electron transfer proteins involved in respiratory sulfate reduction by Desulfovibrio gigas have been localized with respect to the periplasmic space, membrane, and cytoplasm . This species was grown on a lactate-sulfate medium, and the distribution of enzyme activities and concentrations of electron transfer components were determined in intact cells, cell fractions prepared with a French press, and lysozyme spheroplasts . A significant fraction of formate dehydrogenase was demonstrated to be localized in the periplasmic space in addition to hydrogenase and some c-type cytochrome . Cytochrome b, menaquinone, fumarate reductase, and nitrite reductase were largely localized on the cytoplasmic membrane . Fumarate reductase was situated on the inner aspect on the membrane, and the nitrite reductase appeared to be transmembraneous . Adenylylsulfate reductase, bisulfite reductase (desulfoviridin), pyruvate dehydrogenase, and succinate dehydrogenase activities were localized in the cytoplasm . Significant amounts of hydrogenase and c-type cytochromes were also detected in the cytoplasm . Growth of D . gigas on a formate-sulfate medium containing acetate resulted in a 10-fold increase in membrane-bound formate dehydrogenase and a doubling of c-type cytochromes . Growth on fumarate with formate resulted in an additional increase in b-type cytochrome compared with lactate-sulfate-grown cells.

Phys Med Biol, 1981 Jul, 26(4), 613 - 21
Effects of low-frequency magnetic fields on bacterial growth rate; Aarholt E et al.; A large number of cultures of the bacterium E . coli have been grown in weak alternating magnetic fields of square waveform, at frequencies of 50 Hz and 16.66 Hz . Control cultures were simultaneously grown under ambient conditions identical except for the almost complete absence of any magnetic field . The mean generation time (MGT) for a culture subjected to alternating magnetic fields is significantly reduced by comparison with that for the control cultures . Application of the F-ratio test indicates a probability of less than one in two million that the effects observed are due to chance . A marked threshold effect is observed, along with strong indications of periodicity in the graph of MGT against magnetic field strength . Within the limits of experimental error, these effects correspond to integral changes in the number of magnetic flux quanta linking an individual bacterial cell during the process of division.

Biokhimiia, 1981 Jul, 46(7), 1155 - 66
{Role of cofactors in membrane potential generation by Rhodospirillum rubrum chromatophores incorporated in a teflon filter}; Smirnova IA et al.; The chromatophores of the bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum were incorporated into a Teflon filter impregnated with a decane solution of phospholipids and the light-induced electric potential difference (delta psi) between the aqueous phases separated by the filter was measured . The generation of delta psi in such a system at continuous light requires the presence of cofactors, i . e . artificial electron donors and acceptors . These cofactors provide for a steady-state flow of e by regenerating the reduced form of the photo-oxidized reaction center bacteriochlorophyll and by reoxidizing the photo-reduced quinone acceptor of the reaction center . The most efficient donors are the reduced forms of nitrogen-containing redox mediators, e . g . TMPD, DAD, PMS, DCPIP and methylene blue, while p-benzoquinones with E07' approximately greater than 150 mV are practically inactive . The oxidized forms of nitrogen-containing mediators and a wide variety of p-quinones with E07' down to -220 mV can be used as electron acceptors . Using inhibitor analysis and compounds with different E0' it is shown that the cofactors donate electrons immediately to the reaction center bacteriochlorophyll and accept them from a low potential deprotonated form of the primary acceptor QI, substituting the secondary acceptor QII . The inability of hydrophilic sulfonate-substituted quinones to act as acceptors suggests that QI cannot be localized on the outer surface of the chromatophores.

J Bacteriol, 1981 Jul, 147(1), 110 - 7
High-frequency chromosome transfer in Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides promoted by broad-host-range plasmid RP1 carrying mercury transposon Tn501; Pemberton JM et al.; Insertion of the mercury resistance transposon Tn501 into broad-host-range plasmid RP1 greatly enhanced the ability of this plasmid to promote chromosome transfer in the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides . Compared with the wild-type RP1, which produced less than 10(-8) recombinants per donor cell, RP1::Tn501 produced between 10(-3) and 10(-7) recombinants per donor cell depending upon the marker selected . Plasmid RP1::Tn501 promoted polarized transfer of the chromosome from one or perhaps two origins on the chromosome, giving rise to two linkage groups . All of the biosynthetic and antibiotic resistance genes that have been mapped, including those involved in photosynthesis, occur on one or another of these linkage groups.

Mikrobiologiia, 1981 Jul-Aug, 50(4), 607 - 12
{The glutamine synthetase-glutamate synthase system in Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides}; Sakhno ON et al.; The phototrophic purple bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides, strain 2R, can assimilate ammonium by means of glutamine synthetase and glutamate synthase . A higher activity of glutamine synthetase is displayed by cells grown in the medium with glutamate or in the atmosphere of molecular nitrogen . The activity of glutamate synthase also rises when cells grow in the atmosphere of N2 . However, in contrast to glutamine synthetase, the activity of glutamate synthase does not decrease in the presence of considerable NH4+ amounts . The glutamine synthetase of R . sphaeroides is modified by adenylylation/deadenylylation . In the presence of nitrogenase in R . sphaeroides, the glutamine synthetase is found mainly in the deadenylylation state . Methionine sulfone, an inhibitor of glutamine synthetase, partly restores the activity of nitrogenase in the presence of ammonium, and prevents adenylylation of glutamine synthetase.

Int J Zoonoses, 1981 Jun, 8(1), 26 - 32
The parasites obtained and bacteria isolated from house rats (Rattus rattus Linnaeus, 1758) caught in human habitations in Ibadan, Nigeria; Akinboade OA et al.; A total of 169 house rats were killed in different households distributed within five localities of Ibadan . A wide range of parasites were encountered . The flea, Ceratophylus fasciatus was the commonest ectoparasite found . Trichostrongylus columbriformis eggs were the commonest nematode and Hymenolepis diminuta the only cestode . Escherichia coli was the commonest bacterium found . The incidence of helminthiasis, especially H . diminuta, was generally high among rats trapped in the villages and the indigenous areas of the city . One hundred and twenty eight (128) of the rats possessed Trypanosoma lewisi infection, seventy one (71) had Anaplasma marginale while fifty seven (57) had Babesia microti infection . The public health importance of some of the parasites found is discussed.

Vet Immunol Immunopathol, 1981 Jun, 2(3), 201 - 13
Contagious equine metritis: antibody response of experimentally infected pony mares; Rommel FA et al.; Intrauterine inoculation of pony mares with the bacterium that is the causative agent of contagious equine metritis (CEM) resulted in clinical disease . A humoral immune response could be detected by agglutination and complement fixation (CF), and in some cases precipitating antibody was found by immunodiffusion tests . Agglutinating antibody was the most reliable serological indicator of overt infection and was detected in 8 ot 28 mares after initial intrauterine inoculation of 3-4 x 10(5) bacteria . Seventy percent of mares given a second inoculation and all mares given a third inoculation of 3-4 x 10(5) bacteria produced detectable agglutinating antibody . Only two of five mares given the third inoculation developed detectable complement-fixing antibody . Only one mare showed evidence of reinfection after a second or third intrauterine inoculation . All of the mares given a single intrauterine inoculum of greater than or equal to 8 x 10(8) bacteria produced agglutinating antibody 10 to 30 days postinoculation (DPI) and 86% gave a positive CF test 10 to 20 DPI . Only mares with an agglutination titer of 320 or more produced precipitating antibody . Sera were considered positive in agglutination tests if they were reactive at a dilution of greater than 4 and positive in CF tests if they were reactive at a dilution of 4 or greater.

J Biochem (Tokyo), 1981 Jun, 89(6), 1787 - 92
Ferredoxin excreted from photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodospirillum rubrum: purification and properties; Hiura H et al.; When the photoheterotroph, Rhodospirillum rubrum, was grown in the light, ferredoxin was excreted from the cells in a significant amount, as well as hydrogenase . The extracellular ferredoxin was purified to a homogeneous state . The molecular weight was approximately 9,000, and the oxidation-reduction mid-potential was -0.29 V (N=1) at pH 7.0 and 25 degrees C . The amino acid composition was different from those of the intracellular ferredoxins, which were already known . The contents of non-heme iron and acid-labile sulfur were 10.6 and 7.9 mol/mol protein, respectively . The extracellular hydrogenase catalyzed the evolution of hydrogen gas from the ferredoxin in the reduced form . The Km for the ferredoxin was 4.1 micro M, one-seven hundredth as low as that for methyl viologen . There is a possibility that hydrogenase here were functional for evolution of hydrogen gas outside the cells.

Mikrobiologiia, 1981 May-Jun, 50(3), 528 - 35
{Microstructure of pea nodules infected with a neomycin-resistant mutant of nodule bacteria}; Iakovleva ZM; The neomycin-resistance mutation of pea nodule bacteria does not interfere with the formation of infection threads when the bacterium inoculates the host plant, or with the axial differentiation of the nodular tissue . At the same time, intracellular neomycin-resistant nodule bacteria do not acquire the bacteroid structure . Once the bacterium is incorporated into the cytoplasm of the host cell, it loses the peribacteroid membrane and undergoes lysis . Therefore, the neomycin-resistant pea nodule bacterium realizes the initial infection stage (including the formation of infection threads), but is defective in the subsequent stages . Hence, the described stages of plant infection are determined by independent properties of the bacterium.

Eur J Biochem, 1981 May, 116(1), 191 - 7
31P nuclear magnetic resonance studies of energy transduction in Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides; Nicolay K et al.; 31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of th phototrophic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides reveal the presence of inorganic phosphate, sugar phosphates and two non-identified P,P1-diesterified pyrophosphate compounds . Due to the presence of paramagnetic cations the resonances of these compounds can only be detected after repeated washing of the bacterial cells with a buffer, containing EDTA plus excess Mg2+ . Washing with Mg2+-free EDTA buffer deteriorates the structural integrity of the membranes of Rps . sphaeroides . This is indicated by the appearance of an extra resonance peak in the spectra of these cells in a region where the phospholipids absorb and by a fivefold increase in proton permeability of the cytoplasmic membrane of Rps . sphaeroides under these conditions . Upon illumination of the cell suspension in the NMR tube the generation of a transmembrane pH gradient can be inferred from the shift in the resonances of extracellular and intracellular inorganic phosphate . Intracellular inorganic phosphate shows one homogeneous resonance peak upon illumination . This demonstrates that the mixing system, which has been developed for this application, functions efficiently . The magnitude of the light-dependent pH difference is 0.8 at the external pH 6 . The width at half height of the internal inorganic phosphate peak is essentially independent of internal pH from pH 5--8, remains unchanged upon addition of uncoupler and is inversely proportional to the number of EDTA washings applied . These observations indicate that the inorganic phosphate NMR peak width is predominantly determined by the presence of a residual amount of paramagnetic cations, rather than by a broad distribution of internal pH values over the cells . Ionophores have an effect on the light-dependent pH-gradient in accordance with the chemiosmotic theory: valinomycin increases, and carbonylcyanide p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone decreases, the magnitude of this gradient.

J Cell Biol, 1981 May, 89(2), 346 - 56
Video image processing greatly enhances contrast, quality, and speed in polarization-based microscopy; Inoue S; Video cameras with contrast and black level controls can yield polarized light and differential interference contrast microscope images with unprecedented image quality, resolution, and recording speed . The theoretical basis and practical aspects of video polarization and differential interference contrast microscopy are discussed and several applications in cell biology are illustrated . These include: birefringence of cortical structures and beating cilia in Stentor, birefringence of rotating flagella on a single bacterium, growth and morphogenesis of echinoderm skeletal spicules in culture, ciliary and electrical activity in a balancing organ of a nudibranch snail, and acrosomal reaction in activated sperm.

J Clin Microbiol, 1981 May, 13(5), 865 - 9
Amino acid requirements for Legionella pneumophila growth; Tesh MJ et al.; The amino acids L-arginine, L-isoleucine, L-leucine, L-methionine, L-serine, L-threonine, and L-valine were essential for the growth of Legionella pneumophila in a chemically defined medium . A partial requirement for L-cysteine (or L-cystine) was also observed . A minimal medium containing only the eight required amino acids supported the growth of this bacterium only if the medium was supplemented with L-glutamic acid . This latter compound was the only amino acid capable of stimulating growth in the eight-amino acid medium.

Biochim Biophys Acta, 1981 Apr 23, 664(1), 156 - 73
Novel polar lipids from the methanogen Methanospirillum hungatei GP1; Kushwaha SC et al.; The methanogenic bacterium Methanospirillum hungatei GP1 has been shown to contain two unusual phosphoglycolipids (phosphoglycolipid I and phosphoglycolipid II) that account for 64% (by wt.) of the total cellular lipids . These lipids are derivatives of the dibiphytanyldiglycerol tetraether . One of the free hydroxyls of this tetraether is esterified with glycerophosphoric acid and the other is linked glycosidically to a disaccharide with structure alpha-Glcp-(1 leads to 2)-beta Gal phi in phosphoglycolipid I and beta-Gal phi-(1 leads to 6)-beta Gal phi in phosphoglycolipid II . Smaller amounts of the sn-2,3-diphytanylglycerol analog of phosphatidylglycerol and diglycosyldiphytanylglycerol ethers (DGD-I and DGD-II) containing the same disaccharide residues as in phosphoglycolipid I and phosphoglycolipid II, respectively, were identified, together with very small amounts of diglycosyldibiphytanyldiglycerol tetraethers (DGT-I and DGT-II) containing the same disaccharide residues as in phosphoglycolipid I and phosphoglycolipid II, respectively . A biosynthetic pathway involving head-to-head condensation of phosphatidylglycerol with DGD-I or DGD-II to form phosphoglycolipid I or phosphoglycolipid II, respectively, is proposed.

Nature, 1981 Apr 9, 290(5806), 523 - 6
Direct role of the himA gene product in phage lambda integration; Miller HI et al.; The integration of phage lambda into the Escherichia coli chromosome is accomplished by a site-specific recombination between two unique DNA sequences (attB on the bacterial genome and attP on the phage; reviewed in refs 2, 3) and requires proteins encoded by both the bacterium and the phage . Genetic and biochemical studies have shown that bacterial strains mutant in the himA gene, located at 38 min on the E . coli map, are defective in the activity of the host-encoded component . They are, moreover, defective for the growth of bacteriophage Mu, for precise excision of transposable antibiotic resistance determinants and for the synthesis of the lambda int gene product . We now show that the himA gene product (phimA) is not solely a regulator of genes involved in integration but is one of two host polypeptides required for integrative recombination.

Am J Surg, 1981 Apr, 141(4), 423 - 9
Legionnaires' disease in renal transplant patients; Marshall W et al.; Legionnaires disease, which is commonly manifested as pneumonia, was only recently recognized to be a bacterial infection . Diagnosis can be difficult because Gram's stain does not readily stain the bacterium in pulmonary secretions, the organism is not readily cultured, and legionellae is not affected by many commonly used antibiotics . In a retrospective review of all of our transplant patients, we identified 14 cases of Legionnaires' disease after 101 renal transplants . The patients characteristically had high fever, polymorphonuclear leukocytosis, dyspnea and an unproductive cough accompanied by radiographic changes of consolidating pneumonia . Legionnaires' disease can be diagnosed by direct immunofluorescent antibody staining, culture on special media or increases in serum titers of legionella antibodies in surviving patients . Since the recognition of Legionnaires' disease in 1977, we have successfully treated seven renal transplant patients using erythromycin with or without rifampin.

Biochim Biophys Acta, 1981 Mar 26, 653(1), 61 - 8
The chromosome structure and the cell cycle of Caulobacter crescentus . Isolation and analysis of envelope-free nucleoids; Iba H et al.; Envelope-free nucleoids were isolated from an asymmetrically dividing bacterium, Caulobacter crescentus . In the nucleoid fraction, most of the DNA and nascent RNA in the cell and about 2% of the total cellular proteins were recovered . The sedimentation coefficient of the nucleoid was constant (1260 S) during the G1 period of the swarmer cell cycle and increased to 1940 S during the S period . Since both replicating (S period) and non-replicating (G1 period) chromosomes had a similar superhelical concentration, the increase in the sedimentation coefficient was simply explained by duplication of the nucleoid structure . The duplicated nucleoid was shown to segregate prior to the cell division . The pulse-labeled proteins recovered in the nucleoid fraction contained several stage-specific species, most of which were detected at the beginning of S period.

Biochem J, 1981 Mar 15, 194(3), 679 - 84
Bacterial conversion of phenylalanine and aromatic carboxylic acids into dihydrodiols; Wegst W et al.; Strain E of chloridazon-degrading bacteria, when grown on L-phenylalanine accumulates cis-2,3-dihydro-2,3-dihydroxyphenylalanine . In experiments with resting cells and during growth the bacterium converts the aromatic carboxylic acids phenylacetate, phenylpropionate, phenylbutyrate and phenyl-lactate into the corresponding cis-2,3-dihydrodiol compounds . The amino acids L-phenylalanine, N-acetyl-L-phenylalanine and t-butyloxycarbonyl-L-phenylalanine were also transformed into dihydrodiols . All seven dihydrodiols, thus obtained, were characterized both by conventional analytical techniques and by the ability to serve as substrates for a cis-dihydrodiol dehydrogenase.

Biochim Biophys Acta, 1981 Mar 12, 635(1), 1 - 12
The primary charge separation, cytochrome oxidation and triplet formation in preparations from the green photosynthetic bacterium Prosthecochloris aestuarii; Swarthoff T et al.; Flash-induced absorbance changes were measured in intact cells and subcellular preparations of the green photosynthetic bacterium Prosthecochloris aestuarii . In Complex I, a membrane vesicle preparation, photooxidation of the primary electron donor, P-840, and of cytochrome c-553 was observed . Flash excitation of the photosystem pigment complex caused in addition the generation of a bacteriochlorophyll a triplet . Triplet formation was the only reaction observed after flash excitation in the reaction center pigment-protein complex . The triplet had a lifetime of 90 microseconds at 295 K and of 165 microseconds at 120 K . The amount of triplet formed in a flash increased upon cooling from 295 to 120 K from 0.2 and 0.5 per reaction center to 0.45 and nearly 1 per reaction center in the photosystem pigment and reaction center pigment-protein complex, respectively . Measurements of absorbance changes in the near infrared in the reaction center pigment-protein complex indicate that the triplet is formed in the reaction center and that the reaction center bacteriochlorophyll a triplet is that of P-840 . Formation of a carotenoid triplet did not occur in our preparations . Illumination with continuous light at 295 K of the reaction center pigment-protein complex produced a stable charge separation (with oxidation of P-840 and cytochrome c-553) in each reaction center, but with a low efficiency . This low efficiency, and the high yield of triplet formation is probably due to damage of the electron transport chain at the acceptor side of the reaction center of the reaction center pigment-protein complex . The halftime for cytochrome c-553 oxidation in Complex I and the photosystem pigment complex was 90 microseconds at 295 K; below 220 K no cytochrome oxidation occurred . At 120 K P-840+ was rereduced with a halftime of 20 ms, presumably by a back reaction with a reduced acceptor.

Mikrobiologiia, 1981 Mar-Apr, 50(2), 378 - 85
{Comparative characteristics of the Bdellovibrio strains isolated from river water and sewage}; Afinogenova AV et al.; The morphology, the host ranges, the resistance to pteridine and the nucleotide composition of DNA were compared in 12 newly isolated and 10 collection strains of Bdellovibrio . The significance of properties used for the taxonomy of these organisms was evaluated . The host ranges of Bdellovibrio strains are heterogeneous with respect to the taxonomy of host bacteria . The specificity of the parasite depends to a significant degree on the host bacterium in which it grows . All the strains including Bd . starrii which was described earlier as a pteridine resistant species are sensitive to pteridine . Therefore, such properties as the host range action and the response to pteridine cannot be used for diagnostics of Bdellovibrio species . The strains were found to be very heterogeneous with regard to the nucleotide composition of the DNA . Eight out of the 12 newly isolated strains were assigned to the species Bd, bacteriovorus.

Can J Microbiol, 1981 Mar, 27(3), 358 - 63
Effect of growth at low Na+ concentrations on the capacity of a marine bacterium to establish ion gradients and transport alpha-aminoisobutyric acid; Gow JA et al.; Cells of a histidine-auxotrophic, streptomycin-resistant mutant of marine bacterium Alteromonas haloplanktis 214 were grown at or near the lowest concentration of Na+ permitting growth (30-33 mM Na+) . When suspended in solutions containing 10 mMKCl and either 30, 100, or 300 mM NaCl, the intracellular to extracellular K+ ratios were similar to those obtained with cells of the parent organism grown at more nearly optimum Na+ concentrations, whereas the Na+ ratios were somewhat larger . Cells of the parent organism grown at 32 mM Na+ transported alpha-aminoisobutyric acid (AIB) at only one-third the rate and to less than one-quarter of the extent of cells grown at 130 mM Na+ even when the NaCl concentration during transport was raised to optimum levels . The Km for uptake of AIB by cells grown at 32 and 130 mM Na+ was the same but the Vmax was higher for cells grown at 130 mM . The Vmax for cells grown at both concentrations of Na+ increased as the Na+ concentration in the uptake medium increased . It was concluded that none of the observations made could account for the fact that both parent and mutant of A . haloplanktis grow at 30-32 mM Na+ only after a very long lag period, and then grow at near normal rates once logarithmic growth begins despite the fact that the osmotic pressure of the medium is very low.

Arch Microbiol, 1981 Mar, 129(1), 72 - 80
Arthrobacter P1, a fast growing versatile methylotroph with amine oxidase as a key enzyme in the metabolism of methylated amines; Levering PR et al.; A facultative methylotrophic bacterium was isolated from enrichment cultures containing methylamine as the sole carbon source . It was tentatively identified as an Arthrobacter species . Extracts of cells grown on methylamine or ethylamine contained high levels of amine oxidase (E.C . 1.4.3) activity . Glucose- or choline-grown cells lacked this enzyme . Oxidation of primary amines by the enzyme resulted in the formation of H2O2; as a consequence high levels of catalase were present in methylamine- and ethylamine-grown cells . The significance of catalase in vivo was demonstrated by addition of 20 mM aminotriazole (a catalase inhibitor) to exponentially growing cells . This completely blocked growth on methylamine whereas growth on glucose was hardly affected . Cytochemical studies showed that methylamine-dependent H2O2 production mainly occurred on invaginations of the cytoplasmic membrane . Assimilation of formaldehyde which is generated during methylamine oxidation was by the FBP variant of the RuMP cycle of formaldehyde fixation . The absence of NAD-dependent formaldehyde and formate dehydrogenases indicated the operation of a non-linear oxidation sequence for formaldehyde via hexulose phosphate synthase . Enzyme profiles of the organism grown on various substrates suggested that the synthesis of amine oxidase, catalase and the enzymes of the RuMP cycle is not under coordinate control.

Appl Environ Microbiol, 1981 Mar, 41(3), 826 - 8
Syntrophic association of a butyrate-degrading bacterium and methanosarcina enriched from bovine rumen fluid; McInerney MJ et al.; An anaerobic butyrate-degrading bacterium, morphologically similar to Syntrophomonas wolfei, was isolated in coculture with Desulfovibrio strain G11 from an enrichment of bovine rumen fluid . A Methanosarcina species was the major H2-using organism in the enrichment . The results are discussed in relationship to the absence of Methanospirillum hungatei, the H2-using methanogen usually found in association with S . wolfei, and the finding of Methanosarcina rather than Methanobrevibacter ruminantium as the major H2-using bacterium in the enrichments . The finding of butyrate degraders in the rumen suggests that, if the retention time of the rumen contents becomes more prolonged, butyrate and longer-chained fatty acids might be significantly degraded.

J Gen Microbiol, 1981 Mar, 123(Pt 1), 129 - 41
The maintenance of Plasmid-containing organisms in populations of Escherichia coli; Helling RB et al.; Populations of Escherichia coli containing a small non-conjugative plasmid were grown in carbon-limited continuous culture . For all plasmids tested the presence of the plasmid lowered the growth rate of the host bacterium, and the proportion of plasmid-containing organisms in the total population declined initially . However, periodically, adaptive changes occurred in plasmid-containing organisms which increased their growth rate . This resulted in oscillations in the proportion of plasmid-containing organisms, and the delayed loss of the plasmid from the population.

Br J Haematol, 1981 Mar, 47(3), 453 - 60
Origin of anti-Thomsen-Friedenreich (T) and Tn agglutinins in man and in White Leghorn chicks; Springer GF et al.; Interest in anti-Thomsen-Friedenreich (T) antibodies has increased because of their significance in detection of and their possible interaction with human adenocarcinoma . The origin of anti-T, which all humans possess, has not been ascertained . We determined here that anti-T and -Tn agglutinins could readily be induced via the physiological intestinal route by an enteric bacterium, E . coli O86, which possesses T and Tn activities . One dose of live E . coli O86 given in the drinking water to germfree chicks, who had no anti-T and -Tn antibodies, resulted, in all birds, in formation of saline agglutinating anti-T and -Tn antibodies as well as those detectable only by indirect agglutination . Antibody specificity was confirmed by adsorption on and elution from homologous human erythrocytes and for anti-T also by haemagglutination inhibition . In contrast, control chicks raised under ordinary conditions did have anti-T and -Tn prior to feeding E . coli O86 . In humans, six diarrhoeic and five healthy infants and the majority of 13 adults investigated were fed killed rather than live E . coli O86 . All infants, but one, suffering from diarrhoea showed a significant increase (greater than or equal to 4-fold) in anti-T and/or anti-Tn antibodies; in some, these antibodies were elicited de novo . All four adults with intestinal lesions had a significant increase of anti-T and/or -Tn subsequent to ingestion of E . coli O86, as did five of nine healthy adults, but to a lesser extent . These findings support the immune nature of demonstrable levels of anti-T and -Tn.

J Bacteriol, 1981 Mar, 145(3), 1154 - 66
In vivo intermembrane transfer of phospholipids in the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides; Cain BD et al.; The kinetics of accumulation of phospholipids into the intracytoplasmic membrane of Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides have been examined . We have previously demonstrated that accumulation of phospholipids in the intracytoplasmic membrane is discontinuous with respect to the cell cycle . In this study we demonstrated a sevenfold increase in the rate of phospholipid incorporation into the intracytoplasmic membrane concurrent with the onset of cell division . Pulse-chase labeling studies revealed that the increase in the rate of phospholipid accumulation into the intracytoplasmic membrane results from the transfer of phospholipid from a site other than the intracytoplasmic membrane, and that the transfer of phospholipid, rather than synthesis of phospholipid, is most likely subject to cell cycle-specific regulation . The rates of synthesis of the individual phospholipid species (phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidyglycerol, and an unknown phospholipid) remained constant with respect to one another throughout the cell cycle . Similarly, each of these phospholipid species appeared to be transferred simultaneously to the intracytoplasmic membrane . We also present preliminary kinetic evidence which suggested that phosphatidylethanolamine may be converted to phosphatidycholine within the intracytoplasmic membrane.

Arch Pathol Lab Med, 1981 Mar, 105(3), 130 - 7
Sporadic Legionnaires' disease . A pathologic study of 23 fatal cases; Weisenburger DD et al.; Twenty-three fatal sporadic cases of serogroup 1 Legionella pneumophila pneumonia have been analyzed . Bilateral consolidating fibrinopurulent pneumonia was evident in most cases . In four leukopenic immunosuppressed subjects, and acute fibrinoserous pneumonia with a remarkable lack on inflammation was present . The bacterium was found at extrathoracic sites in 27% of the cases . Involvement of the spleen (25%), bone marrow (13%), and kidneys (4.5%) suggests that hematogenous spread of the infection is not uncommon . Involvement of the hilar lymph nodes in 44% of the cases, and multiple peripheral lymph nodes in one case, suggest that lymphatic vessels may also be an important pathway of dissemination . We concluded that systemic spread of L pneumophila is not uncommon in seriously ill patients and we believe that some of the unusual extrathoracic manifestations of this disease may be related to bacteremia.

J Virol, 1981 Mar, 37(3), 916 - 21
Colicin activity and abortive infection of T5 bacteriophage in Escherichia coli (ColIb); Duckworth DH et al.; We performed three types of experiments to test the hypothesis that abortive infection of T5 bacteriophage in Escherichia coli (ColIb+) is due to internally released colicin . (i) We measured the sensitivity of cells to colicin under a variety of conditions and then looked at the plating efficiency of T5 in ColIb+ cells under these same conditions . Cells grown at 42 degrees C or with hexanol had a reduced sensitivity to externally added colicin and an increased efficiency for T5 when the ColIb plasmid was present in the infected cells . Phage growth was far from normal, however . (ii) We measured the colicin sensitivity of a mutant bacterium that grew T5 normally even in the presence of the ColIb plasmid and measured the plating efficiency of T5 on another mutant that was colicin tolerant . Here again, the correlation between colicin activity and inhibition of phage replication was not complete . (iii) We looked for colicin-negative plasmid mutants and tested the ability of cells containing these plasmids to support the growth of T5 . These experiments used Tn5, a kanamycin resistance transposon, as the mutagen . All possible combinations of colicin production and phage inhibition were found, including mutants that produced no colicin but still inhibited phage production.

J Exp Med, 1981 Feb 1, 153(2), 398 - 406
Interaction of the legionnaires' disease bacterium (Legionella pneumophila) with human phagocytes . II . Antibody promotes binding of L . pneumophila to monocytes but does not inhibit intracellular multiplication; Horwitz MA et al.; In an accompanying paper (13), we reported that human polymorphonuclear leukocytes kill only a limited proportion (0.5 log) of an inoculum of Legionella pneumophila (Philadelphia 1 strain) in the presence of human anti-L . pneumophila antibody and complement . We now report on the effect of anti-L . pneumophila antibody on L . pneumophila-monocyte interaction . The studies were carried out under antibiotic-free conditions . Monocytes bind more than three times as many viable L . pneumophila bacteria in the presence of both antibody and complement than in the presence of complement alone . Monocytes requires both antibody and complement to kill any L . pneumophila: however, even then, monocytes kill only a limited proportion (0.25 log) of an inoculum . The surviving bacteria multiply several logs in the monocytes and multiply as rapidly as when the bacteria enter monocytes in the absence of antibody . These findings suggest that humoral immunity may not be an effective host defense against L . pneumophila . Consequently, a vaccine that resulted only in antibody production against the Legionnaires' disease bacterium may not be efficacious.

Am J Vet Res, 1981 Feb, 42(2), 266 - 70
Canine parainfluenza-Bordetella bronchiseptica vaccine immunogenicity; Chladek DW et al.; The immunogenicity and safety of 3 serials of a canine parainfluenza (CPI) virus-Bordetella bronchiseptica vaccine was evaluated . Each serial was used to vaccinate 10 dogs with single doses given intranasally . The 30 vaccinated and 10 nonvaccinated controls dogs were challenge exposed with aerosols of virulent CPI virus and B bronchiseptica at 18 days and at 21 days, respectively, after vaccination . After challenge exposure, none of the 30 vaccinated dogs had clinical signs of disease; however, 9 of the 10 nonvaccinated dogs developed coughing problems . The CPI virus was isolated from nasal swab specimens obtained from nonvaccinated dogs on an average of 5.1 days after challenge exposure, but was not isolated from any of the specimens obtained from the vaccinated dogs . Bordetella bronchiseptica was isolated from nasal swab specimens obtained from both vaccinated and nonvaccinated dogs up to 18 days after challenge exposure . The erythrocyte sedimentation rates and total leukocyte counts for control dogs were generally increased, in contrast to those for the vaccinated groups . Dogs showed a primary serologic response to CPI virus and B bronchiseptica after vaccination and an anamnestic response to the bacterium after challenge exposure . Adverse local or systemic reactions attributable to the bivalent vaccine were not observed in the vaccinated dogs.

Tijdschr Diergeneeskd, 1981 Jan 1, 106(1), 9 - 24
{Contagious equine metritis 1977 (CEM) . A review (author's transl)}; ter Laak EA; The properties of the bacterium, symptoms, post-mortem findings, diagnosis, therapy, control, prevention and epizootiology of contagious equine metritis 1977 (CEM) are reviewed . This disease was previously diagnosed in most of the countries surrounding the Netherlands, but has not been reported so far in the Netherlands . On the analogy of the serum adopted in other countries, a code of practice was developed to prevent and control this disease when it is diagnosed.

J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo), 1981, 27(5), 439 - 47
Regulation of vitamin B12 and bacteriochlorophyll biosynthesis in a facultative methylotroph, Protaminobacter ruber; Sato K et al.; The regulation of vitamin B12 and bacteriochlorophyll formation was studied in a facultative methylotroph, Protaminobacter ruber, classified as a non-photosynthetic bacterium . Vitamin B12 was formed at an almost constant level under various cultivation conditions, while bacteriochlorophyll synthesis was drastically influenced by the growth conditions . Addition of B12 and hemin to the medium and the change of culture conditions from light to darkness in the early growth phases stimulated the pigment synthesis, but no pigment was formed under the continuous illumination and the addition of chloramphenicol inhibited the pigment formation . delta-ALA synthase and delta-ALA dehydratase activities were demonstrated in P . ruber . delta-ALA synthase formation was induced when cultures were transferred from light to dark conditions, which promoted the bacteriochlorophyll formation . Bacteriochlorophyll-protein complex had an absorption maximum at 870 nm and a very small peak at 800 nm.

Acta Biol Med Ger, 1981, 40(2), 137 - 46
Multiplicity of 3-hexulosephosphate synthase from bacterium MB 58 . 2 . Generation of complex kinetic characteristics; Muller R et al.; 3-hexulosephosphate synthase (HPS) from the facultative methanol-utilizing Bacterium MB 58 exhibits a complex kinetic behaviour characterized by intermediary plateau regions . This feature could be related to the existence of multiple enzyme forms . With the aid of gel chromatography or isoelectric focusing purified HPS has partially been separated into at least four fractions . The individual enzyme forms are characterized by different kinetic properties exhibiting either hyperbolic or sigmoidal response to substrate saturation . In the sum of their action these forms generate the complex shape of the kinetic characteristics . Furthermore, these forms were found to be interconvertible . After partial separation a new equilibrium between the conformers is established in each case . The multiplicity of HPS can be demonstrated in qualitatively the same manner with the purified enzyme and with freshly prepared crude extracts . Proteolytic modifications on the enzyme as a cause for the multiplicity could be ruled out . The multiple character of the enzyme is also evident at different pH-values showing two optima . At different temperatures, anomalies in the Arrhenius plot depending on the substrate concentration were observed . From the present data a qualitative model of regulating HPS in the methylotrophic metabolism is proposed . Accordingly, several stable states of the metabolism should be realized.

Acta Biol Med Ger, 1981, 40(2), 123 - 35
Multiplicity of 3-hexulosephosphate synthase from bacterium MB 58 . 1 . Product-induced transition in velocity; Muller R et al.; Purified 3-hexulosephosphate synthase (HPS) from the facultative methylotrophic Bacterium MB 58 exhibits a burst-like progress curve . The transition appears in an abrupt manner at physiological substrate concentrations . The following phase of lower activity again shows linear progress in the observation period . Effects of substrates, temperature or dilution on the enzyme can be ruled out as causes of this transition . However, it is obvious that it takes place after the same amount of product has accumulated . That the reaction product causes this diminution in velocity can be demonstrated by varying the enzyme concentration or the possibility for accumulating product or the product concentration itself . The substrates of HPS counteract this product-induced transition in that an increased amount of the former makes necessary an increased amount of the latter to trigger the transition . The shape of the progress curve and experiments with different amounts of in situ-generated or synthesized product show that no simple product inhibition is involved . For the explanation of all phenomena observed three enzyme forms showing different affinities for substrates and product are postulated . These forms may be interconverted into each other by substrates and product of HPS in a specific manner.

Am J Vet Res, 1981 Jan, 42(1), 45 - 8
Contagious equine metritis: effect of vaccination on control of the disease; Sahu SP; Pony mares were vaccinated with killed contagious equine metritis (CEM) bacteria by IV, subcutaneous, and intrauterine (IU) routes (or a combination of these routes) . The serum agglutinating antibody titer varied from 1:64 to 1:1,024 after vaccination . In pony mares challenge exposed with 96-hour-old culture of CEM bacteria given by IU route, there were clinical signs of CEM, but these signs were less severe in vaccinated mares than in nonvaccinated mares . The bacterium was isolated for the exudate and from uterine samples collected from the mares after challenge exposure . A low titer of IU antibodies to CEM bacteria in infected mares was observed with agglutination tests (plate, tube, and antiglobulin), and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay . However, a high antibody titer was obtained when passive hemagglutination test was used.

Can J Microbiol, 1981 Jan, 27(1), 20 - 7
Inhibition of Fusarium moniliforme var . subglutinans, the causal agent of pine pitch canker, by the soil bacterium Arthrobacter sp; Barrows-Broaddus J et al.; A species of Arthrobacter was recovered during culture of the causal organism of pitch canker of southern pines . Fusarium moniliforme var . subglutinans (FMS) . Arthrobacter is a relatively common soil bacterium and is lytic to several fungal pathogens in the soil . Soil samples from two seed orchards with pitch canker and one from a healthy pine plantation all yielded Arthrobacter . These isolates were evaluated for their ability to inhibit the growth of FMS isolates from pitch canker tissue and from soil in areas with high pitch canker disease incidence, and to several other species of Fusarium isolated from the same soil samples where Arthrobacter was recovered . Generally the pitch canker isolates were more sensitive to Arthrobacter than the soil fusaria . There was variation in the ability of the Arthrobacter isolates to inhibit the growth of the fusaria recovered from the soil at the three different test sites . Light and scanning electron microscope observations revealed that hyphae of FMS growing near an isolate of Arthrobacter were enlarged, producing many vesicularlike structures . The surface of these hyphae was warped and wrinkled in comparison with normal hyphae.

Ann Clin Lab Sci, 1981 Jan-Feb, 11(1), 53 - 62
A comparison of some biologic characteristics of isolates of the Legionnaires' disease bacterium; Ormsbee RA et al.; The ability of three isolates of serogroup 1 and one isolate of serogroup 4 of Legionnaires' disease bacterium (LDB) to infect and cause fever and death in guinea pigs was studied, as well as their ability to produce plaques in cultured primary chick embryo cells . The serogroup 4 isolate originally was recovered from cord clot and placental tissue from a healthy mother following delivery of a normal child . The effects on LDB of prolonged cultivation on supplemented Mueller-Hinton (MH) agar medium and of subsequent cultivation in yolk sacs of chick embryos were examined . Prolonged cultivation of LDB on MH medium resulted in great loss of ability to produce plaques and to cause fever and death in guinea pigs . Subsequent passage in embryonated eggs of MH-adapted LDB tended to restore ability to produce plaques and to cause infection and illness in guinea pigs . Fatty acid composition profiles of the four strains were similar to each other.

Arzneimittelforschung, 1981, 31(12), 2044 - 8
Inhibition of the synthesis of the TEM-type beta-lactamase by purine derivatives; Werner RG et al.; The beta-lactamase TEM-1 was purified from an Escherichia coli ATCC 11 775 R+TEM culture by preparative isoelectric focussing . This preparation was used to establish a calibration curve between the concentration of the enzyme and the cleavage of nitrocefin, by which the quantitative production of beta-lactamase TEM-1 in the growing culture was determined . The effect of purine derivatives on the synthesis of the beta-lactamase during the growth of the bacterium was tested in order to determine the essential basic structure of the molecule . It is suggested that the keto-methylamino part of the pyrimidine nucleus is decisive for the potency of the structure . Inhibition studies on the purified enzyme demonstrated that the purine compounds act by inhibiting the synthesis of the beta-lactamase and not by inactivation of the enzyme . This mode of action manifests itself as a synergism with amoxycillin against the beta-lactamase producing strain.

Med Microbiol Immunol (Berl), 1981, 170(2), 117 - 33
Immunogenicity of some common thermolabile surface antigens of Escherichia coli; Orskov F et al.; The development in rabbits of antibodies against common thermolabile Escherichia coli surface antigens - and against O and K antigens - was investigated . Three strains, E3b (O75:K95:H5), E56b (O8:K27:H-), and H61 (O45:K1:H10), and five rabbits per strain were used . Immunization was carried out by routine procedures using non-heated whole cell vaccines . Homologous and heterologous reactions were recorded . Bacterial agglutination showed no great differences between homologous antisera . Maximum agglutination titers were reached after three immunizations, i.e., 12 dyas after the first immunization . The development of antibodies to the many single common and specific antigens was followed by examination in crossed immunoelectrophoresis (CIE) . Indication of immune tolerance of polysaccharide K27 antigen was found . The finding of pre-immune antibody and the rapid response to immunization indicate that many of the reactions recorded should be regarded as secondary responses . Several antigens in the three strains were identical or serologically related . The common cross-reacting thermolabile surface antigens showed similar electrophoretic mobility in the three stains . Some rabbits were found to be overall good producers of antibodies and some were poor . The occurrence or absence of pre-immune antibody to common antigens could not be sued to select the good antibody producers . It is suggested that the immune response to the common surface antigens that could be reckoned as outer membrane proteins may influence the relationship between host and bacterium.

Basic Life Sci, 1981, 18, 279 - 303
Hydrogenase genes; Tait RC et al.; For a variety of reasons, including the potential industrial applications of hydrogenase, we are interested in the isolation and analysis of hydrogenase genes . In a program focusing on the hydrogen bacterium A . eutrophus H1 and E . coli, we have developed a preliminary concept of the interaction of hydrogenase in cellular metabolism, constructed mutants deficient in hydrogenase activity, and begun the isolation of hydrogenase genes utilizing the technology allowing the in vitro manipulation of DNA . We hope to pursue this project to its ultimate goal: the analysis of the molecular mechanisms involved in the control of expression of these genes and the development of the ability to manipulate the production of hydrogenase.

Histochemistry, 1981, 71(4), 581 - 4
The demonstration, by immunofluorescence, of Legionella pneumophila organisms in human lung tissue embedded in epoxy resin; Skinner AR et al.; Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 has been demonstrated by indirect immunofluorescence in human lung tissue fixed in 10% formal saline and embedded in epoxy resin . The organism was visualised using Rabbit serogroup 1 antibody and Sheep anti rabbit fluorescein conjugate . The fluorescent labelled organism was found distributed throughout the tissue with focal areas in alveolar spaces and also visualised by electron microscopy in the same tissue . This method therefore enables specific identification of the L . pneumophila organism with the antiserum and also affords the opportunity of studying the bacterium ultrastructurally in the same tissue.

Appl Environ Microbiol, 1981 Jan, 41(1), 9 - 16
Ecological distribution of Legionella pneumophila; Fliermans CB et al.; Bacteria were concentrated 500-fold from 20-liter water samples collected from 67 different lakes and rivers in the United States . The data suggest that Legionella pneumophila is part of the natural aquatic environment and that the bacterium is capable of surviving extreme ranges of environmental conditions . The data further demonstrate the effectiveness of the direct fluorescent-antibody technique for detecting L . pneumophila in natural aquatic systems . Smears of the concentrated samples were screened microscopically for serogroups of L . pneumophila by the direct fluorescent-antibody technique . Virtually all of the 793 samples were found to be positive by this method . The 318 samples containing the largest numbers of positive bacteria which were morphologically consistent with L . pneumophila were injected into guinea pigs for attempted isolations . Isolates were obtained from habitats with a wide range of physical, chemical, and biological parameters . Samples collected monthly from a thermally altered lake and injected into guinea pigs demonstrated a seasonality of infection, with the highest frequency of infection occurring during the summer months.

Infect Immun, 1981 Jan, 31(1), 316 - 22
Immune response of the ileum to invasive Escherichia coli diarrheal disease in rabbits; O'Hanley PD et al.; We have previously characterized a rabbit model of invasive Escherichia coli diarrhea . The purpose of this study was to measure the in vitro synthesis of immunoglobulin and anti-invasive E . coli antibody by ileal tissue and levels of anti-invasive E . coli antibody in sera and ileal contents at intervals after diarrhea . Immunoglobulin synthesis by the ileum peaked at 7 to 9 days, but returned to normal by 11 to 13 days post-diarrhea.l Secretory immunoglobulin A (IgA) was synthesized in greater quantity than was IgG or IgM . Anti-invasive E . coli antibody synthesis peaked at 11 to 13 days, decreased to less than half of maximum by 21 to 24 days, but was increased again at 30 to 33 days post-diarrhea . Secretory IgA anti-invasive E . coli antibody was synthesized in greater quantity than was IgG or IgM antibody . Specific antibody of the IgG and IgM classes, but not of the IgA class, appeared in sera by 4 to 6 days and peaked at 7 to 15 days post-diarrhea . Secretory IgA anti-invasive E . coli antibody was detected in ileal contents by 7 to 13 days, but maximum levels were not reached until 50 to 55 days post-diarrhea . IgG and IgM anti-invasive E . coli antibodies were not detected in ileal contents . The synthesis and secretion of secretory IgA antibody were major components of the immune response of the ileum after infection with an invasive bacterium.

J Immunol Methods, 1981, 43(3), 251 - 9
Rapid identification of human B-lymphocytes and monocytes with rhodamine-labeled Brucella melitensis; Gaudernack G et al.; The bacterium Brucella melitensis has been shown to bind selectively to human B-lymphocytes . The specificity of this binding can be exploited in a rapid technique for the determination of human B-lymphocytes and monocytes by use of rhodamine-labeled Brucella melitensis . This fluorescent labeled regent is simple to use and provides highly specific identification of human B-lymphocytes and monocytes, as demonstrated in a series of experiments characterizing known cellular markers on T- and B-lymphocytes, their separated cellular subpopulations and lymphoblastoid cell lines . The use of fluorescence conjugated bacteria greatly simplifies the application of this highly specific technique and makes its use more practical in routine screening for B-cell and monocyte populations.

Mol Gen Genet, 1981, 182(2), 304 - 9
Misrepair mutagenesis in Myxococcus xanthus: induction of rifampicin-resistant mutants by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine and ultraviolet-irradiation; Herdrich K et al.; In the ultraviolet (UV)-mutable bacterium, Myxococcus xanthus, dose response curves for the induction of rifampicin-resistant (Rifr) mutants were compared with dose response curves for Weigle(W)-reactivation of the UV-irradiated phage Mx4 at a phage survival of 5 X 10(-6) . In most strains examined, including a uvr mutant, these curves are largely similar . Unexpectedly the UV-sensitive strain M . xanthus Bt, which is unable to perform W-reactivation, is nevertheless UV-mutable . This result may indicate that the repair pathway involved in phage reactivation is only partly responsible for UV-mutagenesis or alternatively is not able to act on phage DNA in M . xanthus Bt cells . N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) treatment of M . xanthus cells also results in marked W-reactivation of the UV-irradiated phage Mx4 at the same survival of 5 X 10(-6) . The MNNG-stimulated phage reactivation is of the same order of magnitude as the UV-stimulated phage reactivation . Also the dose response curves for the induction of Rifr mutants by MNNG and the MNNG-stimulated phage reactivation are quite similar . This coincidence may indicate that misrepair mutagenesis is involved in both UV and MNNG-mutagenesis . It is suggested that M . xanthus is a useful organism with which to study misrepair mutagenesis in bacteria.

J Biochem (Tokyo), 1981 Jan, 89(1), 71 - 8
X-ray diffraction studies on chromatophore membrane from photosynthetic bacteria . I . Diffraction pattern of the photoreaction unit isolated from Rhodospirillum rubrum chromatophore and some characteristics of the structure; Kataoka M et al.; The X-ray diffraction pattern from chromatophore membranes of a photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodospirillum rubrum, indicates that a highly organized protein assembly exists in the membrane . The X-ray scatterer was solubilized from chromatophores by a mixture of cholate and deoxycholate . The basic component was identified as the photoreaction unit, which consists of light-harvesting bacteriochlorophyll proteins and a reaction center . The radial autocorrelation function, calculated directly from the X-ray intensity dats, made it possible to deduce certain structural features of the X-ray scatterer . 1 . The maximum dimension of the X-ray scatterer is estimated to be 110-130 A . 2 . The arrangement of the units in the chromatophore membrane is random . 3 . Protein molecules in the unit form a rigid structure, being arranged mutually in fixed positions to give a distinct X-ray diffraction pattern . 4 . The most probable structure is one which has rotational symmetry.

Biochim Biophys Acta, 1980 Dec 3, 593(2), 254 - 60
Fluorescence emission spectra of cells and subcellular preparations of a green photosynthetic bacterium . Effects of dithionite on the intensity of the emission bands; Karapetyan NV et al.; Fluorescence emission spectra were measured of intact cells and subcellular preparations of the green photosynthetic bacterium Prosthecochloris aestuarii in the presence and in the absence of dithionite . A 3--5-fold increase in bacteriochlorophyll a fluorescence at 816 nm occurred upon addition of dithionite in a membrane vesicle preparation (Complex I), in a photochemically active pigment-protein complex and in a bacteriochlorophyll a protein complex free from reaction centers . The pigment-protein complex showed a relatively strong long-wave emission band (835 nm) of bacteriochlorophyll a, which was preferentially excited by light absorbed at 670 nm and was not stimulated by dithionite . With Complex I, which contains some bacteriochlorophyll c in addition to bacteriochlorophyll a, a 3--4-fold stimulation of bacteriochlorophyll c emission was also observed . Emission bands at shorter wavelengths, probably due to artefacts, were quenched by dithionite . With intact cells, the effect of dithionite was smaller, and consisted mainly of an increase of bacteriochlorophyll a emission . The results indicate that the strong increase in the yield of bacteriochlorophyll emission that occurred upon generating reducing conditions is, at least mainly, due to a direct effect on the light-harvesting systems, and does not involve the reaction center as had been earlier postulated.

Eur J Biochem, 1980 Dec, 112(3), 541 - 7
Non-specific biosynthesis of hopane triterpenes by a cell-free system from Acetobacter pasteurianum; Rohmer M et al.; 1 . A cell-free system from the bacterium Acetobacter pasteurianum was incubated with {12-3H}squalene; diploptene and diplopterol, hopanoids normally present in the bacterium, were labelled . Their radioactivity was confirmed by purification using thin-layer chromatography, synthesis of derivatives and recrystallization to constant specific activity . This demonstrates the direct cyclization of squalene into diploptene and diplopterol, catalysed by a squalene cyclase activity in A . pasteurianum . 2 . The same cell-free system transformed (RS)-2,3-epoxy-2,3-dihydro-{12,13-3H}squalene into labelled 3 alpha-hydroxyhop-22(29)-ene, 3 beta-hydroxyhop-22(29)-ene, hopane-3 alpha,22-diol and hopane-3 beta,22-diol . Their radioactivity was similarly confirmed . This bacterial homogenate is thus capable of cyclizing an unnatural substrate, 2,3-epoxy-squalene, into 3-hydroxyhopanoids normally absent in the bacterium . 3 . The 3 alpha-hydroxy and 3 beta-hydroxyhopanoids could have been enzymatically interconverted via the 3-oxo compound . Synthetic racemic (RS)-2,3-epoxy-2,3-dihydro-{3-3H}squalene was incubated and gave rise to 3-3H-labelled 3 alpha and 3 beta-hydroxyhopanoids . This excludes an isomerization via a 3-oxo compound which would give unlabelled 3-hydroxyhopanoids . 4 . In conclusion, the cyclase of A . pasteurianum accepts the replacement of the normal substrate, squalene, by the corresponding epoxide . Furthermore it is not selective in the stereochemistry of the epoxide and cyclizes both enantiomers, contrary to the epoxysqualene cyclase of eukaryotes.

J Gen Microbiol, 1980 Dec, 121(Pt . 2), 293 - 302
Protein synthesis in cell-free extracts of Coxiella burnetti; Donahue JP et al.; Some aspects of protein biosynthesis were investigated in extracts of the obligate intracellular bacterium Coxiella burnetti . Sucrose gradient analysis revealed small quantities of 30S and 50S ribosomal subunits, few 70S ribosomes and no polysomes . Functional endogenous mRNA was not detected . In translation of exogenously added poly(U), extracts required Mg2+ (17 mM) and NH4+ (60 mM) for optimal polyphenylalanine synthesis; the optimum MG2+ requirement differed from that of Escherichia coli . The translation of coliphage Q beta RNA by C . burnetti extracts required Mg2+ (13 mM), NH4+ (60 mM) and an energy source for polypeptide synthesis, and was sensitive to chloramphenicol but not to cycloheximide . Under optimal conditions, the translation of Q beta RNA proceeded at a rate and to an extent equal to that obtained in a conventional E . coli system . Electrophoretic analysis of translation products made during incubation of C . burnetti extracts with polycistronic Q beta RNA revealed a major product with a molecular weight of about 14 000; this product co-electrophoresed with the coat protein extracted from Q beta phage propagated in E . coli . The results suggested that the extracellular form of the rickettsia-like organism, C . burnetti, possessed the full array of components necessary for the initiation, elongation and termination of polypeptides.

Can J Microbiol, 1980 Dec, 26(12), 1518 - 22
Chemicals which promote survival of ultraviolet-irradiated lon and ruv mutants of Escherichia coli K12; Kato Y et al.; The effects of postirradiation incubation with various chemicals structurally related to pantolactone on the survival of ultraviolet-irradiated Escherichia coli lon and ruv mutants were examined . Certain cyclic compounds with a butyrolactone, tetrahydrofuran, furan, tetrahydropyran, or 2-pyron ring showed substantial rescue activity in lon and (or) ruv mutants . In addition, several aliphatic, monocarboxylic acid salts, including hydrolysis products from pantolactone and butyrolactone, were also active in one or both of these mutants, especially pantoate and other hydroxy acid salts in the ruv bacterium . The two mutants differed considerably in their susceptibility spectra for the rescue actions of these compounds.

Eur J Biochem, 1980 Dec, 112(3), 557 - 60
Non-specific lanosterol and hopanoid biosynthesis be a cell-free system from the bacterium Methylococcus capsulatus; Rohmer M et al.; 1 . A cell-free system from the bacterium Methylococcus capsulatus was incubated with {12-3H}-squalene; diploptene and diplopterol, normally present in the bacterium, were labelled . 2 The same cell-free system was incubated with (RS)-2,3-epoxy-2,3-dihydro-{3-3H}squalene . Several radioactive 3-hydroxytriterpenes were purifed . Lanosterol, which is normally present in this bacterium, was found labelled as well as 3-epilanosterol . In addition, radioactive 3 alpha-hydroxy and 3 beta-hydroxydiploptene were formed . 3 . These data may be explained by the coexistence of two cyclases in M . capsulatus: a squalene/hopane cyclase and a squalene epoxide/lanosterol cyclase . The squalene cyclase exhibits the same lack of substrate specificity as those of Acetobacter pasteurianum and Tetrahymena pyriformis, i.e . in addition to its normal substrate squalene, it can cyclize the two enantiomers of squalene epoxide into 3-hydroxyhopanoids . 4 . The presence of a squalene epoxide/lanosterol cyclase activity, which was suspected in view of the unique 3 beta-hydroxy 4 alpha-methyl steroids of M . capsulatus, was demonstrated by the labelling of lanosterol . More surprisingly 3-epilanosterol was also present and labelled . We showed that this does not derive from lanosterol by isomerization via a 3-oxo compound . Therefore the squalene expoxide cyclase of M . capsulatus, like the one of eukaryotes cyclizes the (3S) enantiomer of squalene epoxide into lanosterol . But it is definitely less substrate-specific as it can also cyclize the (3R) enantiomer into 3-epilanosterol.

Gene, 1980 Dec, 12(1-2), 123 - 7
A plasmid cloning vehicle allowing a positive selection for inserted fragments; Roberts TM et al.; We describe a plasmid cloning vehicle, pTR262, which allows a strong positive selection (resistance to tetracycline) for transformants bearing plasmids which have DNA insertions . pTR262 is derived from plasmid pBR322 and contains the cI gene and adjacent regulator region oRpR or the bacteriophage lambda . The expression of the tetracycline resistance (tet-r) gene(s) in pTR262 requires transcription from pR and is repressed by the cI gene product, lambda repressor . Insertion of a DNA fragment into the HindIII or Bc/I sites in pTR262 inactivates the cI gene and allows expression of the tet-r gene(s) in the host bacterium . A 100-fold increase in the number of tetracycline-resistant transformants is obtained when HindIII- or Bc/I-generated fragments are added to a ligation mixture containing HindIII- or Bc/I-digested pTR 262 DNA.

Biochem J, 1980 Nov 15, 192(2), 761 - 4
The interrelation of the two c-type cytochromes in Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides photosynthesis; Wood PM; Photosynthetic electron flow in the bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides involves two c-type cytochromes, one membrane-bound and the other a soluble protein, cytochrome c2 . Membranes deficient in cytochrome c2 were used for photo-oxidation studies, with and without the addition of purified cytochrome c2 . The results favour a series interrelation, membrane cytochrome c-cytochrome c2-reaction centre.

Biochim Biophys Acta, 1980 Nov 5, 593(1), 51 - 9
Orientation of pigments and pigment-protein complexes in the green photosynthetic bacterium Prosthecochloris aestuarii; Swarthoff T et al.; The orientation of pigments and pigment-protein complexes of the green photosynthetic bacterium Prosthecochloris aestuarii was studied by measurement of linear dichroism spectra at 295 and 100 K . Orientation of intact cells and membrane vesicles (Complex I) was obtained by drying on a glass plate . The photochemically active pigment-protein complexes (photosystem-protein complex and reaction center pigment-protein complex) and the antenna bacteriochlorophyll a protein were oriented by pressing a polyacrylamide gel . The data indicate that the near-infrared transitions (Qy) of bacteriochlorophyll c and most bacteriochlorophyll a molecules have a relatively parallel orientation to the membrane, whereas the Qy transitions of the bacteriochlorophyll a in the antenna protein are oriented predominantly perpendicularly to the membrane . Carotenoids and the Qx transitions (590-620 nm) of bacteriochlorophyll a, not belonging to the bacteriochlorophyll a protein, have a relatively perpendicular orientation to the membrane . The absorption and linear dichroism spectra indicate the existence of different pools of bacteriochlorophyll c in the chlorosomes and of carotenoid and bacteriopheophytin c in the cell membrane . The results suggest that the photosystem-protein and reaction center pigment-protein complexes are oriented with their short axes approximately perpendicular to the plane of the membrane . The symmetry axis of the bacteriochlorophyll a protein has an approximately perpendicular orientation.

Mikrobiologiia, 1980 Nov-Dec, 49(6), 855 - 8
{Thiosulfate as an intermediate product of bacterial sulfate reduction}; Vainshtein MB et al.; Sulfur compounds produced at intermediate stages during transformation of sulfate to sulfide were analyzed in experiments with a culture of sulfate reducing bacteria . Small quantities of thiosulfate can accumulate in the medium at the beginning of growth of the sulfate reducing bacterium . The data are discussed and compared with the results of Chambers and Trudinger (1975) who could not detect thiosulfate in similar experiments.

Biochim Biophys Acta, 1980 Oct 3, 592(3), 445 - 60
The role of the Rieske iron-sulfur center as the electron donor to ferricytochrome c2 in Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides; Bowyer JR et al.; The Rieske iron-sulfur center in the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides appears to be the direct electron donor to ferricytochrome c2, reducing the cytochrome on a submillisecond timescale which is slower than the rapid phase of cytochrome oxidation (t 1/2 3-5 microseconds) . The reduction of the ferricytochrome by the Rieske center is inhibited by 5-n-undecyl-6-hydroxy-4,7-dioxobenzothiazole (UHDBT) but not by antimycin . The slower (102 ms) antimycin-sensitive phase of ferricytochrome c2 reduction, attributed to a specific ubiquinone-10 molecule (Qz), and the associated carotenoid spectral response to membrane potential formation are also inhibited by UHDBT . Since the light-induced oxidation of the Rieske center is only observed in the presence of antimycin, it seems likely that the reduced form of Qz (QzH2) reduces the Rieske Center in an antimycin-sensitive reaction . From the extent of the UHDBT-sensitive ferricytochrome c2 reduction we estimate that there are 0.7 Rieske iron-sulfur centers per reaction center . UHDBT shifts the EPR derivative absorption spectrum of the Rieske center from gy 1.90 to gy 1.89, and shifts the Em,7 from 280 to 350 mV . While this latter shift may account for the subsequent failure of the iron-sulfur center to reduce ferricytochrome c2, it is not clear how this can explain the other effects of the inhibitor, such as the prevention of cytochrome b reduction and the elimination of the uptake of HII(+); these may reflect additional sites of action of the inhibitor.

J Bacteriol, 1980 Oct, 144(1), 7 - 11
Methyl-alpha-maltoside and 5-thiomaltose: analogs transported by the Escherichia coli maltose transport system; Ferenci T; Neither methyl-alpha-maltoside nor 5-thiomaltose is utilized by Escherichia coli as a sole carbon source . Both are, however, effective competitive inhibitors of maltose transport into the bacterium (Km for maltose, 0.8 microM, Ki for methyl-alpha-maltoside, 5.5 microM; Ki for 5-thiomaltose, 0.2 microM) . Both analogs are bound by the periplasmic maltose-binding protein . Methyl-alpha-{14C}maltoside and 5-{3H}thiomaltose were both accumulated inside E . coli . Methyl-alpha-maltoside was unchanged after accumulation, but 5-thiomaltose was converted to an unidentified compound that could exit from the bacterium . Both analogs were inhibitory to the growth of E . coli, but only when the bacteria were previously induced for the maltose transport system . The analogs are substrates for but poor inducers of the maltose transport system.

Prostaglandins, 1980 Oct, 20(4), 729 - 33
Preparation of two dinor-PGI2 metabolites from 6-keto-PGF1 alpha by Mycobacterium rhodochrous; Sun FF et al.; The transformation of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha to two prostacyctin metabolites, 2,3-dinor-6-keto-PGF1 alpha (I) and 2,3-dinor-6,15-diketo-13,14-dihydro-PGF1 alpha (II) by Mycobacterium rhodochrous UC-6176 is described . The finding that the bacterium oxidized 6-keto-PGF1 alpha to the 6,15-diketo metabolite II shows that it contains 15-hydroxy prostaglandin dehydrogenase and delta 13 reductase enzyme systems.

Can J Microbiol, 1980 Sep, 26(9), 1066 - 71
Characterization of an effective actinorhizal microsymbiont, Frankia sp . AvcI1 (Actinomycetales); Baker D et al.; The actinomycete, Frankia sp . AvcI1, isolated from root nodules of Alnus viridis ssp . crispa was grown in axenic culture and used to inoculate host seedlings . This bacterium has been shown to be an infective and effective nitrogen-fixing microsymbiont which can be distinguished from other frankiae, in vitro, on the basis of size, distinctive morphology, and growth characteristics . Cross-inoculation studies indicated that the host range of this symbiont encompasses all of the members of the genera Alnus, Myrica, and Comptonia tested . In all cases, the symbioses developed were effective in fixing atmospheric dinitrogen.

Am J Vet Res, 1980 Sep, 41(9), 1379 - 82
Contagious equine metritis: isolation and characterization of the etiologic agent; Sahu SP et al.; Uterine, cervical, and clitoral specimens on swabs from pony mares infected with contagious equine equine metritis (CEM) bacteria were streaked on agar plates . Colonies of CEM bacteria were observed under CO2 incubation in 2 days on Eugon chocolate agar and Eugon blood agar plates . The diameter of the colonies varied from 0.2 mm to 1 mm in 2 days which increased to 0.3 mm to 2.0 mm on day 4 . The colonies on Eugon chocolate agar plates on days 2 to 4 were shiny, brown, round, and convex, and easily glided when pushed with a loop . The diameter of the colonies on chocolate and blood agar plates made from tryptose blood agar base (TrCA or TrBA) was 0.2 to 0.3 mm on day 4 . Due to their small size on TrCA or TrBA, colonies of CEM bacteria were easily recognized from large numbers of contaminants . The organism required hemin for its growth . It gelled in water, caused delayed hemolysis of blood agar plates, and was extremely susceptible to acid in the pH range to 3 to 4.5 . A difference in growth of CEM bacterium was observed on primary isolation media obtained from two different commerical sources.

Can J Surg, 1980 Sep, 23(5), 487 - 8
Effect of actinomyces israelii on human peripheral lymphocytes; Colquhoun BP et al.; Actinomycosis is rare and responds well to antibiotic therapy . The causative organism, Actinomyces israelii which is now considered to be a bacterium, has long been suspected of exerting an immunosuppressive effect . The authors provide further evidence of this in their study of three patients with actinomycosis and four healthy control subjects . Skin reactivity to various standard antigens was depressed in all seven patients . Peripheral lymphocytes from the patients and the control subjects were isolated . A . israelii was added to the cell cultures following challenge with several standard mitogens . Blast transformation in response to phytohemagglutinin was inhibited by A . israelii in all seven subjects, but was preserved in response to concanavalin A and pokeweed mitogen . A . israelii appears capable of inhibiting the subset of human peripheral lymphocytes responsive to phytohemagglutinin stimulation in vitro.

Am J Med, 1980 Sep, 69(3), 476 - 82
Legionnaires' disease; Weisenburger DD et al.; Described here is a unique case of Legionnaires' disease in a previously healthy 46 year old man in whom disseminated disease was demonstrated in the kidneys, bone marrow, spleen and multiple peripheral lymph nodes at autopsy . The pathologic distribution of the lesions suggests that dissemination occurred by both hematogenous and lymphatic pathways . Pancytopenia associated with bone marrow destruction and fibrosis suggests that substances toxic to hematopoietic cells were present . It is likely that many of the unusual systemic manifestations of this disease are related to dissemination of the bacterium . The findings presented extend the spectrum of the clinical and pathologic manifestations of Legionnaires' disease from a mild and self-limited illness to a severe and fatal disseminated form of the disease.

Infect Immun, 1980 Sep, 29(3), 981 - 9
Attachment of Actinomyces naeslundii to human buccal epithelial cells; Saunders JM et al.; A standardized assay was used to measure the attachment of Actinomyces naeslundii ATCC 12104 to washed human buccal epithelial cells . Treatment of the A . naeslundii cells with hyaluronidases, wheat germ lipase, protease, trypsin, heat, or sonic oscillation significantly reduced their ability to attach to epithelial cells . Treatment of the epithelial cells with the above enzymes did not influence the attachment of A . naeslundii . Extraction of A . naeslundii with NaOH also significantly reduced the ability of the bacterium to attach to human buccal epithelial cells . The neutralized and dialyzed NaOH extract contained both carbohydrate and protein substances in a ratio of about 1:1 . Adding this extract back to the extracted bacterial cells partially restored their ability to attach to epithelial cells . When the NaOH extract was preincubated with epithelial cells and residual extract was removed by washing, attachment of normal A . naeslundii was partially blocked . The ability of the extracted material to block attachment was significantly reduced when treated with hyaluronidases or with wheat germ lipase . Treatment with heat, protease, or trypsin did not significantly reduce the ability of the extracted materials to block attachment . Pretreatment of the epithelial cells with hyaluronic acid or chondroitin sulfate also reduced subsequent attachment of normal A . naeslundii cells . Pretreatment of epithelial cells with dextrans, proteins, or unpure mannose did not influence subsequent attachment of A . naeslundii . Pretreatment of A . naeslundii with galactose and lactose significantly inhibited attachment to normal epithelial cells . The results suggest that the attachment of A . naeslundii to human buccal epithelial cells may involve mucopolysaccharides similar to hyaluronic acid on the surface of the bacterial cells . Other attachment mechanisms may also be operative.

Biochem J, 1980 Sep 1, 189(3), 385 - 91
Do photosynthetic bacteria contain cytochrome c1?
Wood PM.
A method is described for characterizing, c-type cytochromes in bacterial membrane preparations according to molecular weight on sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis . Applied to the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides this technique is used, together with spectroscopic measurements, to demonstrate that a membrane-bound cytochrome c of mol.wt . 30000 is active in photosynthetic electron transport in addition to the well-known soluble cytochrome, cytochrome c2 . The membrane cytochrome has a midpoint potential (E'0) at pH 7 of +290 mV, as compared with +360 mV for purified cytochrome c2 . Its alpha-band has a peak near 552 nm, as compared with 550 nm for cytochrome c2 . Evidence is presented that chromatophores contain roughly equal amounts of the two cytochromes.

Biochemistry, 1980 Aug 5, 19(16), 3678 - 83
Product isotope effects on in vivo methanogenesis by Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum; Spencer RW et al.; The hydrogen in methane produced by cultures of Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum originates from water . In H2O/D2O mixtures, a methane product isotope effect is observed that increases rapidly as the water deuterium enrichment approaches 100% . This effect is due to the intracellular production of protons from H2, catalyzed by hydrogenase, which occurs at 12% the rate of water diffusion through the cell membrane . We estimate that water diffusion through the thick cell membrane of M . thermoautotrophicum is retarded by a factor of 10(6) over the free diffusion rate . The intracellular production of H+ suggests that either (1) hydrogenase is not directly involved in the production of a chemiosmotic proton gradient or (2) if it is involved, the proton gradient exists between the cytosol and the interior of vesicles observed in this bacterium . The intrinsic deutrium product isotope effect in methanogenesis is 1.20 +/- 0.1, comparable to anabolic deuterium product isotope effects in other autotrophs . An algebraic model incorporating the intracellular H2 to H+ flux accurately predicts the distribution of deuterated methane species at all levels of water deuterium enrichment.

Arch Microbiol, 1980 Aug, 127(1), 17 - 24
Malic enzyme of chromatium vinosum; Sahl HG et al.; Malic enzyme of the phototropic bacterium Chromatium vinosum strain D that lacks malate dehydrogenase was partially purified yielding a specific activity of 55 units/mg protein . The constitutive enzyme with a molecular weight of 110,000 and a pH optimum of 8.0 was absolutely dependent on the presence of a monovalent cation (NH4+, K+, Cs+, or Rb+) as well as a divalent cation (Mn2+, or Mg2+) . The enzyme was inhibited by oxaloacetate, glyoxyate, and NADPH . The K0.5 value for L-malate and the inhibition constants for oxaloacetate and glyoxylate are dependent on the concentration of the monovalent cation, whereas the Km value for NADP (18 microM) and the KI value for NADPH (42 microM) are independent . Throughout all kinetic measurements hyperbolic saturation curves and linear double reciprocal plots were obtained.

Biokhimiia, 1980 Aug, 45(8), 1488 - 96
{Purification and properties of NAD-reductase from phototrophic bacterium Thiocapsa roseopersicina}; Korsunskii OF et al.; The purification by affinity chromatography up to homogeneity and the properties of NAD-reductase from purple sulfur bacterium Thiocapsa roseopersicina, strain BBS, are described . The molecular weight of NAD-reductase is about 80000; pI is 3.9 . The enzyme consists of two subunits . According to the stabilizing effect of FAD at preparative electrophoresis and the inhibitory effect of atebrine NAD-reductase is a flavoprotein . The bulk of the enzyme (about 75%) is localized in the cell periplasmic space . NAD-reductase is less thermostable and has a lower O2 stability as compared to the NADP-reductase from the same organism . The enzyme is specific to NADH ane catalyzes the menadione-reductase reaction, diaphorase reaction of benzyl viologen and methyl viologen reductions . In the presence of NADH NAD-reductase reduces cytochromes c552 and "c3" from T . roseopersicina and forms a complex with spinach ferredoxin.

J Bacteriol, 1980 Aug, 143(2), 628 - 36
Continuous monitoring, by mass spectrometry, of H2 production and recycling in Rhodopseudomonas capsulata; Jouanneau Y et al.; Hydrogen evolution and consumption by cell and chromatophore suspensions of the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas capsulata was measured with a sensitive and specific mass spectrometric technique which directly monitors dissolved gases . H2 production by nitrogenase was inhibited by acetylene and restored by carbon monoxide . An H2 evolution activity coupled with HD formation and D2 uptake (H-D exchange) was unaffected by C2H2 and CO . Cultures lacking nitrogenase activity also exhibited H-D exchange activity, which was catalyzed by a membrane-bound hydrogenase present in the chromatophores of R . capsulata . A net hydrogen uptake, mediated by hydrogenase, was observed when electron acceptors such as CO2, O2, or ferricyanide were present in the medium.

Biokhimiia, 1980 Aug, 45(8), 1510 - 6
{Structural organization of membranes reconstituted from phospholipids and subchromatophore pigment-protein complexes}; Kondrashin AA et al.; Pigment--protein complexes of the P870 reaction centers and complexes of the bacteriochlorophyll light-harvesting antenna were isolated from the chromatophores of the non-sulfur purple bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum by solubilization with detergents . The proteoliposomes containing the reaction centers or reaction centers and the light-harvesting antenna as well as liposomes formed from phospholipids were obtained by a self-assembly procedure using seya bean phospholipids . The freeze-fracture study showed that the proteoliposomes contain a large amount of globular particles . The particles incorporated into the two types of the proteoliposomes were distinguished in size . The globules of the reaction center and antenna complexes were bigger in size than the reaction center globules . The globular structures were not found in the liposomal membranes . The liposomes formed in the absence of the pigment--protein complexes were predominantly the multilamellar vesicles . The proteoliposomes were mostly represented as monolamellar membrane vesicles . The spatial arrangement of the reaction center complexes in the membranes is discussed.

Biokhimiia, 1980 Aug, 45(8), 1497 - 502
{Purification and properties of cytochrome c552 from purple sulfur bacterium Thiocapsa roseopersicina}; Zorin NA et al.; The method of purification up to electrophoretical homogeneity of cytochrome c552 from the phototrophic bacterium Thiocapsa roseopersicina, strain BBS is described . For the cytochrome absorption spectrum the maxima at 417, 523 and 552 nm are characteristic for the reduced state and at 409 nm--for the oxidized state . The molecular weight is equal to 62000 . The cytochrome contains two hemes per molecule and consists of two subunits . pI is 4.1; E0' is about 10 mV . Cytochrome c552 is a flavoprotein according to its fluorescence spectrum and subunit structure . T . roseopersicina cytochrome c552 is able to be reduced with sulphide, cysteine and ascorbate as well as with H2 in the presence of hydrogenase from the same bacterium . These data suggest that cytochrome c552 from T . roseopersicina functions in vivo at the initial stage of electron transport from hydrogen and sulphide.

Antimicrob Agents Chemother, 1980 Aug, 18(2), 323 - 37
How partially inhibitory concentrations of chloramphenicol affect the growth of Escherichia coli; Harvey RJ et al.; In the presence of up to 6 microM chloramphenicol, balanced exponential growth of Escherichia coli occurred at a reduced rate after an adjustment period . The inhibition of ribosome function by chloramphenicol within growing cells was inferred from measurements of growth rate and cell composition during balanced growth and of pulse-labeling of cells by radioactive proline after a 10-min exposure to chloramphenicol . In each case the results were consistent with simple noncompetitive inhibition of protein synthesis, with 50% inhibition occurring at 2 microM chloramphenicol, the concentration that gave 50% binding of chloramphenicol to purified ribosomes in vitro . The differences between these results and those obtained with cell-free protein synthesizing systems were shown to be in part due to slow binding of chloramphenicol and in part due to the slow rate and lack of saturation of the cell-free protein-synthesizing systems now available . During balanced growth in concentrations of chloramphenicol 1 microM or higher, the net rate of maturation of ribosomal ribonucleic acid was also inhibited (50% at 2.8 microM) . The specific growth rate during balanced growth was inhibited by 50% at 1.8 microM chloramphenicol, but at higher concentrations inhibition was greater than expected from the simple noncompetitive dose-response observed for inhibition of polypeptide synthesis . However, the inhibition of maturation of ribosomal ribonucleic acid plus the inhibition of protein synthesis quantitatively accounted for the observed inhibition of growth . Thus, we have presented for the first time an essentially complete account of the effects of partially inhibitory concentrations of an antibiotic on the growth physiology of a bacterium.

Biochim Biophys Acta, 1980 Jul 8, 591(2), 372 - 80
Labeling of chromatophore membranes and reaction centers from the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum with the hydrophobic marker 5-{125I}iodonaphthyl-1-azide.; Odermatt E et al.; Chromatophores of the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum and isolated reaction centers were labeled with the lipophilic membrane marker 5-{125I}iodonaphthyl-1-azide . The two smaller reaction center proteins L and M bind more label than the larger subunit H, a fact supporting the proposed localisation of the 3 subunits obtained with hydrophilic labels . Besides these integral proteins the lipids, among them mainly the pigments and the quinones, are highly labeled suggesting a hydrophobic environment around these molecules and a preferred reactivity to iodonaphthylazide . Such a hydrophobic environment may be of great importance for the function of the photosynthetic reaction centers especially for the charge separation and the primary reactions in electron transport.

Biochim Biophys Acta, 1980 Jul 8, 591(2), 346 - 55
Effects of surface potential and membrane potential on the midpoint potential of cytochrome c-555 bound to the chromatophore membrane of Chromatium vinosum; Itoh S; The values of midpoint potential (Em) of cytochrome c-555 bound to the chromatophore membranes of a photosynthetic bacterium Chromatium vinosum was determined under various pH and salt conditions . After a long incubation at high ionic concentrations in the presence of carbonylcyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone, which was added to abolish electrical potential difference between the inner and outer bulk phases of chromatophore, the Em value was almost constant at pH values between 4.0 and 8.4 . With the decrease of salt concentration, the pH dependence of the Em value became more marked . Under low ionic conditions, Em became more positive with the decrease of pH . Addition of salt made the value more positive or negative at pH values higher or lower than 4.5, respectively . Divalent cation salts were more effective than monovalent cation salts in producing the positive shift of Em at pH 7.8 . The Em value became more positive when the electrical potential of the inner side of the chromatophore was made more positive by the diffusion potential induced by the K+ concentration gradient in the presence of valinomycin . These results were explained by a change of redox potential at the inner surface of the chromatophore membrane, at which the cytochrome is assumed to be situated, due to the electrical potential difference with respect to the outer solution induced by the surface potential or membrane potential change . The values for the surface potential and the net surface charge density of the inner surface of the chromatophore membrane were estimated using the Gouy-Chapman diffuse double layer theory.

S Afr Med J, 1980 Jul 5, 58(1), 17 - 23
Legionnaires' disease in Port Elizabeth; Randall TW et al.; Eight adult patients from Port Elizabeth with significantly raised indirect fluorescent antibody titres of greater than or equal to 256 against the Legionnaires' disease bacterium are described . One of these patients had in addition elevated antibody levels against Mycoplasma pneumoniae . The clinical manifestations of the patients ranged from an 'influenza-like' illness in 1 patient to pneumonia of varying severity in 6 . One patient had a severe illness with fever, couth and encephalopathy, together with the uncharacteristic features of lymphadenopathy and a petechial rash . This patient did not have pneumonia . Attention is drawn to unusual clinical aspects in some of the patients and the need for improved definitive diagnostic procedures is emphasized.

Mikrobiologiia, 1980 Jul-Aug, 49(4), 472 - 6
{Ectothiorhodospira shaposhnikovii respiration when growing in light and in darkness}; Pedan LV et al.; The respiration of the purple phototrophic bacterium Ectothiorhodospira shaposhnikovii grown in the light under the anaerobic conditions or in the dark in the presence of oxygen is stimulated with sulfide, NNNN-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine (TMPD) + ascorbate and, to a less extent, organic substrates . The electron transport system of the organism is characterized by weak activities of NADH- and NADPH-oxidoreductases and a weak activity of the oxidase region . The respiration of intact cells in the presence of various substrates and the activity of enzymes of the respiration chain in E . shaposhnikovii do not depend on how the cells were grown . The operation of the electron transport chain is not very effective and the citric acid cycle is not closed; these facts seem to account for a low growth rate of E . shaposhnikovii in the dark under the aerobic conditions in organic media.

Genetics, 1980 Jul, 95(3), 525 - 44
Studies on the mechanism of transduction by bacteriophage phi gamma . II . Formation of transducing elements; Gratia JP; The formation of the transducing elements (TE) of bacteriophage phi gamma, analyzed in lysogens of the thermo-inducible derivative phi gamma hyI, has been found to parallel the formation of plaque-forming particles with a frequency of 2 X 10(-2) TE/PFU, but is mor sensitive to temperature and ti UV . Deletion of one of the prophage termini (attR) prevents normal excision and formation of plaque-forming particles, but does not affect the formation of transducing elements, which arise at a rate of nearly 10(-1) TE per induced bacterium . Transducing elements, would be formed by in situ encapsulation of a hybrid segment from a specidic point in the induced prophage, possibly the presumed packaging initiation site of the normal phage genome, before excision of the latter has occurred . Analysis of the mechanism of transduction to partly heterologous lysogens has revealed the participation of a co-infecting genome arranged in a linear fashion and has given evidence for a permutation in the sequence of transducing and nontransducing genomes . The data re consistent with a mechanism of encapsidation distinct from the Ter system even for hybrids inheriting part of the phi 80 genome, but endowed with the property to form transducing elements like those of phi gamma . Upon infection, transducing elements are formed after one cycle of lytic development with the same characteristics as those resulting from induction, but with a frequency 50 to 100 times lower . This process is dependent on the efficiency of Int promoted recombination . Superinfection experiments performed under conditions preventing Int promoted recombination reveal that any superinfecting phi gamma can promote the formation of transducing particles, depending on the presence within the host prophage of a site from which transducing genome packaging initiates.

Eur J Biochem, 1980 Jul, 108(2), 631 - 6
The recognition of maltodextrins by Escherichia coli; Ferenci T; 1 . Escherichia coli can accumulate 14C-labelled (alpha 1 leads to 4)-linked D-glucose oligomers up to maltoheptaose . Longer maltodextrins are not transported and are not utilized as carbon sources . 2 . Maltodextrins too large to be transported are nevertheless bound by the outer envelope of intact E . coli . This binding is saturable (Kd for maltodecaose = 3-4 microM) and the binding sites are inducible by maltose . Each bacterium has approximately 30,000 sites when fully induced . 3 . Using mutants devoid of various components of the maltose transport system, the high-affinity binding of maltodextrins by intact bacteria has been shown to be dependent on the presence of both lambda receptor (an outer membrane protein) and periplasmic maltose binding protein . 4 . The same binding sites are accessible to both utilizable and non-utilizable maltodextrins . Maltodecapentaose is a competitive inhibitor of maltose transport (Ki 1.5-2.5 microM) . 5 . These results show that the periplasmic maltose binding protein is readily accessible to substrates of at least 2500 molecular weight . The inability to transport dextrins larger than maltoheptaose is, therefore, due to the inability of E . coli to transfer large substrates from the binding protein to the cytoplasm and not to lack of access through the outer membrane.

J Bacteriol, 1980 Jul, 143(1), 205 - 11
Agglutination of human erythrocytes by Fusobacterium nucleatum: factors influencing hemagglutination and some characteristics of the agglutinin; Dehazya P et al.; Various aspects of agglutination of human erythrocytes by fusobacterium nucleatum were examined . Titration experiments done in buffered saline at pH 6 to 10 showed the same agglutination endpoint . The presence of high concentrations of NaCl in reaction mixtures did not alter titers, but KCl in concentrations of 0.5 to 3.6 M increased titers twofold . The agglutinin was inactivated by heat, acid, alkali, 5% Formalin, and the proteolytic enzyme subtilopeptidase A and therefore appeared to be a protein . Treatment of bacterial cells with 2-mercaptoethanol had no effect . Hemagglutination inhibition experiments revealed that arginine and other compounds containing a guanido group as part of their structure were inhibitory at low concentrations . Various hexoses, some hexose derivatives, and most common metal ions, when added to bacterium-erythrocyte mixtures, had no effect . The binding of dansyl-L-arginine to bacteria, but not erythrocytes, was demonstrable by ultraviolet fluorescence microscopy.

J Bacteriol, 1980 Jul, 143(1), 43 - 9
Transformation of Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides with deoxyribonucleic acid isolated from bacteriophage R phi 6P; Tucker WT et al.; The transformation of the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides with the circular genome of the penicillinase-encoding, temperate bacteriophage R phi 6P was demonstrated . The transformation was dependent on the infection of the recipient by another, apparently closely related, temperature bacteriophage, R phi 9 . Optimum transformation occurred in the recipient cells already lysogenic for R phi 9 when superinfected with that bacteriophage at multiplicities of infection between 1 and 10 R phi 9 particles per recipient cell.

Mikrobiologiia, 1980 Jul-Aug, 49(4), 514 - 6
{ATP-dependent citrate lyase in the green phototrophic bacterium, Chlorobium limicola}; Sintsov NV et al.; Cell-free extracts of the green sulfur bacterium Chlorobium limicola forma thiosulfatophilum, strains 1C and L, grown autotrophically and in media with organic substances were shown to cleave citrate with the formation of oxaloacetate and acetyl-CoA only when ATP, CoA and Mg2+ were added . These results suggest that C . limicola f . thiosulfatophilum produces ATP-linked citrate lyase (E . C . 4.1.3.8) which may play an important role in the carbon metabolism of this bacterium.

Biochim Biophys Acta, 1980 Jun 10, 591(1), 1 - 8
Flavodoxin and rubredoxin from Desulphovibrio salexigens; Moura I et al.; A flavodoxin and a rubredoxin have been isolated from the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulphovibrio salexigens (strain British Guiana, NICB 8403) . Their amino acid composition and spectral characteristics did not differ markedly from the homologous proteins presented in other Desulphovibrio spp . Flavodoxin was shown to be active in the electron transport of the sulfite reductase system.

Cell, 1980 Jun, 20(2), 543 - 53
Improved methods for maximizing expression of a cloned gene: a bacterium that synthesizes rabbit beta-globin; Guarente L et al.; In this paper we describe a method for constructing E . coli plasmids that direct efficient expression of genes that encode eucaryotic or procaryotic proteins . No functional assays for the proteins are needed, and they are produced in their native, unfused state . The only requirement is that the genes be isolable without intervening sequences . We describe as an example the construction of a plasmid that directs the synthesis of about 10,000-15,000 monomers per cell of rabbit beta-globin . The essential steps in a typical construction are as follows . --A region of the gene encoding the amino-terminal portion of the protein is fused to DNA encoding an enzymatically active carboxy terminal fragment of beta-galactosidase . The latter is carried on one of three plasmids designed to facilitate the fusion (the construction of these three plasmids is described in the Appendix) . --A "portable promoter" of the lac operon is placed at many positions in front of the fused gene using nucleases in vitro . Those promoter placements that elicit efficient expression of the fused gene are identified by the beta-galactosidase activity that they express . (In the special case we describe, plasmids identified as directing efficient expression of beta-globin were found to bear "hybrid" ribosome binding sites consisting of the Shine-Dalgarno sequence carried on the promoter fragment and the ATG of the beta-globin gene.) --The gene of interest is reconstituted intact, with the portable promoter in place, by recombination in vitro or in vivo.

Am J Clin Pathol, 1980 Jun, 73(6), 788 - 90
Rapid demonstration of Legionella pneumophila in unembedded tissue . An adaptation of the Giménez stain; Greer PW et al.; The Gimenez stain, originally developed for demonstrating rickettsiae, readily stained the Legionnaires' disease bacterium (Legionella pneumophila) in frozen tissue sections and smears of fresh or formalin-fixed lung tissue from patients who had confirmed Legionnaires' disease . With the Gimenez procedure, the bacterium stained bright red against a blue-green background . The tissue Gram procedures also stained L . pneumophila in frozen sections and smears, but the staining reaction was weak, and these stains were neither as sensitive nor a consistent as the Gimenez procedure.

J Bacteriol, 1980 Jun, 142(3), 899 - 907
Changes in the regulatory form of Rhodospirillum rubrum nitrogenase as influenced by nutritional and environmental factors; Yoch DC et al.; The photosynthetic bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum regulates the activity of its nitrogenase (N2ase) by interconverting the enzyme into three distinct enzymatic species: N2ase A (a fully active form) and two regulatory forms, N2ase Ractive and N2ase Rinactive . N2ase R is distinguished from N2ase A in vitro by the requirement of its Fe protein for activation by a Mn2+-dependent activating factor . N2ase is converted from the A to the R form in response to certain environmental factors such as carbon starvation, depletion of intracellular adenosine triphosphate, or the addition of NH4+ (or glutamate) to a culture of N-starved cells . The rapid inhibition of R . rubrum N2ase in vivo by NH4+ was shown to result from the conversion of N2ase A to N2ase Rinactive . On depletion of NH4+ from the culture, whole-cell N2ase activity returned; however, the enzyme remained in the R form . Unlike the effect of NH4+, adding glutamate to cells containing N2ase A did not inhibit in vivo activity, but converted the enzyme to the R form (N2ase Ractive) . Although glutamate-induced N2ase R formation was much slower than the NH4+-induced reaction, it occurred in the presence of rifampin, indicating that de novo protein synthesis was not involved . This suggested that N2ase R was formed by a modification of N2ase A . Although glutamine synthetase in involved in the conversion of N2ase A to R, the adenylylation state of glutamine synthetase appears not to be involved in regulating this nitrogenase reaction.

Biochim Biophys Acta, 1980 May 9, 590(3), 339 - 44
Correlation of membrane-potential-sensing carotenoid to pigment-protein complex II in Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides; Matsuura K et al.; The changes in carotenoid absorbance induced by illumination or by a diffusion potential were larger in chromatophores from cells cultured under low light intensity than those in chromatophores from high-light culture in a photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides . The carotenoid molecules which are associated with the pigment-protein complex (with the infrared bacteriochlorophyll peaks at 800 and 850 nm) (complex II) probably respond to the electrical field changes in the chromatophore membrane.

Biochim Biophys Acta, 1980 May 8, 598(1), 91 - 9
Sodium-dependent succinate uptake in purple bacterium Ectothiorhodospira shaposhnikovii; Karzanov VV et al.; Succinate, malate and fumarate uptake in purple sulfur bacterium Ectothiorhodospira shaposhnikovii, . strain 1 K MSU, obligatorily depends on the presence of Na+ . Other monovalent cations such as K+, Li+, NH4+ could not replace Na+ . Experiments with energy-depleted cells have shown that succinate uptake against its concentration gradient can be energized by artifically imposed sodium gradients (delta pNa) . An artificial membrane potential (inside negative) inhibited delta pNa-driven succinate uptake at pH 7.0 but stimulated it at pH 9.0 . The results confirm the suggestion that succinate uptake in E . shaposhnikovii is carried out in symport with Na+.

Mikrobiologiia, 1980 May-Jun, 49(3), 412 - 6
{Role of the nutrient medium components in regulating levansaccharase synthesis in Gluconobacter oxydans}; Tkachenko AA et al.; The effect of phosphate and acetate buffer systems on the growth of Gluconobacter oxydans and its synthesis of levansucrase was studied in nutrient media containing sorbitol . The intensification of constructive processes in media with an increased content of phosphate did not accelerate the enzyme biosynthesis by G . oxydans . As was shown in experiments with the intact cells of G . oxydans, the respiratory activity of the bacterium was stimulated in phosphate buffer supplemented with fructose . In contrast, acetate inhibited fructose oxidation and hindered the growth . At the same time, the synthesis of levansucrase increased . Such an increase was also found when the growth of G . oxydans was suppressed by sodium fluoride, an inhibitor of cellular metabolism . The extra synthesis of levansucrase useless during the growth on sorbitol should be attributed apparently to non-balanced growth of the bacterial culture caused by the suppression of respiration processes.

Mikrobiologiia, 1980 May-Jun, 49(3), 396 - 400
{Electrokinetic properties of Arthobacter siderocapsulatus}; Suprun EA et al.; The electro-kinetic properties of Arthrobacter siderocapsulatus were determined using microelectrophoresis in alternating electric field . The surface of bacterial cells was shown to bear positive charge within a wide range of pH . The positive charge of the cells should be attributed apparently to the presence of mucous capsules containing manganese dioxide since the growth of the bacterium is known to involve oxidation of manganese or ferrous iron and accumulation of their hydroxides in the capsules . Because of a high respiration rate and the presence of mucous capsules or sheaths, the cells settling on the surface of metals create zones of differential aeration, thus stimulating corrosion . Studies of the electro-kinetic properties of iron bacteria make it possible to develop protective measures against corrosion and are therefore of practical significance.

J Bacteriol, 1980 May, 142(2), 603 - 7
Sodium ion-substrate symport in a marine bacterium; Niven DF et al.; Anaerobic suspensions of Alteromonas haloplanktis accumulated alpha-aminoisobutyric acid, by a sodium-dependent process, in response to an artificially imposed membrane potential in the presence or absence of a transmembrane chemical gradient of sodium . These results suggest that the transport of alpha-aminoisobutyrate by this organism occurs via Na+-substrate symport.

Mikrobiologiia, 1980 May-Jun, 49(3), 479 - 84
{Immobilization of methane-oxidizing bacterial cells}; Karpenko VI et al.; The purpose of this work was to study how the conditions for immobilizing the cells of the methane oxidizing bacterium Methylomonas rubra using chemical and physical techniques influence their functional catalytical properties . These properties were found to depend on the chemical nature of a matrix and the mode of binding the cells to the carrier . The best carriers were shown to be silochrome with introduced carboxy groups and agar gel.

Can J Microbiol, 1980 May, 26(5), 633 - 6
AMP metabolism in the marine bacterium Beneckea natriegens; Pickard MA et al.; The catabolism of AMP by preparations from Beneckea natriegens has been reexamined . In the absence of ATP, cell-free extracts catabolized AMP via adenosine to inosine . When ATP was present, adenylate kinase converted AMP to ADP, lowering the rate of AMP catabolism . Particle-free supernatants (225,000 x g) metabolized AMP alone slowly, but adenylate kinase was active when ATP was added . Washed particulate fractions contained AMP nucleotidase activity which converted AMP to adenosine; in the presence of ATP, adenosine formation was reduced by residual adenylate kinase associated with the particulate fraction . IMP was not detected as a metabolite in these experiments.

Biochim Biophys Acta, 1980 Apr 25, 622(2), 171 - 8
Marine biopolymers with cell specificity . II . Purification and characterization of agglutinins from mucus of windowpane flounder Lophopsetta maculata; Kamiya H et al.; The windowpane flounder, Lophopsetta maculata, was found to have proteins in the body mucus which agglutinate mouse leukemia cells, L5784Y but not L1210 . They also agglutinate rabbit and mouse erythrocytes, a marine yeast and a bacterium, and have weak activity against mouse sarcoma 180 cells, human B, guinea pig, and horse erythrocytes . The hemagglutinating activity was not affected by the treatment with 2-mercaptoethanol, trypsin, or pronase, but was inhibited by a high concentration of N-acetylneuraminic acid . The major active component was purified and found to be a protein having a molecular weight of 68 000 which dissociates into subunits of equal size (16 000) . Isoelectrofocusing gave two sharp bands, close together, at pI 4.7 +/- 0.1 . The protein contains high amounts of aspartic acid, glutamic acid and glycine, and very little histidine and half-cystine.

Can J Microbiol, 1980 Apr, 26(4), 454 - 9
Uptake of D-glucose and L-proline by oligotrophic and heterotrophic marine bacteria; Akagi Y et al.; The transport systems of the oligotrophic bacterium 486 for D-glucose and L-proline have been compared with those of the heterotrophic bacterium RP-303 . Kinetic studies demonstrated that the rates of D-glucose and L-proline uptake by the two organisms were saturable processes . The apparent Km values of strain 486 for D-glucose and L-proline were 13.0 microM and 0.2 microM, respectively, whereas those of strain RP-303 were 3.2 microM for D-glucose and 1.8 microM for L-proline . Competition studies indicated that the D-glucose transport system of each bacterium was highly specific for D-glucose . The L-proline transport system of the oligotrophic bacterium 486 had a broad specificity, whereas that of the heterotrophic bacterium RP-303 had a narrow one.

Mol Gen Genet, 1980 Apr, 178(1), 85 - 90
Further physical characterization of deletion and substitution mutants affecting the control of lysogeny in bacteriophage P2; Chattoraj DK et al.; A deletion of phage P2, del6 (L.E . Bertani, 1980), thought to remove the structural gene int, and a deletion/substitution, vir94, thought to remove genes int, C and cox, were mapped by electron microscopy, using the heteroduplex technique . Four independent deletion/substitution mutations, all affecting the regulatory region of P2, were compared in all possible combinations with the same technique: two showed sequence homology in their substitution DNA . The results confirm the model proposed for the origin of these mutants, analogous to that for the origin of transducing variants in phage lambda, but suggest in first approximation that the exchange between the P2 DNA and the chromosome of the host bacterium may occur at several different bacterial sites . A map of the regulatory region of P2, based on all data available from the study of deletions and insertions, is presented.

Cell, 1980 Apr, 19(4), 837 - 44
Post-transcriptional regulatory mutants in a ribosomal protein-RNA polymerase operon of E . coli; Fiil NP et al.; A high copy number plasmid that carries the promoter PJ, intact rplJ and a deletion of the 3' terminal portion of rplL is detrimental to the growth of the host bacterium . Six independent point mutations on the plasmid that overcome this detriment have been isolated . Nucleotide sequence analysis demonstrates that all six mutants are single base pair alterations, occur within the leader region of the rplJ operon and are well removed from the presumed position of the primary promoter, PJ . These mutant plasmids exhibit normal transcription of rplJ-rplL but do not translate rplJ messenger RNA to yield plasmid-specified L10 ribosomal protein . We suggest that these mutations define a regulatory region within the leader sequence of the RNA transcript that serves to modulate the translational efficiency of rplJ messenger RNA.

Lab Anim Sci, 1980 Apr, 30(2 Pt 1), 215 - 21
Respiratory disease in rats associated with a filamentous bacterium: a preliminary report; van Zwieten MJ et al.; A naturally occurring, chronic disease of the respiratory tract was investigated from the time of its onset to completion of life-time studies in a colony of rats . The disease was characterized by peribronchial lymphoid cuffing, suppurative bronchitis, bronchiectasis and bronchial abscesses . Its onset in the colony occurred a few months after an epizootic of Sendai virus infection . Limited retrospective serological testing indicated that Mycoplasma pulmonis may have been present in the colony at that time and continued to persist throughout life in some rats in the colony . Although of uncertain significance, light and electron microscopy consistently demonstrated many filamentous bacteria between the cilia on respiratory epithelium and free in bronchial exudate in these cases . Attempts to culture this organism on artificial media were unsuccessful.

Biochem J, 1980 Apr 1, 187(1), 273 - 6
Regulation of nitrogenase A and R concentrations in Rhodopseudomonas capsulata by glutamine synthetase; Yoch DC; Nitrogen-starved purple non-sulphur bacteria have an active unregulated form of nitrogenase (nitrogenase A); however, the nitrogenase of a glutamine synthetase-negative mutant of Rhodopseudomonas capsulata, when nitrogen-starved, was predominantly inactive and required activation by Mn2+ and activating-factor protein . This regulatory form of nitrogenase has been called nitrogenase R . Treatment of wild-type cells (containing nitrogenase A) with methionine sulphoximine, an inhibitor of glutamine synthetase, converted the enzyme into nitrogenase R . Glutamine synthetase thus appears to control the intracellular concentrations of nitrogenase A and R and in this way regulates nitrogenase activity in the photosynthetic bacterium.

J Biol Chem, 1980 Mar 25, 255(6), 2427 - 32
Biosynthesis of carotenoids derived from neurosporene in Rhodopseudomonas capsulata; Scolnik PA et al.; We have characterized the carotenoids accumulated by a series of mutants of Rhodopseudomonas capsulata as part of a study of the synthesis, structure, and function of the photosynthetic membranes of this bacterium . The carotenoids in this study were identified by visible and mass spectroscopy, chromatography, derivatization, and chemical analyses . We have located a new genetic region, crtF, necessary for the O-methylation of the carotenoids . Mutants with a lesion in crtF accumulate demethylspheroidene as their major carotenoid during anaerobic growth and demethylspheroidenone when grown in the presence of oxygen, a heretofore undescribed phenotype . The genetic region necessary for O-methylation maps adjacent to the known cluster of genes affecting carotenoid biosynthesis . In addition, we have identified methoxyneurosporene as the carotenoid that preferentially binds to the reaction centers of strain Ga, a green mutant of R . sphaeroides which accumulates three neurosporene-like carotenoids . A metabolic grid for carotenoid biosynthesis is proposed, based upon the intermediates accumulated in these mutants.

Mikrobiologiia, 1980 Mar-Apr, 49(2), 227 - 32
{Role of sodium ions in the absorption of C4-dicarboxylic acids by Ectothiorhodospira shaposhnikovii}; Karzanov VV et al.; The uptake of C4-dicarboxylic acids by the phototrophic purple bacterium Ectothiorhodospira shaposhnikovii, strain 1K, involves a common transport system obligatorily dependent on sodium ions . The values of Km for the transport of succinate, malate and fumarate are 1-10(-7), 3-10(-7) and 8-10(-7) M, respectively . The transport of C4-dicarboxylic acids in an energy-dependent process; it is inhibited by m-chlorocarbonylcyanide phenylhydrazone . It has been proved that the uptake of C4-dicarboxylic acids depends on sodium ions because the latter are required for symport . The effect of membrane potential (inside negative) on succinate uptake driven by an artificial sodium gradient was dependent on pH . At pH 7.0 the uptake was inhibited by membrane potential, but was stimulated by it at pH 9.0 . The cells of E . shaposhnikovii grown under the autotrophic conditions maintain the capability to take up C4-dicarboxylic acids.

Am Rev Respir Dis, 1980 Mar, 121(3), 483 - 6
Legionnaires' disease bacterium: prevalence of antibody reacting with the organism in patients suspected of having infection with Pneumocystis carinii; Storch G et al.; Using indirect immunofluorescence, we examined 713 serum specimens submitted for Pneumocystis carinii serologic studies from 566 patients for antibody to the Legionnaires' disease bacterium . This group was chosen because it presumably consisted largely of immunosuppressed patients with acute respiratory illnesses . Of patients tested, 3.4% had titers of 1:128 or greater to Legionella pneumophila . Four (3.7%) of 107 patients for whom multiple specimens were submitted showed diagnostic increases in titer . The proportion of seropositive specimens did not vary with the age, sex, or geographic location of the patients or with season of the year in which the specimens were submitted . In a separate group of 138 serum specimens from 48 patients undergoing marrow transplantation, only 1 seropositive specimen was detected . No estimate of incidence is possible from these studies, but serologic evidence of past or current infection with Legionella pneumophila is uncommon in patients in whom Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia is suspected on clinical grounds . Nevertheless, Legionnaires' disease can affect the immunosuppressed host and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of pneumonia in such a patient.

J Lab Clin Med, 1980 Mar, 95(3), 335 - 42
In vitro response of peripheral blood lymphocytes from patients with rheumatoid arthritis to lipopolysaccharides; Gomez-Reino J et al.; The effect of several LPSs on the thymidine uptake of lymphocytes from patients with RA was investigated . In contrast to normal controls, the mitogenic response to E . coli 026 B6 LPS by lymphocytes from patients with RA was significantly (2p less than 0.05) diminished . This effect was seen with Con A but not with PHA or PWM . No correlation with peripheral B or T cell percentages or with antibody titers to the LPS was found . The response to LPS was dependent on the species and strain of bacterium from which it was isolated.

Can J Microbiol, 1980 Mar, 26(3), 291 - 6
Characterization of a bacterium of the genus Azospirillum from cellulolytic nitrogen-fixing mixed cultures; Wong PP et al.; A bacterium with the taxonomic characteristics of the genus Azospirillum was isolated from celluloytic N2-fixing mixed cultures . Its characteristics fit the descriptions of both Azopirillum lipoferum (Beijerinck) comb . nov . and Azospirillum brasilense sp . nov . It may be a variant strain of A . lipoferum . In mixed cultures with cellulolytic organisms, the bacterium grew and fixed N2 with cellelose as a sole source of energy and carbon . The mixed cultures used cellulose from leaves of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), corn (Zea mays L.), and big bluestem grass (Andropogon gerardii Vitm) . Microaerophilic N2-fixing bacteria of the genus Azospirillum, such as the bacterium we isolated, may be important contributors of fixed N2 in soil with partial anaerobiosis and cellulose decomposition.

Mikrobiologiia, 1980 Mar-Apr, 49(2), 244 - 8
{Growth of Ectothiorhodospira mobilis in the dark}; Krasil'nikova EN et al.; The purple photosynthetic bacterium Ectothiorhodospira mobilis, like E . shaposhnikovii, can grow in the dark in the presence of oxygen on organic media, in particular, containing acetate or malate . The source of sulfur may be sulfate or thiosulfate . The two bacteria grown in the light and in the dark display the activity of all the enzymes of the citric acid cycle, with the exception of alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, and possess the enzymes of the glyoxylate shunt (isocitrate lyase and malate synthase) . Irrespective of the conditions of the cultural growth, active fixation of carbon dioxide by the cells of E . mobilis was found only in the light.

Mikrobiologiia, 1980 Mar-Apr, 49(2), 221 - 6
{Thiosulfate metabolism in Rhodopseudomonas palustris}; Rodova NA et al.; The cells of the purple nonsulfur bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris, Nakamura strain, are capable of oxidizing thiosulfate and sulfide both under the anaerobic conditions in the light and under the aerobic conditions in the dark . Regardless of the presence of thiosulfate in the medium, the cells contain thiosulfate reductase, rodanase, thiosulfate oxidase, and sulfite oxidase . However, the capability to oxidize thiosulfate and sulfide is induced in Rh . palustris after the cells have been incubated in the presence of thiosulfate for 2--4 hours . The process of induction is related to the synthesis of protein components . Decomposition of thiosulfate in Rh . palustris when its concentration in the medium is low (2--5 mM) is accompanied with the formation of an equimolar quantity of sulfate . When the concentration of thiosulfate is higher (10--20 mM), the products of its oxidation are tetrathionate and sulfate . Therefore, the metabolic pathway of thiosulfate in Rh . palustris depends on its concentration in the medium.

Z Naturforsch {C}, 1980 Mar-Apr, 35(3-4), 229 - 38
{Pyrophosphate-dependent D-fructose-6-phosphate-phosphotransferase in Rhodospirillaceae (author's transl)}; Pfleiderer C et al.; A pyrophosphate-dependent fructose-6-phosphate phosphotransferase from the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum was partially purified and characterized in respect to kinetic and regulatory properties . The enzyme had a molecular weight of about 95 000 dalton and required Mg2+-ions for catalysis and maintenance of activity . The phosphotransferase was specific for fructose-6-phosphate (F-6-P) and inorganic pyrophosphate (PP) as substrates of the fructose-1,6-bisphosphate-forming reaction (forward reaction) . In the phosphate (Pi)-dependent back reaction, the preferred substrate was fructose-1,6-bisphosphate (FBP) . At optimal pH (7.2 for the forward, and 8.6 for the back reaction) the back reaction had a slightly higher Vmax than the forward reaction . The substrate-saturation curves of the enzyme were all hyperbolic with intersecting kinetic pattern . The Km-values (in mM) at saturating MgCl2-concentration were: 0.38 (F-6-P); 0.25 (PP); 0.02 (FBP) and 0.82 (Pi) . The forward reaction was inhibited by ADP . The inhibition by ADP (Ki = 0.18 mM) was of the mixed type in respect to F-6-P, but independent of the PP-concentration . The inhibition by AMP (Ki = 0.017 mM) was of a more complex type, because AMP not only decreased the Vmax of the F-6-P- or PP-saturation curve, but also increased the Hill-coefficient from nH = 1 to nH = 2.5 of the F-6-P-saturation curve . The inhibition of the back reaction by the two adenylates was less pronounced . ATP (at 2.5 mM), like citrate, inhibited the back reaction only at low MgCl2 concentration (1 mM) indicating that the inhibitory effect was due to the chelation of Mg2+ . Out of 5 other species of the Rhodospirillaceae tested, the PP-dependent phosphofructokinase was only shown to present in Rhodopseudomonas gelatinosa.

J Bacteriol, 1980 Mar, 141(3), 1399 - 408
Ultrastructure of a magnetotactic spirillum; Balkwill DL et al.; The ultrastructure of a magnetotactic bacterium (strain MS-1) was examined by transmission, scanning, and scanning-transmission electron microscopy . The organism resembled other spirilla in general cell morphology, although some differences were detected at the ultrastructural level . Electron-dense particles within magnetotactic cells were shown by energy-dispersive X-ray analysis to be localizations containing iron . A non-magnetotactic variant of strain MS-1 lacked these novel bacterial inclusion bodies . A chain of these particles traversed each magnetotactic cell in a specific arrangement that was consistent from cell to cell, seemingly associated with the inner surface of the cytoplasmic membrane . Each particle was surrounded by an electron-dense layer separated from the particle surface by an electron-transparent region . The term "magnetosome" is proposed for the electron-dense particles with their enveloping layer(s) as found in this and other magnetotactic bacteria.

Biochem J, 1980 Feb 15, 186(2), 453 - 9
Detection of cytochrome b+50 in membranes of Rhodospirillum rubrum isolated from aerobically and phototrophically grown cells; Niederman RA et al.; 1 . Dark equilibrium potentiometric titrations were conducted on membranes purified from Rhodospirillum rubrum in an effort to identify b-type cytochrome components reported in other Rhodospirillaceae . In preparations from aerobically grown cells virtually devoid of bacteriochlorophyll a, three components were observed at 560-540 nm . Their oxidation-reduction midpoint potentials assigned by computer-assisted analysis were +195, +50 and -110 mV at pH 7.0; each of these fitted closely to theoretical single-electron equivalent curves . 2 . In chromatophores from phototrophically grown carotenoidless mutant G-9, three components were also observed with E0' +190, +50 and -90mV . 3 . The alpha-band of the +50mV component exhibited an absorption maximum near 560nm in difference spectra obtained at fixed oxidation-reduction potentials . 4 . This component could be demonstrated most readily in purified membrane preparations and may have been obscured in previous studies by residual cytochrome c' . 5 . This is the first definitive report of cytochrome b+50 in membranes from Rs . rubrum and aligns this bacterium with other Rhodospirillaceae in which this component functions in light-driven cyclic electron flow.

Can J Microbiol, 1980 Feb, 26(2), 274 - 8
A simple method for studying chemotaxis using sustained release of attractants from inert polymers; Langer R et al.; Chemotaxis of the bacterium Escherichia coli and the planarian Dugesia dorotocephala toward a variety of substances impregnated in sustained-release polymers has been demonstrated . Tests were carried out in soft agar and in aqueous medium with highly consistent results . The simplicity of this method may make it particularly useful for rapid qualitative screening of new wild-type and mutant strains of bacteria for chemotaxis toward nonmetabolites . The cost, ease of fabrication, and the facility with which they can be utilized in test systems suggest that these sustained-release vehicles will provide a new and general method of creating concentration gradients to study chemotaxis.

Appl Environ Microbiol, 1980 Feb, 39(2), 456 - 9
Growth of Legionella pneumophila in association with blue-green algae (cyanobacteria); Tison DL et al.; Legionella pneumophila (Legionnaires disease bacterium) of serogroup 1 was isolated from an algal-bacterial mat community growing at 45 degrees C in a man-made thermal effluent . This isolate was grown in mineral salts medium at 45 degrees C in association with the blue-green alga (cyanobacterium) Fischerella sp . over a pH range of 6.9 to 7.6 . L . pneumophila was apparently using algal extracellular products as its carbon and energy sources . These observations indicate that the temperature, pH, and nutritional requirements of L . pneumophila are not as stringent as those previously observed when cultured on complex media . This association between L . pneumophila and certain blue-green algae suggests an explanation for the apparent widespread distribution of the bacterium in nature.

J Bacteriol, 1980 Feb, 141(2), 908 - 13
Structure of Methylosinus trichosporium exospores; Reed WM et al.; Methylosinus trichosporium exospores did not display a well-defined cortex or an exosporium . A thick, electron-dense exospore wall was characteristic of the exospores . Located on the exterior of the exospore wall was a cell wall to which a well-defined capsule was attached . An extensive lamellar intracytoplasmic membrane system characteristic of the kind in vegetative cells of this bacterium was present along the interior periphery of the exospore wall . Upon germination of M . trichosporium exospores, the thick exospore wall gradually disappeared and a germ tube formed . The intracytoplasmic membranes of the exospores extended into the germ tube which did not possess the extensive fibrillar capsule observed on the dormant exospore . Cup-shaped exospores which have an ultrastructure similar to that of mature exospores except that they are invaginated also germinated upon exposure to methane.

J Am Vet Med Assoc, 1980 Jan 15, 176(2), 124 - 5
Leptospirosis in lambs; Davidson JN et al.; Two major episodes of acute hemolytic disease in lambs were associated with high mortality . Clinical signs were severe depression, dyspnea, and tachycardia . Gross postmortem findings included hemoglobinuria and icterus . Histologic examination revealed tubular necrosis and periacinar hepatocellular necrosis . Leptospira interrogans serotype pomona was proposed as the causative agent because high serum antibody titers for this bacterium were found in lambs and ewes in the affected flocks.

Biochim Biophys Acta, 1980 Jan 4, 589(1), 30 - 45
Supramolecular organization of chlorosomes (chlorobium vesicles) and of their membrane attachment sites in Chlorobium limicola; Staehelin LA et al.; The photosynthetic green bacterium Chlorobium limicola 6230 has been examined by freeze-fracture electron microscopy to investigate the size, form, distribution and supramolecular architecture of its chlorosomes (chlorobium vesicles) as well as the chlorosome attachment sites on the cytoplasmic membrane . The oblong chlorosomes that underlie the cytoplasmic membrane show a considerable variation in size from about 40 X 70 nm to 100 X 260 nm and exhibit no particular orientation . The chlorosome core, which appears to be hydrophobic in nature, contains between 10 and 30 rod-shaped elements (approx . 10 nm in diameter) surrounded by an unetchable matrix . The rod elements are closely packed and extend the full length of the chlorosome . Separating the chlorosome core from the cytoplasm is a approx . 3 nm thick lipid-like envelope layer, which exhibits no substructure . A 5-6 nm thick, crystalline baseplate connects the chlorosome to the cytoplasmic membrane . The ridges of the baseplate lattice make an angle of between 40 degrees and 60 degrees with the longitudinal axis of the chlorosome and have a repeating distance of approx . 6 nm . In addition, each ridge exhibits a granular substructure with a periodicity of approx . 3.3 nm . The cytoplasmic membrane regions adjacent to the baseplates are enriched in large (greater than 9 nm) intramembrane particles, most of which belong to approx . 10 nm and approx . 12.5 nm particle size categories . Each chlorosome attachment site contains between 20 and 30 very large (greater than 12.0 nm diameter) intramembrane particles . The following interpretive model of a chlorosome is discussed in terms of biophysical, biochemical and structural information reported by others: it is proposed that the bacteriochlorophyll c (BChl c; chlorobium chlorophyll) is located in the rod elements of the core and that it is complexed with specific proteins . The cytoplasm-associated envelope layer is depicted as consisting of a monolayer of galactosyl diacylglycerol molecules . BChl alpha-protein complexes in a planar lattice configuration most likely make up the crystalline baseplate . The greater than 12-nm particles in the chlorosome attachment sites of the cytoplasmic membrane, finally, may correspond to complexes containing a reaction center and non-crystalline light-harvesting BChl alpha . The crystalline nature of the baseplate is consistent with the notion that it serves two functions: besides transferring excitation energy to the reaction centers it could also function as a distributor of this energy amongst the reaction centers.

J Nat Prod, 1980 Jan-Feb, 43(1), 136 - 9
Marine biopolymers with cell specificity--III--Agglutinins in the red alga Cystoclonium purpureum: isolation and characterization; Kamiya H et al.; The red alga, Cystoclonium purpurcum, contains agglutinins which selectively agglutinate mouse leukemia cells L5178Y but not L1210 . It also agglutinated erythrocytes, lymphocytes, and a marine bacterium . The major component was a glycoprotein having a molecular weight of 12,500 daltons . It contained 5.6% carbohydrates and consisted of two subunits.

Mikrobiologiia, 1980 Jan-Feb, 49(1), 20 - 4
{Autotrophic cultivation of carboxide bacteria in continuous cultures}; Volova-Kesler TG; The carboxydobacterium Seliberia carboxydohydrogena Z-1062 was grown under the conditions of continuous cultivation in the atmosphere of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide . The concentration of the bacterial cells in the chemostat depended on the specific growth rate at the inhibition with CO . The biochemical composition of the carboxydobacterial biomass, the rate of utilization of the gaseous mixture by the culture, and the economic coefficients were studied when the flow rate of the medium changed from 0.2 to 0.05 hr-1 . A stable turbidostatic culture of this carboxydobacterial strain has been obtained, and the effect of CO concentration on the specific growth rate of the bacterium has been assayed.

Am J Med Technol, 1980 Jan, 46(1), 44 - 8
Nocardiosis: a literature review and a case report of Nocardia asteroides infection; Harris GK; Increased chemotherapy and longterm steroid treatments have made nocardiosis a prevalent problem in the United States . The most common infectant is the bacterium Nocardia asteroides . Culturing and identifying the organism and the diagnosis and treatment of the disease are discussed . A literature review and a related case history accompany the discussion.

Ann Intern Med, 1980 Jan, 92(1), 53 - 4
"Pittsburgh pneumonia agent": a bacterium phenotypically similar to Legionella pneumophila and identical to the TATLOCK bacterium; Hebert GA et al.; The "Pittsburgh pneumonia agent," isolated by Pasculle and co-workers from human lung tissue, has been cultured on artificial media and characterized . The "Pittsburgh" bacterium and the TATLOCK and HEBA bacteria have identical cultural, biochemical, and antigenic characteristics . They also have the same cellular fatty-acid composition, and DNA relatedness indicates that they belong to the same species.

Calcif Tissue Int, 1980, 30(2), 167 - 74
Relationship between proteolipids and calcium-phospholipid-phosphate complexes in Bacterionema matruchotii calcification; Boyan-Salyers BD et al.; Calcium-phospholipid-phosphate complexes (Ca-PL-P) were isolated from calcified and uncalcified Bacterionema matruchotii and its calcified lipid extracts . Similar complexes were absent from the noncalcifying bacterium Actinomyces naeslundii . The majority of the Ca-PL-P complexes were associated with the proteolipid acidic phospholipid component . Ca-PL-P complexes isolated from B . matruchotii and from calcified proteolipid contained phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate, phosphatidylinositol-4,5-diphosphate, and phosphatidylserine . They consisted of approximately 52 mole % Ca, 32 mole % organic P, and 15 mole % Pi . During Ca-PL-P extraction from B . matruchotii or its proteolipid-containing calcified lipid extracts, the proteolipid was dissociated and the apoprotein precipitated as fluff at the aqueous-organic solvent interface, thus explaining the failure to detect protein in Ca-PL-P preparations . When the ability of Ca-PL-P complexes and lipid fractions of B . matruchotii to initiate apatite formation from metastable calcium phosphate solution was compared, the yield of hydroxyapatite decreased as follows: Ca-PL-P greater than proteolipid acidic phospholipids greater than proteolipid greater than crude phospholipid greater than total lipids greater than whole cells.

Arch Microbiol, 1980 Jan, 124(1), 1 - 11
Characterization of an acetate-decarboxylating, non-hydrogen-oxidizing methane bacterium; Zehnder AJ et al.; A methanogenic bacterium, commonly seen in digested sludge and referred to as the "fat rod" or Methanobacterium soehngenii, has been enriched to a monoculture and is characterized . Cells are gramnegative, non-motile and appear as straight rods with flat ends . They form filaments which can grow to great lengths . The structure of the outer cell envelop is similar to Methanospirillum hungatii . The organism grows on a mineral salt medium with acetate as the only organic component . Acetate is the energy source, and methane is formed exclusively from the methyl group . Acetate and carbon dioxide act as sole carbon source and are assimilated in a molar ratio of about 1.9:1 . The reducing equivalents necessary to build biomass from these two precursors are obtained from the total oxidation of some acetate . Hydrogen is not used for methane formation and is not needed for growth . Formate is cleaved into hydrogen and carbon dioxide . Coenzyme M was found to be present at levels of 0.35 nmol per mg of dry cells and F420 amounted to 0.55 microgram per mg protein . The mean generation time was 9 days at 33 degrees C.

J Biochem (Tokyo), 1980 Jan, 87(1), 101 - 10
Purification and properties of polynucleotide phosphorylase from photosynthetic bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum; Soe G et al.; 1 . Polynucleotide phosphorylase {polyribonucleotide: orthophosphate nucleotidyltransferase, EC 2.7.7.8} was purified to near homogeneity from the photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodospirillum rubrum . The purified enzyme had a molecular weight of approximately 160,000, and consisted of two equivalent subunits of approximately 76,000 daltons . It catalyzed the three reactions described below . 2 . In the exchange reaction of the beta-phosphate of nucleoside diphosphates with Pi by the purified enzyme in the presence of 3.3 mM Pi, 6.7 mMCl2, and 0.33 mM or 1.0 mM nucleotide at pH 8.0 and 20 degrees C, ADP, GDP, and CDP, and CDP were better substrates than UDP, while IDP and deoxyribonucleoside diphosphates hardly served as substrates . The ADP-Pi exchange activity was significantly inhibited by high concentrations of either ADP or Pi . 3 . In the polymerization reaction of ribonucleoside diphosphates by the purified enzyme in the presence of 6.7 mM nucleotide and 6.7 mM MgCl2 at pH 8.0 and 20 degrees C, ADP was the best substrate; the activities relative to that with ADP were 55% with UD, 51% with CDP, and 48% with IDP, while GDP hardly served as a substrate, 4 . In the phosphoryolysis reaction of polynucleoside diphosphates by the purified enzyme in the presence of 1.0 mM polynucleotide, 6.7 mM Pi, and 6.7 mM MgCl2 at pH 8.0 and 20 degrees C, poly{U} was the best substrate; the activities relative to that with poly{U} were 32% with poly{A}, 28% with poly{I}, 21% with poly{C}, and 2% with yeast RNA, while poly{G} and yeast DNA hardly served as substrates . 5 . The three kinds of activities of the purified enzyme described above were stimulated by divalent cations such as Mg2+, Mn2+, Cd2+, and Co2+.

Scand J Immunol, 1980, 12(3), 193 - 201
Serological and physicochemical reactivity of bovine erythrocytes before and after trypsin treatment; Edebo L et al.; On partition in aqueous polymer two-phase systems containing dextran, poly(ethyleneglycol) (PEG), and PEG substituted with charged or hydrophobic groups "inagglutinable" ox erythrocytes showed more negative surface charge and less hydrophobicity than "agglutinable" ox erythrocytes . Tryspin treatment of the erythrocytes increased the agglutinability, reduced the negative charge, and seemed to increase the liability to hydrophobic interaction . Haemagglutination of highly negatively charged ox erythrocytes is almost impossible to accomplish by antibody against the ox erythrocytes alone or against IgG antigen linked to the erythrocytes in passive haemagglutination . Likewise, reverse passive (antiglobulin) haemagglutination cannot be accomplished with these cells when immunoglobulin antigens of moderate molecular size (less than or equal to 900,000) are used . However, these cells may be agglutinated when a non-charged carrier such as a bacterium coated with sensitizing antibody (immunoglobulin) is used to bridge the antiglobulin-coupled erythrocytes in a mixed latticer aggllutinate . Such a bridging can also be accomplished by heat aggregation of the immunoglobulin antigen.

Eur J Biochem, 1979 Dec 17, 102(2), 317 - 30
Purification and properties of hydrogenase from Megasphaera elsdenii; Van Dijk C et al.; A hydrogenase has been purified to homogeneity from the soluble fraction of the rumen bacterium Megasphaera elsdenii, the overall purification is 200 times with a yield of 14% . The pure enzyme consists of a single polypeptide chain with Mr approximately 50 000 which contains 12 atoms of non-haem iron and 12 atoms of acid-labile sulphide . The enzyme is rapidly inactivated by O2 and it is therefore purified under nitrogen and in the presence of sodium dithionite . The optical spectrum of the enzyme, after removal of the dithionite with air, shows a peak at 275 nm (epsilon 275 nm = 143 mM-1 cm-1) and a shoulder between 350 nm and 400 nm (epsilon 400 nm = 46 mM-1 cm-1) . The enzyme catalyses hydrogen production from sodium dithionite at a low rate . The rate is greatly enhanced by addition of the electron donors flavodoxin, ferredoxin and methyl viologen . The kinetic data with these three electron donors suggest co-operativity, but no indication of self-association of the enzyme was obtained . Sodium chloride enhances the rate of hydrogen production with methyl viologen semiquinone and changes the kinetic behaviour of the enzyme with this electron donor, but causes inhibition of the reactions mediated by ferredoxin and flavodoxin . Two kinetic models were developed which are consistent with the kinetic data of the three electron donors tested . The apparent co-operativity for the hydrogen production can be fitted with the mathematical form of those models . The identical kinetic behaviour of the hydrogenase with the one-electron donors flavodoxin and methyl viologen semiquinone monomer and the two-electron donor ferredoxin indicates that the hydrogenase accepts two electrons in two separate, independent steps and further indicates that the two (4Fe-4S) clusters of the donor ferredoxin are independent . The interpretation of the kinetic data with methyl viologen semiquinone is complicated by the fact that the semiquinone dimerises, and that the formation of the dimer is enhanced by salt . Taking into account the association of this donor, the activity of the enzyme with methyl viologen semiquinone can be described by the sum of the activities of the enzyme with methyl viologen monomer and methyl viologen dimer . The enzyme catalyses the oxidation of hydrogen gas with methyl and benzyl viologen as electron acceptors to their semiquinone forms; both electron acceptors show Michaelis-Menten kinetics . The hydrogen oxidation activity with both electron acceptors is stimulated by addition of sodium chloride . The kinetic data of the oxidation of hydrogen with the two-electron acceptors used are consistent with the porposed models, if it is assumed that the pathway followed is compulsory . At this moment no choice can be made between the models proposed.

Biomedicine, 1979 Dec, 31(8), 217 - 8
Induction of haemorrhagic necrosis in a murine tumour by products from the culture fluid of Azotobacter; Cifuentes de Castro L et al.; Macromolecules in the supernatant from cultures of the nitrogen-fixing bacterium Azotobacter chroococcum when given systemically induce permanent regression of established grafts of a syngeneic murine lymphoma . The effect mimics that produced by endotoxin in that haemorrhagic necrosis is induced in the tumour, but the ratio of the toxic dose to the dose needed to cause tumour regression is greater than for this culture supernatant than for endotoxin.

J Clin Microbiol, 1979 Dec, 10(6), 815 - 8
Identification of diaminopimelic acid in the Legionnaires disease bacterium; Guerrant GO et al.; Diaminopimelic acid was found to be a component of the cell wall of the Legionnaires disease bacterium, thus providing additional evidence that the organism is a bacterium . The presence of this amino acid was determined by gas-liquid chromatography and confirmed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Br J Vener Dis, 1979 Dec, 55(6), 387 - 93
Optimum concentration of dissolved oxygen for the survival of virulent Treponema pallidum under conditions of low oxidation-reduction potential; Graves S et al.; A maintenance medium with a low oxidation-reduction (redox) potential, when gently bubbled with 5% oxygen in nitrogen or with air for various periods of time, gave a range of dissolved oxygen concentrations between 1.6 and 5.8 micrograms/l . Virulent Treponema pallidum (Nichols strain) inoculated into these media were assayed 24 and 48 hours later for motility and virulence and were compared with samples taken at zero time . Virulent T . pallidum survived best in the presence of 2.4 micrograms/l dissolved oxygen over a 48-hour period, which corresponded to a gaseous mixture of 3% oxygen in nitrogen . Higher concentrations of oxygen did not give significantly different results from anaerobic conditions over this period . Thus, until it can be grown in vitro, T . pallidum would appear to be a microaerophilic bacterium.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Dec, 91(6), 831 - 4
A newly identified bacterium phenotypically resembling, but genetically distinct from, Legionella pneumophila: an isolate in a case of pneumonia; Lewallen KR et al.; A bacterium with growth characteristics similar to, but genetically distinct from, either Legionella pneumophila or WIGA (a "rickettsia-like agent") was obtained from a postmortem lung specimen of a patient with fatal atypical pneumonia at the M . D . Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute in Houston, Texas . This bacterium and WIGA have essentially the same cellular fatty acid composition, which is distinct from that of L . pneumophila . Deoxyribonucleic acid-reletadness studies show that the isolate from Texas is only about 10% related to both L . pneumophila and WIGA and there fore may represent a new species . This new bacterium should be considered in selecting laboratory procedures in the diagnosis of atypical pneumonia.

J Biol Chem, 1979 Nov 25, 254(22), 11307 - 11
The recognition of a special ubiquinone functionally central in the ubiquinone-cytochrome b-c2 oxidoreductase; Takamiya K et al.; Although the energy conserving membranes of the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides contain a 25 (+/- 3)-fold molar excess of ubiquinone over the photochemical reaction center, the activity of the ubiquinone-cytochrome b-c2 oxidoreductase is unaffected by quinone extraction until only 3, or at most 4, ubiquinones remain; only then does further extraction prevent the function of the oxidoreductase . Since 2 of these last ubiquinones are integral parts of the photochemical reaction center, we conclude that the ubiquinone-cytochrome b-c2 oxidoreductase requires only 1, or at most 2, molecules of ubiquinone-10 for its function . Earlier kinetic data identified a major electron donor to ferricytochrome c2 as a single molecule (known as Z) which requires 2 electrons and 2 protons for its equilibrium reduction . Hence, we identify a single molecule of quinone, probably ubiquinone-10 in a special environment, as a major electron donor to ferricytochrome c2 in the ubiquinone cytochrome b-c2 oxidoreductase.

Biochim Biophys Acta, 1979 Nov 8, 548(2), 427 - 32
Photochemically active pigment-protein complexes from the green photosynthetic bacterium Prosthecochloris aestuarii; Swarthoff T et al.; Photochemically active pigment-protein complexes were prepared from a bacteriochlorophyll a containing membrane preparation of the green photosynthetic bacterium Prosthecochloris aestuarii . The preparations contained about 75 and 35 bacteriochlorophyll a molecules per reaction center and had molecular weights of 6 . 10(5) and 3.5 . 10(5), respectively . Some of the other properties of these preparations are described.

Biochim Biophys Acta, 1979 Nov 8, 548(2), 348 - 73
Structural studies on reconstituted reaction center-phosphatidylcholine membranes; Pachence JM et al.; Reaction center protein, isolated from the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides R26 mutant, was incorporated into phosphatidylcholine bilayers forming a homogeneous population of unilamellar vesicles . Cytochrome c, added to preformed reaction center-phosphatidylcholine vesicles, rapidly reduced up to 90% of the laser-generated (BChl)2+ of the reaction center (with kinetics of electron transfer similar to those in the chromatophore membrane) which suggests that the portion of the reaction center which accommodates functional cytochrome c binding sites is exposed predominantly on the exterior of the vesicles . Unit cell electron density profiles were derived from lamellar X-ray diffraction from oriented reaction center-phosphatidylcholine membrane multilayers at varying lipid/protein ratios . The analysis of these profiles showed that the reaction center protein incorporates into the phosphatidylcholine membrane with unique sidedness and that the profile of the reaction center protein itself is asymmetric and spans the membrane.

Ann Sclavo, 1979 Nov-Dec, 21(6), 743 - 69
{New classification of bacterium (author's transl)}; Giorgio A; The Author proposes a new classification of bacterium . It has been drawn up with the acquisitions of these last years regarding morfological, physiological and ecological characteristics and genetics of bacterium . It is also based on a new biological concept of the species, which is valid both for the "procarioti" and for the "eucarioti" . Such a new concept, in time, makes a really new natural classification of the bacterium possible . Therefore the classification proposed here does not want to be nor must it be considered complete . It has been formed to be dynamic, capable that is of being modified as knowledge progresses.

J Bacteriol, 1979 Nov, 140(2), 612 - 9
Caulobacter cresentus mutant defective in membrane phospholipid synthesis; Contreras I et al.; To study the relationship between phospholipid synthesis and organelle biogenesis in the dimorphic bacterium Caulobacter crescentus, auxotrophs have been isolated which require exogenous glycerol or glycerol 3-phosphate for growth when glucose is used as the carbon source . Upon glycerol deprivation, net phospholipid synthesis ceased immediately in a glycerol 3-phosphate auxotroph which was shown to have levels of biosynthetic sn-glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (E.C . 1.1.1.8) activity 10 times lower than that of the wild type . In the absence of glycerol, the optical density of the culture continued to increase for the equivalent of one generation, although the cells did not divide . After the equivalent of one generation time, rapid cell death occurred . Cell death also occurred when phospholipid synthesis was inhibited by cerulenin . Although ribonucleic acid and protein syntheses continued at a reduced rate for the equivalent of one generation in mutant strains, a substantial decrease in the rate of deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis occurred immediately upon glycerol deprivation . Revertant strains had wild-type levels of glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity and normal rates of phospholipid and macromolecular synthesis.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Nov, 91(5), 673 - 6
A Legionella-like bacterium related to WIGA in a fatal case of pneumonia; Thomason BM et al.; An unusual bacterium serologically related to a "rickettsia-like agent," designated previously as WIGA, was seen in lung tissue from a patient who died of pneumonia of unknown cause . A fluorescent antibody conjugate prepared with the WIGA organism, isolated in 1959, was used to stain the lung tissue . Enormous numbers of fluorescent bacteria in the lungs of this patient confirm the pathogenicity of this unusual bacterium.

J Bacteriol, 1979 Nov, 140(2), 532 - 42
Poising of the arginine pool and control of bioluminescence in Beneckea harveyi; Makemson JC et al.; Arginine dramatically stimulates bioluminescence in the marine bacterium Beneckea harveyi growing in minimal media, an effect that is due to increases in both the synthesis and expression of luciferase . To elucidate the mechanism of this phenomenon, studies were made of the transport and metabolism of arginine in B . harveyi . The transport of arginine and lysine involves two kinetically distinct transport systems for the uptake of arginine and lysine . In contrast, ornithine is transported only by a system common to all three amino acids . The internal amino acid pools were measured in mutants that do not show stimulation of bioluminescence by arginine and in wild-type cells that do . In minimal media, the internal arginine pools are undetectably low . Furthermore, exogenously added labeled arginine is rapidly transported and converted to citrulline and argininosuccinate . The results can be accommodated by a model in which the internal arginine is poised at a very low concentration; the stimulatory effect of exogenous arginine on luciferase biosynthesis occurs at the transcriptional level, and the actual mediator can be either arginine or argininyl transfer ribonucleic acid.

Infect Immun, 1979 Nov, 26(2), 563 - 72
Neuraminidase-dependent hamagglutination of human erythrocytes by human strains of Actinomyces viscosus and Actinomyces naeslundii; Costello AH et al.; Human A, B, and O erythrocytes (RBC) were agglutinated by many human strains of Actinomyces viscosus and A . naeslundii . At 37 degrees C, these bacterium-mediated hemagglutination reactions required the action of bacterial neuraminidase upon the RBC; however, at 4 degrees C, the requirement for neuraminidase was not as striking . Bacterial cell suspensions which caused hemagglutination at 37 degrees C contained both soluble extracellular and cell-associated neuraminidase activities as shown by enzyme assays using a soluble substrate (i.e., alpha 1-acid glycoprotein) . Bacterium-mediated hemagglutination occurred only in the presence of soluble neuraminidase activity, and the rate of hemagglutination could be inhibited by 2-deoxy-2,3-dehydro-N-acetylneuraminic acid, a competitive inhibitor of purified soluble neuraminidase from A . viscosus T14V . Suspensions of bacteria which contained only cell-associated neuraminidase activity were unable to initiate hemagglutination, but they caused immediate hemagglutination when mixed with neuraminidase-treated RBC . All hemagglutination reactions were reversible in the presence of 0.02 M lactose and were abolished by heating (85 degrees C for 30 min) the actinomycete cells but not the RBC . The proposed mechanism of hemagglutination involves two sequential steps: (i) the action of neuraminidase to unmask galactose-containing receptors on the RBC and (ii) the multivalent binding of these receptors by many low-affinity lection sites on the bacterial surface.

Boll Soc Ital Biol Sper, 1979 Oct 15, 55(19), 2025 - 30
{Interaction between alkaloids of Claviceps purpurea and development of some bacteria and bacteriophages . Preliminary experiments}; Gallone U et al.; It has been tested the bacteriolytic activity and the interaction among the development of the bacteriophage T4 and Ergot alkaloids . It has been determined a bacteriolytic action on the bacterial stub "E . Coli host of bacteriophage T4 . It exist an interaction also among such alkaloids and the development of the bacteriophage T4, which appears through an increase of the quantity of lysis areas, becoming evident in solid bodies containing the lysing bacterium . Further researches with other bacterial and virus stubs will be effected and mentioned afterward.

Biochim Biophys Acta, 1979 Oct 10, 548(1), 96 - 105
Purification and properties of cytochrome c-553, an electron acceptor for formate dehydrogenase of Desulfovibrio vulgaris, Miyazaki; Yagi T; Cytochrome c-553 of Desulfovibrio vulgaris, Miyazaki, was purified to homogeneity . The absorption spectrum of the ferro form has four peaks at 553, 525, 417 and 317 nm with a plateau near 280 nm, and that of the ferri form has three peaks at 525, 410 and 360 nm with a plateau near 280 nm and a shoulder at 560 nm . The millimolar absorbance coefficient of the alpha-peak of the ferro form is 23.9 . The molecular weight of cytochrome c-553 is 8000, and it contains one heme . Its isoelectric point is rather alkaline, and its standard redox potential is -0.26 V at pH 7.0 . Its amino acid composition is unique; it lacks proline, isoleucine and tryptophan . Ferrocytochrome c-553 does not combine with CO, nor does it transfer electrons directly to various redox carriers such as flavin nucleotides, methylene blue, indigodisulfonate, 5-methylphenazinium methyl sulfate, 1-methoxy-5-methylphenazinium methyl sulfate, viologens and cytochrome c3, but is oxidized by ferricyanide or by O2 . Cytochrome c-553 can be reduced by formate dehydrogenase of this bacterium in the presence of formate, but not by hydrogenase under H2 . The formate dehydrogenase does not reduce cytochrome c3 in the presence of formate . The systematic name for formate dehydrogenase of D . vulgaris is, therefore, established as formate:ferricytochrome c-553 oxidoreductase in EC subclass 1.22.-.

Arch Microbiol, 1979 Oct, 123(1), 105 - 7
Nickel, cobalt, and molybdenum requirement for growth of Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum; Schonheit P et al.; Growth of Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum on H2 and CO2 as sole energy and carbon sources was found to be dependent on Ni, Co, and Mo . At low concentrations of Ni (less than 100 nM), Co (less than 10 nM) and Mo (less than 10 nM) the amount of cells formed was roughly proportional to the amount of transition metal added to the medium; for the formation of 1 g cells (dry weight) approximately 150 nmol NiCl2, 20 nmol CoCl2 and 20 nmol Na2MoO4 were required . A dependence of growth on Cu, Mn, Zn, Ca, Al, and B could not be demonstrated . Conditions are described under which the bacterium grew exponentially with a doubling time of 1.8 h up to a cell density of 2 g cells (dry weight)/l.

J Biochem (Tokyo), 1979 Oct, 86(4), 1151 - 3
Extracellular hydrogenase from photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodospirillum rubrum; Hirua H et al.; With Rhodospirillum rubrum, hydrogenase was found to exist partly as an extracellular enzyme in the culture medium . After 4-day cultivation, the total activity and the specific activity of the enzyme in the medium were about 10 times and 230 times as high as those in the crude extract obtained from disrupted cells . The time course for the production of hydrogenase during cultivation was studied.

Biochim Biophys Acta, 1979 Sep 11, 547(3), 502 - 11
Magnetophotoselection of the triplet state of reaction centers from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides R-26; Frank HA et al.; Reaction centers of the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides R-26, give rise to large triplet state EPR signals upon illumination at low temperature (11 K) . Utilizing monochromatic polarized light to generate the EPR spectra (magnetophotoselection) we have shown that the intensities of the observed triplet signals are strongly dependent upon the wavelength and polarization direction of the excitation . These data can be used to calculate the orientations of the excited transition moments with respect to each other and with respect to the triplet state principal magnetic axes system . Our quantitative approach is to follow the procedure outlined in a previous publication (Frank, H.A., Friesner, R., Nairn, J.A., Dismukes, G.C . and Sauer, K . (1979) Biochim . Biophys . Acta 547, 484-501) where computer simulations of the observed triplet state spectra were employed . The results presented in the present work indicate that the transition moment at 870 nm which is associated with the bacteriochlorophyll 'special pair' lies almost entirely along one of the principal magnetic axes of the triplet state . Aso, the 870 nm transition moment makes an angle of approx . 60 degrees with the 546 nm transition moment which is associated with a bacteriopheophytin . This latter result is in agreement with previous photoselection studies on the same bacterial species (Vermeglio, A., Breton, J., Paillotin, G . and Cogdell, R . (1978) Biochim . Biophys . Acta 501, 514-530).

J Biol Chem, 1979 Sep 10, 254(17), 8594 - 604
Electron and proton transport in the ubiquinone cytochrome b-c2 oxidoreductase of Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides . Patterns of binding and inhibition by antimycin; van den Berg WH et al.; The effect of antimycin on the ubiquinone cytochrome b-c2 (Q b-c2) oxidoreductase of the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides has been studied under controlled oxidation-reduction potential (Eh) conditions by equilibrium measurements and by rapid kinetic analysis of single turnover flash.induced electron and proton translocations . 1 . Antimycin shifts the alpha-band of ferro b50 (lambda max 560 nm) by 1 to 2 nm toward the red but has no apparent effect on the equilibrium oxidation-reduction midpoint potential of the cytochrome . 2 . This red shift is proportional to the antimycin added until a "titer" of 0.7 +/- 0.1 antimycin per reaction center (RC) is approached . With a similar titer antimycin essentially abolishes the following millisecond reactions activated by saturating single turnover flashes: reduction of ferri c2, oxidation of ferro b, Phase III of the membrane-potential-indicating band shift of endogenous carotenoid pigments, and the uptake of 1 of the 2 protons taken up per electron transferred . Such titrations indicate that the binding (KD approximately 10(-9) m) and mode of inhibition of antimycin are noncooperative and are independent of the membrane's coupling status and of the pH and Eb over the range in which electron transport is operative . 3 . In the presence of excess antimycin a partial recovery of ferri c2 reduction is seen when the intensity of the flash is diminished, but only at Eh values such that Z (a special quinone serving as reductant for ferri c2) is reduced but b50 is oxidized before activation . These results are consistent with the following model . Each Q b-c2 oxidoreductase complex includes one antimycin binding site, one b50, and one Z . These complexes and the c2 . RC complexes, present in an 0.7:1 ratio, are to some degree mobile with respect to each other . Ferri b50 can be reduced either via the quinones of the RC or via Z in a reaction also involving c2 . The former route is kinetically dominant in the presence of antimycin, but the latter route is the means for "oxidant-induced reduction" and depends on the collisional interaction of the oxidoreductase and c2 . RC complexes . Antimycin interferes with neither of these two routes but does inhibit the oxidation of ferro b50; all the other inhibitory effects are consequent on this.

Carbohydr Res, 1979 Sep, 74, 259 - 78
Structural and immunochemical characterization of the acidic arabinomannan of Mycobacterium smegmatis; Weber PL et al.; A serologically active, acidic arabinomannan has been isolated from Mycobacterium smegmatis . The polysaccharide contains approximately 56 arabinosyl and 11 mannosyl residues, and 2 phosphate, 6 monoesterified succinate, and 4 ether-linked lactate groups . After saponification to remove succinyl groups, the polysaccharide can be separated into phosphorylated (55%) and nonphosphorylated (45%) forms, the former containing a little more arabinose and a little less mannose than the latter . The structures of these polysaccharides were investigated by 1H- and 13C-n.m.r . spectroscopy and methylation analysis, before and after selective cleavage of furanosyl linkages . The phosphorylated and nonphosphorylated forms of the polysaccharide were found to have similar, if not identical, structures . The main structural feature of the polysaccharides is the presence of chains of contiguous arabinofuranosyl residues linked alpha-(1 leads to 5) . These chains are attached at 0-4 of arabinopyranosyl residues that are present in a core region of the polysaccharide that also contains mannopyranosyl residues . Immunochemical studies demonstrated that the polysaccharide is an effective, precipitating antigen with antisera from rabbits immunized with cell walls or heat-killed cells of M . smegmatis . The polysaccharide is, however, more effective as a precipitating antigen after removal of the succinate groups, and completely ineffective after removal of arabinofuranosyl residues . The polysaccharide therefore contains an important antigen in common with the arabinogalactan lipopolysaccharide of the cell wall of the bacterium, i.e., chains of contiguous alpha-(1 leads to 5)-linked arabinofuranosyl residues.

Can J Microbiol, 1979 Sep, 25(9), 999 - 1007
Investigations on the photosynthetic sulfur bacterium Chlorobium phaeobacteroides causing seasonal blooms in Lake Kinneret; Bergstein T et al.; Between May and December, the annual stratification period in Lake Kinneret, sulfide is formed and accumulates in the hypolimnion . In July-August a large population (up to 10(6) cells/mL) of green, photosynthetic, sulfur bacteria develops at the boundary of the oxidative and reductive zones of the water column lasting for 3--8 weeks . These bacteria were isolated from the lake and identified as Chlorobium phaeobacteroides . Optimal growth conditions included 160 mg S=L-1 and light intensities of 5--30 micron Einstein (micron E) m-2s-1 . Glucose and acetate augmented growth when added to the mineral medium . The lowest light intensity which still supported growth was 0.3 micron E m-2s-1 when acetate was present and 1.0 micron E m-2s-1 when no organic substrate was present . Under complete darkness, either with or without organic substrate, the bacteria die . Photosynthetic activity was higher when no organic compound was added to the medium . Uptake of acetate was light-dependent . In the lake the photosynthetic activity of the bacteria is low because of the limited light intensity (0.3 micron E m-2s-1) at the bloom layer . It is suggested that the appearance and the disappearance of the bloom are caused by the influence of the daily internal seiche.

J Clin Microbiol, 1979 Sep, 10(3), 390 - 1
Cellular fatty acid composition of WIGA, a rickettsia-like agent similar to the Legionnaires disease bacterium; Moss CW et al.; The cellular fatty acid composition of OLDA, a rickettsia-like agent isolated in 1947, was essentially identical to that of the Legionnaires disease bacterium (LDB) . WIGA, another rickettsia-like agent isolated in 1959, contained the same fatty acids as OLDA and other LDB but differed significantly from these strains in relative amounts of the major acids present . The major acid of OLDA and other LDB was i-16:0 whereas a-15:0 was the major acid of WIGA.

Acta Pathol Microbiol Scand {B}, 1979 Aug, 87(4), 247 - 52
Electron microscopy of a filamentous, segmented bacterium attached to the small intestine of mice from a laboratory animal colony in Denmark; Ferguson DJ et al.; A filamentous, segmented bacterium was observed in the small intestine of the SSC:AH stock of mice from the Statens Seruminstitut (Denmark) animal colony but was absent in golden hamsters and guinea pigs from the same colony . The bacterium is attached to the epithelial cell by a special segment (holdfast) and causes specific changes in the epithelial cell at the site of attachment . Once attached the bacterium appears to undergo a complex life cycle which involves the development of a long filament divided into a number of segments within which holdfasts or spores are formed . This organism is morphologically identical to a bacterium found in mice and rats in the USA, but this is the first report of such an infection in Europe.

Biochemistry, 1979 Jul 24, 18(15), 3292 - 300
Cyclopropane fatty acid synthase of Escherichia coli . Stabilization, purification, and interaction with phospholipid vesicles; Taylor FR et al.; The cyclopropane fatty acid (CFA) synthase of Escherichia coli catalyzes the methylenation of the unsaturated moieties of phospholipids in a phospholipid bilayer . The methylene donor is S-adenosyl-L-methionine . The enzyme is loosely associated with the inner membrane of the bacterium and binds to and is stabilized by phospholipid vesicles . The enzyme has been purified over 500-fold by flotation with phospholipid vesicles and appears to be a monomeric protein having a molecular weight of about 90 000 . The enzyme binds only to vesicles of phospholipids which contain either unsaturated or cyclopropane fatty acid moieties . CFA synthase is active on phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, and cardiolipin, the major phospholipids of E . coli, and also has some activity on phosphatidylcholine . The enzyme is equally active on phospholipid vesicles in the ordered or the disordered states of the lipid phase transition . Studies with a reagent that reacts only with the phosphatidylethanolamine molecules of the outer leaflet of a phospholipid bilayer indicate that CFA synthase reacts with phosphatidylethanolamine molecules of both the outer and the inner leaflets of phospholipid vesicles.

Biochim Biophys Acta, 1979 Jul 10, 547(1), 91 - 102
Effect of surface potential on the intramembrane electrical field measured with carotenoid spectral shift in chromatophores from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides; Matsuura K et al.; Changes in the surface potential, the electrical potential difference between the membrane surface and the bulk aqueous phase were measured with the carotenoid spectral shift which indicates the change of electrical field in the membrane . Chromatophores were prepared from a non-sulfur purple bacterium, Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides, in a low-salt buffer . Surface potential was changed by addition of salt or by pH jump as predicted by the Gouy-Chapman diffuse double layer theory . When a salf was added at neutral pH, the shift of carotenoid spectrum to shorter wavelength, corresponding to an increase in electrical potential at the outside surface, was observed . The salts of divalent cations (MgSO4, MgCl-2, CaCl2) were effective at concentrations lower than those of monovalent cation salts (NACl, KCl, Na2SO4) by a factor of about 50 . Among the salts of monoor divalent cation used, little ionic species-dependent difference was observed in the low-concentration range except that due to the valence of cations . The pH dependence of the salt-induced carotenoid change was explained in terms of the change in surface charge density, which was about 0 at pH 5--5.5 and had negative values at higher pH values . The dependence of the pH jump-induced absorbance change on the salt concentration was also consistent with the change in the charge density . The surface potential change by the salt addition, which was calibrated by H+ diffusion potential, was about 90 mV at the maximum . From the difference between the effective concentrations with salts of mono- and divalent cations at pH 7.8, the surface charge density of (-1.9 +/- 0.5) . 10(-3) elementary charge per A2, and the surface potential of about -100 mV in the presence of about 0.1 mM divalent cation of 5 mM monovalent cation were calculated.

J Clin Microbiol, 1979 Jul, 10(1), 50 - 5
Growth of Legionnaires disease bacterium (Legionella pneumophila) in chemically defined medium; Warren WJ et al.; A chemically defined medium containing 21 amino acids and inorganic salts was developed which supported the growth of four isolates of Legionnaires disease bacterium (Legionella pneumophila) . Growth in liquid defined medium at 37 degrees C with shaking approximated the generation time and growth kinetics observed for growth in complex media . After a 3-h lag, the culture grew exponentially with a generation time of 6 h and reached a maximum optical density of 230 Klett units (170 Klett units corrected for pigment) . A soluble brown pigment was first observed as the culture entered late exponential to early stationary phase of growth . Morphologically, L . pneumophila grew in the liquid defined medium with extensive filamentation and numerous intracellular lipid granuoles . L-Serine, L-methionine, and L-cysteine were required for optimum growth . The latter amino acid could be replaced by L-cystine or reduced glutathione but not by D-cysteine, thiomalate, thioglycollate, or 2-mercaptoethanol . Ferric iron was needed for maximum growth, but supplemental iron was not an essential growth requirement . Carbohydrates (i.e., glucose) or organic acids did not stimulate growth . In fact, pyruvate, acetate, and citrate all gave varying degrees of inhibition (69, 37, and 0% of control growth, respectively).

J Dent Res, 1979 Jul, 58(7), 1705 - 8
Alkaline phosphatase activity in a strain of Bacterionema matruchotii; Franker CK et al.; Protein from the soluble fraction of Bacterium matruchotii cells propagated in a medium containing no added inorganic phosphate was fractionated by gel permeation chromatography . The bulk of phosphatase activity assayed at pH 8.0 was found in fractions equivalent to a molecular weight of 6 x 10(5) daltons . Substrate saturation kinetics indicate at Km of 0.75 mM for p-nitrophenylphosphate . Activity was stimulated more than two-fold by Zn++ at 1 mM, but was significantly reduced by EDTA, Ca++ and inorganic phosphate . The enzyme(s) shows negligible activity at pH below 6.0 and has a narrow optimum between 7.5 and 8.5.

J Clin Microbiol, 1979 Jul, 10(1), 106 - 8
Effect of various histological fixatives on fluorescent antibody detection of Legionnaires disease bacteria; Thomason BM et al.; Human lung tissue containing the Legionnaires disease bacterium was fixed in seven different histological fixatives, processed, and embedded in paraffin . Deparaffined sections from each were stained by fluorescent antibody and by Dieterle silver impregnation . With the fluorescent antibody stain, the Legionnaires disease bacterium could be detected in tissues prepared with any of the fixatures, but the Dieterle silver impregnation was not satisfactory on Zenker-fixed tissues.

J Bacteriol, 1979 Jul, 139(1), 225 - 30
Growth of Nocardia rhodochrous on acetylene gas; Kanner D et al.; Soil sediment enrichment cultures yielded a coryneform bacterium capable of growing in a mineral salts solution with acetylene gas as its only source of carbon and energy . Based on morphological and physiological traits as well as on cell wall analysis, the bacterium was characterized as a strain of Nocardia rhodochrous . Maximal growth rates (generation time 2.7 to 3.0 h) on acetylene were obtained at 5 to 20% acetylene, 25 to 40% oxygen, pH 7.0 and 26 to 28 degrees C . Yields (grams of dry cells produced per gram of acetylene consumed) ranged between 90 and 110% . N . rhodochrous exhibits a growth factor requirement for the pyrimidine moiety of thiamine . Acetylene utilization is not an obligate trait, and a wide range of alternate carbon sources is utilized . Ethylene is neither produced nor consumed . The only previous report on acetylene utilization appeared in 1932 . The Mycobacterium lacticola strain described in that report strongly resembles N . rhodochrous.

Infect Immun, 1979 Jun, 24(3), 697 - 700
Interaction of Chlamydia psittaci reticulate bodies with mouse peritoneal macrophages; Brownridge E et al.; Noninfectious reticulate bodies of Chlamydia psittaci are readily phagocytized by thioglycolate-elicited mouse peritoneal macrophages in monolayer culture . The internalized reticulate bodies are rapidly destroyed as indicated by a 60 to 70% decrease in trichloroacetic acid-precipitable radioisotopic counts in the macrophage pellet by 10 h and a concomitant increase of the trichloroacetic acid-soluble radiolabeled chlamydial nucleic acid in the cytoplasm . This intracellular destruction of reticulate bodies in macrophages is independent of the multiplicity of infection . Reticulate bodies at a high multiplicity of infection, up to 1,000:1, are also incapable of inducing immediate cytotoxicity in macrophages as evidenced by the lack of early release of the host cell-soluble cytoplasmic enzyme lactic dehydrogenase . Thus, it appears that the virulence factors for (i) initiation or maintenance of intracellular survival via circumvention of phagolysosome formation and (ii) host cell damage are either missing or not expressed by the RB form of this bacterium.

J Infect Dis, 1979 Jun, 139(6), 707 - 11
Virulent to avirulent conversion of Legionnaires' disease bacterium (Legionella pneumophila)--its effect on isolation techniques; McDade JE et al.; Suspensions of the Legionnaries' disease bacterium (Legionella pneumophila; LDB) were prepared from the yolk sacs of infected egg embryos, the spleens of infected guinea pigs, and cultures of the organism propagated on enriched Mueller-Hinton agar . Each suspension was titrated to determine the number of bacterial colonies (cfu), yolk sac 50% lethal doses (YSLD50), guinea pig 50% infectious doses (GPID50), and guinea pig 50% lethal doses (GPLD50) produced by 1 ml of inoculum . The numbers of cfu/YSLD50, GPID50, and GPLD50 were then calculated for each suspension . The suspension from yolk sacs had 1 cfu/YSLD50 and 10 cfu/GPID50 . The suspension from spleens of guinea pigs also had 1 cfu/YSLD50 . Organisms propagated on Mueller-Hinton agar, however, had greater than 10(7) cfu/YSLD50 and 10(5) cfu/GPID50 . Thus, the LDB lost virulence when it was cultivated on agar . Guinea pigs vaccinated either subcutaneously or intraperitoneally with LDB grown on Mueller-Hinton agar resisted challenge with virulent LDB.

Zentralbl Bakteriol {Orig A}, 1979 Jun, 243(4), 511 - 21
Leptospires colonial variations; Petrov EM et al.; Six of 12 relatively freshly isolated and museum strains representing serovars mozdok, monjakov, kazakhstanica I and patoc were heterogeneous in colonia morphology . Recloned colonial variants of one and the same heterogeneous population did not exhibit any differences in antigenic properties in cross reactions of microagglutination and absorption of agglutinins . Along with it among the clones with various colonial types of the two relatively freshly isolated strains of serovar mozdok distinctions in virulence (LD50) for hamsters were marked . Moreover for the clones one of them differences in the level of renal infection (ID50) and in morphology of the cells (hooked and straight) were found . In a solid Tween-80 albumin medium in populations of two colonial variants (serovars monjakov and kazakhstanica I) colonial mutants appeared without any changes in antigenic properties, virulence and cell morphology with frequency of 10-9-10-8 per one bacterium per one generation.

Arch Microbiol, 1979 Jun, 121(3), 261 - 4
Structure-function relationship in hemoproteins: the role of cytochrome c3 in the reduction of colloidal sulfur by sulfate-reducing bacteria; Fauque G et al.; Cytochromes c3 of different strains of sulfate-reducing bacteria have been purified and tested for their capacity to reduce colloidal sulfur to hydrogen sulfide . The results are in good agreement with the activities reported for the whole cells . Cytochrome c3 is the sulfur reductase of some strains of sulfate-reducing bacteria such as Desulfovibrio desulfuricans Norway 4 and sulfate-reducing bacterium strain 9974 from which the sulfur reductase activity can be purified with the cytochrome c3 . In contrast, Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough cytochrome c3 is inhibited by the product of the reaction namely hydrogen sulfide . Chloramphenicol has no effect on the sulfur reductase activity of D . desulfuricans Norway 4 when resting cells grown on lactate-sulfate medium are put in the presence of colloidal sulfur . This shows that the sulfur reductase activity is constitutive and corresponds to the fact that colloidal sulfur grown cells do not contain more cytochrome c3 (or another sulfur reductase) than lactate-sulfate-grown cells.

J Bacteriol, 1979 Jun, 138(3), 678 - 83
Light-induced, carrier-mediated transport of tetracycline by Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides; Weckesser J et al.; Tetracycline accumulation by the phototrophic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides has been studied, using the fluorescence properties of the antibiotic and measuring uptake of {7- 3H}tetracycline . Accumulation was carrier mediated, with a Km of approximately 300 micronM . Efflux also appeared to be carried mediated, with a Km of 25 mM . Chlorotetracycline competitively inhibited tetracycline transport . The transport was energy dependent . Efflux occurred during the influx process, and an energy-requiring steady state was reached when influx balanced efflux . Transport was inhibited by metabolic inhibitors such as antimycin A, cyanide, and iodoacetate . Proton conductors such as carbonylcyanide m-chlorophenyl hydrazone were strongly inhibitory . Efflux was not energy dependent . Efflux is partially blocked by mercuric ions and completely blocked by an external pH of 9 to 11 . Although efflux rates increased continuously with lowering of the pH, influx rates have a sharp maximum at pH 7.

Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg, 1979 May-Jun, 87(3), 299 - 303
A fatal case of Legionnaire's disease following a total laryngectomy; Maniglia AJ et al.; Legionnaire's disease (LD) has been responsible for the death of many patients in several outbreaks in the United States and abroad . The Legionnaire's bacterium is still unclassified . Deoxyribonucleic acid studies of its genes have not yet found a near relative . A case of a 63-year-old man who had a total larynegectomy for cancer of the larynx is reported . He had an extensive postoperative pneumonia, secondary to LD . The diagnosis was made while the patient was alive, but he died on the 35th hospital day in spite of erythromycin treatment.

J Clin Microbiol, 1979 May, 9(5), 648 - 9
Further studies of the cellular fatty acid composition of Legionnaires disease bacteria; Moss CW et al.; The cellular fatty acid composition of 36 strains of the Legionnaires disease bacterium was determined by gas chromatography after growth on different media . The fatty acid profile of each strain was essentially identical on each medium and was characterized by large amounts (greater than 68%) of branched-chain acids.

Mikrobiologiia, 1979 May-Jun, 48(3), 451 - 6
{Cyst formation by methanosarcina}; Zhilina TN et al.; The morphology of a coccoid, methane producing bacterium growing on acetate was studied . The organism is capable of forming morphologically differentiated cells, nicrocysts, whose structure resembles that of bacterial surviving cells . The organism from peculiar macrocysts in the enrichment culture . In its other characteristics, the organism is similar to Methanococcus mazei . However, it clasibied as Methanosarcina, biotype 3, due to the characteristic formation of multicellular pseudococci.

Biol Bull Acad Sci USSR, 1979 May-Jun, 6(3), 310 - 5
Study of the mutagenic action of cyclophosphane on bacteria in host-mediated assay; Shapiro AA et al.; The mutagenic actin of cyclophosphane (CP) on the bacterium S . typhimurium TA 1950 in host-mediated assay (mice) was investigated . The mutagenic effect of CP depended on the dose . Administration of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) to the animals modified the level of the mutagenic effect of CP . The direction of the modification depended on the time elapsed between the introduction of CCl4 and CP . The use of adrenalectomized animals as the mediator led to an increase in the frequency of mutations induced by CP in indicator bacteria.

Biochim Biophys Acta, 1979 Apr 11, 546(1), 183 - 6
Orientation and linear dichroism of the reaction centers from Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides R-26; Abdourakhmanov IA et al.; Linear dicroism of chromatophores and isolated reaction centers from the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides strain R-26 was studied using a novel technique of orientation . The results are discussed in view of the reaction center structure and its position in the membrane . The advantages of the new orientation technique are also outlined.

Ann Intern Med . 1979 Apr;90(4):690.
Immunoglobulin specificity of the microagglutination test for the Legionnaires' disease bacterium; Farshy CE et al.; Differences in results of microagglutination tests for the Legionnaires' disease bacterium on untreated sera and sera treated with 2-mercaptoethanol suggest that, like other agglutination tests, the microagglutination test is heavily dependent on the presence of IgM antibody.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 676 - 9
Immunologic protection against the Legionnaires' disease bacterium in the AKR/J mouse; Hedlund KW et al.; Female AKR/J mice were challenged with the Washington strain of Legionnaires' disease (LD) bacteria . Nonimmunized mice inoculate intraperitoneally with 2 x 10(8) colony forming units became ill within 4 h and died within 24 h . Progressive histopathologic changes initiated as early as 2 h after inoculation involved the lymphoid organs, the crypts of the small intestine, and the liver . Necrosis with minimal inflammatory cell reaction was the primary lesion . Immunization with a soluble LD bacterial antigen failed to prevent illness but protected against death and development of abnormal histologic changes.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 667 - 70
Cooling towers and evaporative condensers; Miller RP; By 31 October 1978 there had been four confirmed instances where the Legionnaires' disease bacterium had been isolated from water samples taken from cooling towers or evaporative condensers located near the site of an epidemic of Legionnaires' disease . These devices are widely used to reject unwanted heat into the atmosphere and vary greatly in size and configuration . However, the operation of all towers and condensers depends on intimate contact between the circulating water and ambient air . Airborne contaminants in the vicinity of these devices are likely to be absorbed to some degree by the circulating water . The airstream leaving a cooling tower is saturated with water vapor and may also contain a relatively minute portion of the circulating water in the form of fine droplets known as drift . It is common practice to bleed a small portion of the circulating water, including all contaminants, from the tower into a storm sewer, sanitary sewer, or even a nearby body of water.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 656 - 8
Classification of the Legionnaires' disease bacterium: Legionella pneumophila, genus novum, species nova, of the family Legionellaceae, familia nova; Brenner DJ et al.; Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) relatedness was used to classify strains of the Legionnaires' disease (LD) bacterium . These DNA comparisons showed that all strains of the LD bacterium were members of the same species . Included were strains isolated from the environment and strains with three different O-antigens . The DNA from the LD bacterium was not significantly related to DNA from any other group of bacteria that was tested . Biochemical data, growth characteristics, and guanine-plus-cytosine ratios were used to rule out the possibility that the LD bacterium was significantly related to members of genera whose DNA was not tested . In view of these data we propose that the LD bacterium be named Legionella pneumophila species nova, the type species of Legionella, genus novum . The type strain of L . pneumophila is Philadelphia 1.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 638 - 41
A high molecular weight antigen in Legionnaires' disease bacterium: isolation and partial characterization; Johnson W et al.; We isolated a high molecular weight antigen of the Legionnaires' disease (LD) bacterium by column chromatography . The antigen was composed of 35% carbohydrate, 2.6% protein, 1.8% phospholipid, and 1% 2-keto-3-deoxyoctonate and was important in the host's antibody response because it inhibited the indirect immunofluorescent and microagglutination titers of convalescent sera from patients with Legionnaires' disease . The antigen also formed precipitin bands with seven of 10 convalescent sera from patients with Legionnaires' disease . We found chemical and biological evidence of endotoxinlike activity associated with the antigen . Cell sonicates and acid extracts of the LD bacterium gave multiple bands in immunodiffusion with human convalescent serum and rabbit antisera prepared against heat-killed LD bacteria . The antigenic structure of the LD bacterium therefore appears complex.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 607 - 10
Relation of Mycoplasma pneumoniae seroreactivity, immunosuppression, and chronic disease to Legionnaires' disease . A twelve-month prospective study of sporadic cases in Massachusetts; Grady GF et al.; From April 1977 through March 1978, 28 presumptive cases of Legionnaires' disease were identified among 432 consecutive candidates having paired sera or tissue samples submitted to the Massachusetts Public Health Laboratories . Among the subgroup of 209 candidates with documented diffuse pneumonia and temperature of 39 degrees C or above, 24 (11.5%) had Legionnaires' disease whereas the diagnostic yield was only four of 223 (1.8%) among the remainder . The case-fatality rate was two of 28 (7%) . Patients with Legionnaires' disease when compared to the entire group of candidates were similar in mean age (49 versus 48 years) and frequency of immunosuppressant therapy (15% versus 12%) but were more often male (64% versus 47%) with underlying chronic illness (46% versus 22%) . Complement fixation tests against Mycoplasma pneumoniae (whole organisms) showed seroreactivity in 81% of Legionnaires' disease (LD) cases (22 to 27) compared to 13% of non-LD cases; conversely, 29% of all cases seropositive for M . pneumoniae (22 of 75) were seropositive for the LD bacterium compared to only 1% (five of 357) of the remainder . The coincidence of seroreactivity for M . pneumoniae and the LD bacterium is unexplained but suggests that M . pneumoniae seropositive cases should be evaluated for the possibility of Legionnaires' disease.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 603 - 6
Legionnaires' disease in pneumonia patients in Iowa . A retrospective seroepidemiologic study, 1972-1977; Renner ED et al.; The frequency of Legionnaires' disease among 586 cases of pneumonia that occurred in Iowa between fiscal years 1972 and 1977 was studied retrospectively on the basis of paired sera . The frequency of confirmed Legionnaires' disease was 4.1% and of presumptive Legionnaires' disease was 11.4% . Infections with the Legionnaires' disease (LD) bacterium were most frequent in the summer . Of the 22% of pneumonias for which a cause could be defined, Legionnaires' disease was third in frequency behind Mycoplasma pneumoniae and influenza A virus infections . Infections with the LD bacterium occurred in association with pneumonias in most age groups . The youngest patient with LD infection was a 5-year-old boy with pneumonia . The disease occurred 3.2 times more often in males than in females . In males, the frequency of confirmed and presumptive Legionnaires' disease increased steadily to plateau after the fourth decade at about 12% and 28%, respectively . In females the frequency of presumptive Legionnaires' disease was 7% to 16%, relatively evenly distributed over all age groups . Pneumonias associated with LD bacterium infection should be considered in the differential diagnosis of community-acquired pneumonias in most age groups.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 601 - 3
Prevalence of antibody to the Legionnaires' disease bacterium in hospital employees; Saravolatz L et al.; A sereopidemiologic survey was done to ascertain the level of immunity in a population of hospital employees after contact with patients with Legionnaires' disease . Two matched groups were compared: hospital staff in positions of contact with patients diagnosed with the disease (N1 = 215), and hospital staff not in a position of contact with patients diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease (N2 = 269) . Antibody titer was measured by the hemagglutination technique . Subjects from N1 and N2 were surveyed for age, sex, race, smoking, patient care unit, air conditioning unit, occupation, symptoms, and patient contact . No significant correlation was found between titer distribution and any one of the first seven factors . The prevalence of antibody (greater than or equal to 128) was 9.3% and 3.7% (P less than 0.02) for the N1 and N2 groups . Also, 40% of employees with titers of 128 or above had had an unexplained febrile respiratory illness in the preceding year . This study suggests the possibility of person-to-person transmission in Legionnaires' disease.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 587 - 91
A major focus of Legionnaires' disease in Bloomington, Indiana; Politi BD et al.; Thirty-nine cases of Legionnaires' disease in a 16-month period were identified in visitors to and residents of Bloomington, Indiana . Thirty-five patients had spent at least one night at the Indiana Memorial Union in the 2 weeks before becoming ill . Five of 32 sporadic cases nationwide between 1 January and 31 March 1978 were retrospectively shown to be in persons who had recently visited the Union . The risk of acquiring Legionnaires' disease as a Union visitor was at least 17 times greater than that for Bloomington residents 20 years or older . Employees who had worked at the Union 5 years or longer were more likely to be seropositive than workers in other Bloomington hotels . Legionnaires' disease bacterium was isolated from five environmental sites in Bloomington . A cooling tower may have been involved in disease spread, but it was not the only source . Hypochlorite solution was added to cooling tower water as a precautionary measure; however, one case was confirmed in a man with Union exposure 9 days after hypochlorite treatment had begun.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 580 - 3
Legionnaires' disease in Nottingham, England; Macrae AD et al.; Legionnaires' disease bacterium was identified as the cause of severe pneumonia in some Nottingham, England, patients in 1977 . Laboratory studies were not restricted to Nottingham but included several other areas in England . The 41 cases identified were evenly divided between areas; they also accounted for about one half of all cases for the entire country . No source of infection has been identified in these sporadic cases . There was no contact between patients, and only a few had travelled abroad before their illnesses . Serologic sampling of populations in Nottingham did not reveal a large background of infection . Only 31 of 2023 sera tested had low titer antibody to the Pontiac antigen used . Guinea-pig antisera to two positive lung extracts showed an antigenic relation to the Pontiac but not to the Togus strain,suggesting strain variation.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 573 - 7
The Vermont epidemic of Legionnaires' disease; Broome CV et al.; Sixty-nine laboratory-documented cases of Legionnaires' disease occurred in Vermont between 1 May and 31 December 1977 . Clinical manifestations were similar to those in the 1976 Philadelphia epidemic . Case-control studies suggested that Legionnaires' disease patients were more likely to present with headache or diarrhea than were patients with pneumonia of presumed nonbacterial cause . The case-fatality ratio for patients treated with erythromycin was 4%, compared with 17% in patients not treated with erythromycin . Thirteen patients had been hospitalized throughout the 10 days preceding onset of illness, equaling the maximal known incubation period . This suggests either acquisition or reactivation of infection in the hospital . However, even during the week of peak disease activity, cases occurred in patients with no recent hospital contact . The only community factor possibly associated with acquisition was home air conditioning . This prevalence of seroreactivity to the Legionnaires' disease bacterium in various community populations was as high as 26%, suggesting a possible endemic area.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 569 - 73
Legionnaires' disease in Kingport, Tennessee; Dondero TJ Jr et al.; In August and September 1977 a discrete cluster of 27 serologically or pathologically confirmed cases of Legionnaires' disease, plus six highly presumptive cases were identified in the area of Kingsport, Tennessee . Three patients died . Most patients manifested severe pneumonia and fever; no mild or asymptomatic disease forms were recognized despite intensive case-finding efforts . Illness was epidemiologically associated with residing, visiting, or working in one geographic area of Kingsport, residence there being the factor most strongly associated . Although the attack rate for area residents was 0.64%, the randomly determined prevalence of serologic reactors was 5.2%, which is not significantly different from that in a nonimplicated control neighborhood . The epidemic did not correlate temporally with any identified environmental or demographic event . No source of the bacterium was found either by a detailed case-control study of area associations or by bacterial isolation from sentinel guinea pigs or environmental specimens . There was no evidence of person-to-person spread.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 563 - 4
Legionnaires' disease and the traveller; Grist NR et al.; Respiratory illness occurred in members of a "package tour" to Benidorm, Spain, in 1973 . Three of the tourists died with similar pneumonic illnesses, and 86 other travellers who had stayed at the same hotel also had respiratory illnesses . After the organism associated with the epidemic of Legionnaires' disease in Philadelphia 3 years later was identified, sera from patients involved with the "Benidorm episode" were tested . Evidence of infection with the Legionnaires' disease bacterium was obtained from sera from three of the patients who had died and from sera of two of the surviving tourists . Six of 16 members of the staff of the hotel involved had elevated titres to the LD bacterium, suggesting that there may be persistent or recurrent activity in a particular building or locality over a period of years . Surveys of travellers returning to Scotland have shown a large amount of illness, and studies are being conducted to determine the proportion caused by Legionnaires' disease.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 529 - 32
Sporadic cases of Legionnaires' disease in the Netherlands; Meenhorst PL et al.; Sera of 24 patients with an unexplained pneumonia were tested for the presence of antibodies against the Legionnaires' disease bacterium . Fifteen patients had positive serology . The series comprised 12 male and three female patients ranging in age from 17 to 66 years (mean, 51.1 years) . All of the patients had a high fever, little or no sputum production, and radiographic evidence of pneumonia . The radiographic abnormalities ranged from a patchy infiltrate to extensive consolidation . In eight patients with confirmed Legionnaires' disease, severe confusion was one of the most striking signs . A variety of antibiotics had no clear effect on the duration of the illness in these cases, although the severity seemed to be influenced . Two of the patients died, and in three the course was protracted . All cases were sporadic . Eight patients had been infected abroad and seven in the Netherlands, two of whom were on immunosuppressive therapy and were infected in a hospital.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 506 - 8
Immunology and immunopathology of Legionnaires' disease; Ward PA; The immune response to the Legionnaires' disease (LD) bacterium has been shown serologically . Recent evidence suggests significant differences in seroreactivity depending on the source of antigen; these data now unequivocally show strain variation for the LD bacterium . Nothing is known about the cellular immune reactivity in patients with Legionnaires' disease . There is little evidence that the lesions and manifestations of the disease are due to immunopathologic mechanisms . Possible explanations for the pathogenesis of pulmonary lesions in Legionnaires' disease include toxic factors, bacterial chemotactic factors, neutral proteases (with complement cleaving activity), lipopolysaccharides, and products of lymphocytes.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 499 - 502
Epidemiology of Legionnaires' disease; Eickhoff TC; Ten recorded epidemics of Legionnaires' disease are reviewed to gain a working perspective on the epidemiology of the disease . Salient features have included a summer-fall seasonality, a male predominance that may largely reflect increased exposure risk among men, and a striking absence of person-to-person spread . That the disease is spread primarily via the airborne route is well established; air-treatment and air-conditioning equipment has been implicated as the amplification and delivery system in four epidemics . Soils and excavation sites have been suggested as sources of the organism in at least one recorded epidemic . Evidence to date suggests that the Legionnaires' disease bacterium may be widespread in nature . More complete epidemiologic understanding must await development of improved microbiologic and immunologic tests.

Appl Environ Microbiol, 1979 Apr, 37(4), 782 - 4
Determination of lipopolysaccharide by a bioluminescence technique; Ulitzur S et al.; The determination of the lipid A content of bacterial lipopolysaccharide by using a dim mutant of the luminous bacterium Beneckea harveyi is described . The luminous bacteria emitted light upon the addition of an acid hydrolysate of lipopolysaccharide which contained myristic acid, thus making it possible to detect as little as 1 ng of lipopolysaccharide . By converting the 3-OH-myristic acid to myristic acid, it was possible to further increase the detection sensitivity and to establish a basis for a specific and highly sensitive bioassay for the detection of lipopolysaccharide.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 684 - 6
Scottish experience with the serologic diagnosis of Legionnaires' disease; Fallon RJ et al.; Four-hundred fifty-nine sera from 342 persons were examined at Ruchill Hospital, Glasgow, using an agar-grown heat-killed, ether-treated antigen derived from the Philadelphia 1 strain of the Legionnaires' disease bacterium . They were examined, in parallel, at the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Atlanta . Overall agreement (results agreeing +/- one twofold dilution) was reached with 90% of sera . Important differences were obtained with 10 (2.2%) sera . With three of these 10 sera the CDC alone obtained a significant titre (256) whereas with the other seven the Glasgow laboratory alone obtained a titre of 256 . Altogether 28 persons (8.2%) with an agreed titre of 256 or higher were identified . However, some of these people had been ill 4 years before serum was obtained for examination . These persistent high titres make the serologic diagnosis of Legionnaires' disease difficult.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 671 - 5
Pathologic findings in guinea pigs inoculated intraperitoneally with the Legionnaires' disease bacterium; Chandler FW et al.; Tissues from guinea pigs inoculated intraperitoneally with the Legionnaires' disease (LD) bacterium were studied with light, immunofluorescent, and electron microscopy . The principal gross lesion was diffuse peritonitis of varying severity . Microscopically, the peritonitis of covered by a mixed inflammatory infiltrate of macrophages, neutrophils, fibrin, and cellular debris . Foci of inflammation and necrosis were consistently observed in the splenic parenchyma, and similar lesions were often found in the lungs, liver, lymph nodes, pancreas, heart, and other organs . Numerous LD bacteria were seen in the peritoneal exudate; fewer were found in disseminated lesions . In electron micrographs, the highest concentrations were seen in macrophages, with fewer organisms present in neutrophils or extracellular spaces . Although the lung is the primary organ konwn to be affected by Legionnaires' disease in humans, our findings indicate that the LD bacterium is capable of dissemination.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 664 - 6
Isolation of the Legionnaires' disease bacterium from environmental samples; Morris GK et al.; We analyzed 24 environmental samples collected in or near the Indiana Memorial Union, where an epidemic of Legionnaires' disease occurred in early 1978 . We conducted fluorescent antibody analyses and culture on F-G and charcoal yeast extract agars of each sample directly; splenic tissue of guinea pigs inoculated with the sample; and yolk sacs from embryonated eggs inoculated with splenic tissue of guinea pigs injected with the sample . Legionnaires' disease (LD) bacterium was isolated from seven of the 24 samples: one water sample from the air-conditioner cooling tower of the Union; three water samples from a stream near the Union; and three mud samples from the same stream . The LD bacterium strains were of three different serotypes . These findings indicate that LD bacteria may be widespread in nature.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 659 - 61
Legionnaires' disease bacterium isolated in 1947; McDade JE et al.; The results of serologic, cultural, and DNA relatedness studies have shown that the Legionnaires' disease (LD) bacterium and an unclassified agent isolated in 1947 are the same species . Both organisms grew on charcoal-yeast extract agar, enriched Mueller-Hinton agar, and F-G agar, but neither grew on blood agar, trypticase soy agar, or in thioglycollate broth . Both agents reacted with convalescent sera from patients with Legionnaires' disease and convalescent sera from guinea pigs infected experimentally with the LD bacterium . The percentage of guanine plus cytosine in DNA preparations from each organism was ascertained by thermal denaturation to be 39% . In DNA hybridization reactions the 1947 isolate showed the same degree of relatedness to Philadelphia 1 strain of the LD bacterium as did three recent isolates of the bacterium . The LD bacterium was also shown to be antigenically related to another unclassified organism isolated in 1959.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 583 - 6
Nosocomial Legionnaires' disease: a continuing common-source epidemic at Wadsworth Medical Center; Haley CE et al.; Forty-nine cases of Legionnaires' disease were identified from May 1977 through July 1978 in patients and employees at Wadsworth Medical Center . Cases clustered in October and November 1977 . Fifteen patients died . All Legionnaires' disease (LD) patients were in the hospital before onset of illness (median time from admission to onset, 17 days; range, 3 to 276 days) . Twenty patients were immunosuppressed or compromised by malignancy . In 1977, six of 12 renal-homograft recipients acquired LD pneumonia in contrast to three of 22 during the preceding 3 years (P = 0.031, Fisher's exact test) . In a prospective survey of 1658 consecutive hospital admissions, seven cases of Legionnaires' diseases occurred (0.4%), including six among 14 patients who seroconverted to the LD bacterium . Prevalence of a reciprocal titer of 128 or above in Wadsworth employees was significantly greater than in a nearby control population (P = 0.044, Fisher's exact test) . Exposure to the external hospital environment may be an important factor, and soil may be a reservoir for the LD bacterium . Legionnaires' disease at Wadsworth may be a nosocomial pneumonia affecting a small group of patients with particular risk factors.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 565 - 9
Nosocomial Legionnaires' disease in Columbus, Ohio; Marks JS et al.; Three patients with severe pneumonia at a community hospital in Columbus, Ohio, were found to have Legionnaires' disease in late August 1977 . A subsequent serologic survey of patients with pneumonia at this hospital identified three additional cases . Among patients with pneumonia, hospital exposure in the 2 weeks before onset of illness was significantly associated with Legionnaires' disease (P = 0.003) . Serosurveys of hospital employees with a recent history of upper respiratory illness, healthy employees, and workers at the hospital construction site showed that one of 101, one of 107, and none of 114, respectively, has a single reciprocal titer of greater than or equal to 256 to the Legionnaires' disease (LD) bacterium . Serosurveys of patients with pneumonia at three control hospitals identified five additional patients with Legionnaires' disease, three of them with pneumonia that was apparently hospital acquired in a single renal transplant unit . A fourth patient from that unit without clinical illness had a fourfold rise in titer to LD bacterium.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 538 - 42
Legionnaires' disease in patients with associated serious disease; Gump DW et al.; Of nine patients with Legionnaires' disease, seven were receiving corticosteroids, and all nine had serious underlying diseases . Direct immunofluorescent examination of respiratory secretions, including sputum and transtracheal aspirates, showed the Legionnaires' disease (LD) bacterium in five of seven patients who seroconverted and in a sixth patient with a single elevated titer to the LD bacterium . All nine patients received erythromycin therapy, and five survived . Two patients showed persistence of their infection after receiving 2 weeks of erythromycin therapy, and two patients developed pulmonary abscesses . These cases of Legionnaires' disease show the occurrence of pulmonary abscesses, the possibility of relapse after giving only 2 weeks of erythromycin therapy, and the utility of direct immunofluorescence for early diagnosis.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 533 - 7
The compromised host and Legionnaires' disease; Saravolatz LD et al.; Pneumonia caused by Legionnaires' disease bacterium was recognized in eight patients during a 7-month period . The patients were immunosuppressed by their underlying illness, corticosteroid therapy, and other exogenous immunosuppressive agents . Five of the patients had received immunosuppressive therapy for less than 16 days . Clinical presentation was similar to that of other bacterial pneumonias in compromised patients . Legionnaires' disease progressed to necrotizing pneumonia with abscess formation and respiratory failure in two patients . Diagnosis was made by {1} culture of lung tissue and bronchial washings; {2} direct fluorescent antibody staining of lung tissue, sputum, and bronchial washings; and {3} serologic evidence of infection . Therapy with oral erythromycin was ineffective . Intravenous erythromycin was given to six patients, with a good response . However, two patients showed further clinical improvement after rifampin was added . Because this illness may be more severe in compromised hosts, open lung biopsy and special microbiologic tests should be done when Legionnaires' disease is suspected.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 652 - 5
Fine structure of the Legionnaires' disease bacterium . In-vitro and in-vivo studies of four isolates; Keel JA et al.; We obtained four bacterial isolates from patients with Legionnaires' disease and examined them for in-vitro and in-vivo fine-structure characteristics . All isolates had an outer membrane, cytoplasmic membrane, and intracellular membrane structure . Numerous intracellular inclusions were seen, particularly from in-vivo specimens, and appeared membrane-limited . Fine-structure analysis did not reveal the presence of a definitive peptidoglycan structure . Isolation, purification, and chemical analysis of Legionnaires' disease bacterium pepdoglycan established molar ratios of alanine-glutamic acid and muramic acid-glucosamine . Diaminopimelic acid was absent in the Legionnaires' disease bacterium peptidoglycan . The Kellenberger procedure for fixation appears to be the best method for the fine-structure determination of Legionnaires' disease bacteria.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 619 - 20
Aromatic substrate specificity of browning by cultures of the Legionnaires' disease bacterium; Baine WB et al.; When the Legionnaires' disease (LD) bacterium is grown on supplemented Mueller-Hinton agar, brown pigmentation of the medium occurs . Since this browning may result from tyrosinase-mediated formation of melanin, we supplemented yeast-extract agar with various aromatic precursors of melanin and inoculated it with eight strains of the LD bacterium . Browning occurred with growth of each LD strain of the bacterium on yeast-extract agar enriched with 2.5 mmol/L of L-phenylalanine or L-tyrosine but not without such enrichment . Equimolar D-phenylalanine or D-tryosine in yeast-extract agar did not enhance browning . The LD bacterium may possess L-phenylalanine hydroxylase activity, but it does not use D-aromatic amino acids effectively in pigment production.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 694 - 6
Direct in-vitro isolation of the Legionnaires' disease bacterium in two fatal cases . Cultural and staining characteristics; Dumoff M; Two cases of Legionnaires' disease were diagnosed by direct isolation of the organism, from pleural fluid obtained before death in one case and lung tissue obtained after death in both cases . The organisms were recovered on a commercially prepared, enriched chocolate agar (Gibco, Madison, Wisconsin) . Subcultures grew on commercially prepared, enriched chocolate agar (Baltimore Biological Laboratories, Cockeysville, Maryland) and on in-house enriched chocolate agar prepared with GC Medium Base (Difco, Detroit, Michigan) . No growth was obtained on enriched chocolate agar prepared with trypticase soy agar . The organisms were poorly visualized in Gram-stained sections of formalin-fixed lung tissue . In Giemsa-stained sections poorly stained intracellular and extracellular slender rods were seen . However, with a silver impregnation stain, either a modified Dieterle or a modified Warthin-Starry procedure, many large, blunt-ended rods were seen . Smears prepared from minced formalin-fixed lung tissue and stained with a fluorescent antibody conjugate contained large numbers of well-stained organisms.

Ann Intern Med, 1979 Apr, 90(4), 634 - 8
Immunochemical, serologic, and immunologic properties of major antigens isolated from the Legionnaires' disease bacterium . Observations bearing on the feasibility of a vaccine; Wong KH et al.; Two antigens were isolated from each of three strains of the Legionnaires' disease (LD) bacterium . One antigen was serotype-specific; the other cross-reacted with strains of LD bacteria of different serotypes . The serotypic antigens contained all the major branched-chain fatty acids characteristic of LD bacteria and were a lipid-protein-carbohydrate complex . Electrophoresis resolved the serotypic antigen of Knoxville 1 strain into four protein bands and one glycoprotein band with molecular weights ranging from 0.5 to 7.2 x 10(5) . The specificity of the serotypic antigens was established by immunofluorescent staining, and double gel diffusion confirmed the absence of cross-reactions between the serotypic antigens of different types and the partial identity of the serotypic antigens from serologically related strains . The cross-reacting antigens formed precipitin bands with all the homologous and heterologous sera tested . Induction of immunity by vaccination with serotypic antigens was shown in three animal models using guinea pigs and mice . Passive-transfer of immunity (IgG) was also shown in mice and guinea pigs . These observations raise the possiblity of a vaccine for protection against infection of LD bacteria.

J Bacteriol, 1979 Apr, 138(1), 99 - 104
Enzymology of butyrate formation by Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens; Miller TL et al.; Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens is a major butyrate-forming species in the bovine and ovine rumen . The enzymology of butyrate formation from pyruvate was investigated in cell-free extracts of B . fibrisolvens D1 . Pyruvate owas oxidized to acetylcoenzyme A (CoA) in the presence of CoA.SH and benzyl viologen or flavin nucleotides . The bacterium uses thiolase, beta-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase, crotonase, and crotonyl-CoA reductase to form butyryl-CoA from acetyl-CoA . Reduction of acetoacetyl-CoA to beta-hydroxybutyryl-CoA was faster with NADH than with NADPH . Crotonyl-CoA was reduced to butyryl-CoA by NADH, but not by NADPH, only in the presence of flavin nucleotides . Reduction of flavin nucleotides by NADH was much slower than the flavin-dependent reduction of crotonyl-CoA . This indicates that flavoproteins rather than free flavin participated in the reduction of crotonyl-CoA . Butyryl-CoA was converted to butyrate by phosphate butyryl transferase and butyrate kinase.

Science, 1979 Mar 16, 203(4385), 1111 - 2
Phosphorylation of Isocitrate dehydrogenase of Escherichia coli; Garnak M et al.; Addition of acetate to a stationary phase culture of Escherichia coli in glycerol mineral salts medium containing phosphorus-32-labeled orthophosphate results in rapid loss of isocitrate dehydrogenase activity and concomitant incorporation of phosphorus-32 into the enzyme . This is the first example of protein phosphorylation in a bacterium in which the endogenous substrate for the protein kinase has been identified.

J Biol Chem, 1979 Mar 10, 254(5), 1495 - 500
Primary structure of a high potential, four-iron-sulfur ferredoxin from the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodospirillum tenue; Tedro SM et al.; The amino acid sequence of a high oxidation-reduction potential iron-sulfur protein (HiPIP) isolated from the purple photosynthetic bacterium Rhodospirillum tenue has been determined . This is the smallest of the HiPIP's, containing 63 residues, with only 3 residues apparently conserved in addition to the 4 cluster-binding cysteines . A minimum of four internal genetic gaps is postulated to align tenue high potential iron-sulfur protein with the previously known proteins . It is the most divergent of its class, with an average of only 25% identically matching residues in common with any of the other species.

J Clin Microbiol, 1979 Mar, 9(3), 453 - 6
Exotoxin activity associated with the Legionnaires disease bacterium; Baine WB et al.; Hemolysis occurred around growth of the Legionnaires disease bacterium on supplemented Mueller-Hinton agar containing sterile defibrinated blood from each of five mammalian species . Hemolysis was most pronounced with guinea pig or rabbit blood, was less intense with horse or sheep blood, and was slight with blood from a human donor . Sterile filtrates of allantoic fluid from embryonated hen's eggs that had been infected with this organism displayed hemolytic activity in a radial hemolysis assay with guinea pig cells in agar . Growth of the Legionnaires disease bacterium on F-G agar with 5% hen's egg yolk was surrounded by a zone of clearing and more circumscribed zones of iridescence and increased opacity on and in the medium . Attempts to detect activity analogous to that of Escherichia coli heat-labile or heat-stable enterotoxin in allantoic fluid from infected eggs or in cultures of the Legionnaires disease bacterium were not successful.

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