Folia Microbiol (Praha), 1992, 37(2), 146 - 52 Bacterial infection modulated by glucan: a search for the host defense potentiation mechanisms; Franek J et al.; Interactions between bacteria and the host were studied from day 0 up to day 10 post-challenge in mice pretreated with soluble glucan (20 mg/kg i.p.) and challenged supralaryngeally with a virulent strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae . In the initial phase of infection, clearance of bacteria in the airways of glucan-treated mice was improved to an extent comparable with the vaccinated group but, in contrast to the immunized animals, subsequent regrowth of the bacterial inoculum was not prevented . The efficacy of defense, based during the entire course of infection mainly upon phagocytosis by neutrophils, markedly increased at intervals corresponding to the onset of humoral immune response . No evidence was obtained to indicate an enhanced involvement of alveolar macrophages in the phagocytosis of bacteria in glucan-stimulated mice . The results further support the notion that improvement of specific immune responsiveness rather than activation of nonspecific effector functions might be the most important expression of the host-defense-potentiating capacity of glucan and related stimulants of microbial origin. Pediatr Radiol, 1992, 22(8), 571 - 2 Contrast enemas after necrotising enterocolitis: a case for prophylaxis? Brand IR, Arthur RJ. During a 4-year period 9 out of 35 patients deteriorated following a contrast enema after necrotising enterocolitis (NEC) . Two developed Klebsiella septicaemia with one subsequent death . Following the latter two cases the paediatric surgeons instituted intravenous prophylactic antibiotics (benzyl penicillin, metronidazole, gentamicin) prior to contrast enemas post-NEC . Of the factors examined only the presence a long line in-situ or history of previous perforation demonstrated any increased risk with regard to clinical deterioration post-examination. Folia Microbiol (Praha), 1992, 37(4), 245 - 8 Virulence of silver-resistant mutant of Klebsiella pneumoniae in burn wound model; Gupta LK et al.; A silver-resistant mutant of Klebsiella pneumoniae B-5 was produced by passaging in nutrient broth containing graded concentrations of silver nitrate up to 150 ppm . The development of silver resistance in the strain resulted in rough colonies, decrease in cell size, carbohydrate content and change in klebocin pattern . The virulence of the AgR strain as checked by the burn wound model decreased as the mutant could not establish itself in the skin and spleen of the animals and the organism was cleared more efficiently by human lymphocytes than the parent AgS strain. Int J Tissue React, 1992, 14(3), 131 - 9 Pefloxacin and immunity: cellular uptake, potentiation of macrophage phagocytosis and intracellular bioactivity for Klebsiella pneumoniae; Cuffini AM et al.; Antibiotic potentiation of host defence mechanisms may be of potential clinical importance in the outcome of infections . Therefore the effect of pefloxacin upon the interaction of in vitro of human macrophages with Klebsiella pneumoniae, by assays of antibiotic cellular uptake, bacterial phagocytosis and intracellular killing, was examined . The results indicated that pefloxacin was well concentrated by phagocytes at all the concentrations tested . The uptake proceeded rapidly and was not affected either by cell viability or physiological environmental temperature . Synergistic phagocytosis and intracellular killing of K . pneumoniae was observed in the presence of macrophages and subinhibitory concentrations (one-half MIC) of pefloxacin . Pretreatment of bacteria with pefloxacin led to an increase in both bacterial uptake and microbicidal activity of phagocytes . Exposure of the macrophages to pefloxacin did not affect any phagocyte functions. Dev Biol Stand, 1992, 77, 79 - 85 Ribosomes as carriers for antigenic determinants of the surface of micro-organisms; Normier G et al.; Over the past twenty-five years, many authors have reported evidence of the immunoprotective capacity of ribosomes isolated from bacteria, fungi and parasites . Since 1971 we have explored the protective capacity of ribosomes isolated from a large variety of micro-organisms responsible for human and animal diseases . Accurate biochemical characterization of ribosomes always reveals trace amounts of non-ribosomal components such as short polysaccharides strongly linked to ribosomal RNA after phenol extraction even under denaturing conditions . rRNA-antigen complexes have been purified from Klebsiella pneumoniae ribosomes inducing high level of protection against homologous experimental infection in mice . Monoclonal antibodies raised against ribosomes and then selected for their ability to confer passive immunity to mice have been used to study the mechanism of the protection induced by ribosomes and to characterize their "immunogenic principle" . These investigations have clearly shown the presence on ribosomes of epitopes corresponding to antigens normally exposed on the membrane of the bacteria . In the original concept of "ribosomal immunotherapy" that we have developed, ribosomes can be considered as natural carriers for cell surface epitopes, presenting them to the immune system in a highly immunogenic configuration. Jpn J Antibiot, 1992 Jan, 45(1), 106 - 11 {Combination effect of KW-2228 and cephem antibiotics in a systemic infection model in neutropenic mice}; Yoshino T et al.; A modified recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSF), KW-2228, has some excellent properties such as high specific activity in stimulating granulocyte colony-formation in vitro, great biological stability in plasma, good pharmacokinetic profile and high potency in granulopoiesis in normal mice in vivo . Recently, the application of G-CSF against infectious diseases has been considered, and some animal experiments have been carried out to support its clinical applications . In this paper, we investigated protective effects of KW-2228 against systemic infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae in mice with leukopenia induced by the administration of cyclophosphamide . KW-2228 (1 microgram/mouse) was administered (s.c.) once a day for 4 days following cyclophosphamide administration, then mice were challenged with K . pneumoniae (i.p.) 4 hours after the last administration of KW-2228 . An antibiotic was administered (s.c., p.o.) 2 hours after the bacterial challenge . Combination effects of KW-2228 with cefazoline, cefmetazole, ceftazidime or cefaclor were evaluated in the systemic infection with K . pneumoniae . Each combination therapy using KW-2228 with each of the cephems exhibited an excellent protective effect in comparison to the therapy with a cephem alone . These results show the possibility that KW-2228 could be of use in treating obstinate infections not successfully treated with an antimicrobial agent alone. Zentralbl Bakteriol, 1992 Jan, 276(2), 205 - 12 Adhesion of fimbriated and non-fimbriated Klebsiella strains to synthetic polymers; Jansen B et al.; Adherence of three fimbriated and non-fimbriated Klebsiella strains to polyetherurethane was investigated in order to assess the possible role of fimbriae in the adhesion of Klebsiella to synthetic polymers . Fimbriated strains with type 1 and type 1.3 fimbriae adhere significantly stronger to polyurethane than the same strains lacking fimbriae, whereas a strain with type 3 fimbriae shows no different adherence compared with the non-fimbriated variant . Analysis of adhesion kinetics and isotherms reveals that adherence of fimbriated Klebsiella strains is proceeded by the formation of multicellular bacterial layers on the polymer surface . Measurements of the relative hydrophobicity of the strains and adherence experiments under exclusion of unspecific interactions point out that fimbriae obviously play a more important role in adhesion than relative hydrophobicity . The demonstration of reduction of bacterial adherence to polyetherurethane by blocking fimbrial action with fimbriae-specific sugars supports this further. Infect Immun, 1992 Jan, 60(1), 44 - 55 R-plasmid-encoded adhesive factor in Klebsiella pneumoniae strains responsible for human nosocomial infections; Darfeuille-Michaud A et al.; Klebsiella pneumoniae strains involved in hospital outbreaks of nosocomial infections, such as suppurative lesions, bacteremia, and septicemia, were resistant to multiple antibiotics including broad-spectrum cephalosporins . Epidemiologic investigations revealed that the reservoir for these K . pneumoniae strains was the gastrointestinal tracts of the patients . The study of the adherence ability of the strains reported here showed that these bacteria adhered to the microvilli of the Caco-2 cell line . This adhesion was mediated by a nonfimbrial protein with a molecular mass of 29,000 Da designated CF29K . Pretreatment of bacteria with antibodies raised against CF29K or Caco-2 cells with purified CF29K prevented the adhesion of K . pneumoniae strains to Caco-2 cells . CF29K immunologically cross-reacted with the CS31A surface protein of Escherichia coli strains involved in septicemia in calves . Genes encoding CF29K were located on a high-molecular-weight conjugative R plasmid, which transferred to E . coli K-12 . Transconjugants expressed a large amount of CF29K protein and adhered to the brush border of Caco-2 cells . These findings show that K . pneumoniae strains were able to colonize the human intestinal tract through a plasmid-encoded 29,000-Da surface protein . Hybridization experiments indicated that the gene encoding resistance to broad-spectrum cephalosporins by the production of CAZ-1 enzyme and the gene encoding the adhesive property to intestinal cells were both located on a 20- to 22-kb EcoRI restriction DNA fragment . Genes encoding aerobactin and the ferric aerobactin receptor were also found on this R plasmid. Rev Latinoam Microbiol, 1992 Jan-Mar, 34(1), 11 - 6 Neonatal septicaemia due to K . pneumoniae . Septicaemia due to Klebsiella pneumoniae in newborn infants . Nosocomial outbreak in an intensive care unit; Arredondo-Garcia JL et al.; The authors report a nosocomial infection outbreak by Klebsiella pneumoniae, observed in neonates at a gyneco-obstetrical hospital from Mexico City . Forty six newborns presented one or more infections due to K . pneumoniae during their stay in neonatal care units, between October 3 and November 12, 1988 . Sepsis was documented in 41 cases by clinical picture and routine laboratory exams, including one positive, blood culture at least . The most frequent invasive procedures practiced in these patients were catheterization and ventilatory support . K . pneumoniae was isolated as well from several environmental sources that could have led to infection of patients . Treatment of cases was initiated with ampicillin-amikacin, however, therapeutic failure with a lethality rate of 50% (14/28) and results of antimicrobial susceptibility conducted to treatment with cefotaxime . Fifteen out of 19 patients receiving the cephalosporin survived . To prevent outbreaks like the one presented here, we concluded that appropriate measures dealing with hygiene and education of personnel plus monitoring of bacterial susceptibility to antimicrobials, should prove successful in our environment. Arch Med Res, 1992 Autumn, 23(3), 93 - 8 Opsonic capacity of a hyperimmune serum against outer membrane proteins of Klebsiella pneumoniae; Alcantar-Curiel MD et al.; The opsonic capacity of a hyperimmune rabbit serum against a porin-rich outer membrane protein preparation of a strain of K . pneumoniae was evaluated . By immunoblot, the antiserum recognized mainly the porins from an outer membrane protein preparation . Using an ELISA, the titer of anti-porin antibodies was determined . Through a chemiluminescence assay, the increase in the respiratory burst of murine hyperimmune serum was recorded . These data correlate with the results of the microbicidal assays and with the electron microscopy preparations obtained where a great number of bacteria were seen within the macrophages . The in vitro data show that there is a greater bacterial killing when the macrophage is infected with bacteria opsonized with the hyperimmune serum. Nucleic Acids Symp Ser, 1992, (27), 165 - 6 Streptomyces ATP nucleotide 3'-pyrophosphokinase and its gene; Muta S et al.; Streptomyces ATP nucleotide 3'-pyrophosphokinase is an extracellular, ribosome-independent, and stringent factor-mimic ppGpp synthetase with an unusually broad acceptor spectrum . The gene-containing DNA fragments cloned from chromosomal DNA of a producer S . morookaensis into pIJ699 and pUC plasmids were found to express the active enzyme in the transformed S . lividans TK24 and enteric E . coli JM109 and nitrogen-fixing Klebsiella pneumoniae M5a1 and 5022, respectively . Base sequence of the structural gene and the deduced amino acid sequence exhibited little homology to those of E . coli stringent factor and related proteins . Growth retardation was seen in some transformants. Mol Aspects Med, 1992, 13(4), 263 - 378 HLA and disease; Baines M et al.; Many human diseases are associated with HLA class I, class II and class III antigens . It appears that the class III antigen disease associations can be explained by a direct defect operating at the level of either the class III gene or its gene product . The mechanism underlying class I and class II antigen disease associations is at present unknown . In this review we have considered thirty diseases which have been ranked according to their relative risk as defined by the frequency of a given HLA antigen in patient and control populations . The chronic inflammatory disorder, ankylosing spondylitis and its association with HLA B27 has been used as a model to study the HLA linked diseases . We have suggested that the disease may be caused by the Gram-negative microorganism Klebsiella which has antigenic similarity to HLA B27 . It is proposed that some antibodies made against Klebsiella bind to HLA B27, thereby acting as autoantibodies leading to the pathological sequelae of chronic inflammatory arthritis . This is the crosstolerance hypothesis or molecular mimicry model and it has been compared to the receptor model . It is further suggested that the crosstolerance hypothesis can be utilised as a general theory to explain the association of other diseases with the class I and class II antigens, and offer a possible explanation for the polymorphism of HLA. Carbohydr Res, 1991 Dec 30, 222, 239 - 44 Branched saccharides formed by the action of His-modified cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase from Klebsiella pneumoniae M 5 al on starch; Bender H; Digestion of potato starch with His-modified alpha-cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase from Klebsiella pneumoniae M 5 al yielded branched tetra- to nona-saccharides, as revealed by debranching with pullulanase . Maltose and maltotriose stubs preponderated together with small proportions of D-glucose stubs . The branched saccharides accounted for approximately 1.2% of the starch. J Biol Chem, 1991 Dec 25, 266(36), 24327 - 31 Identification of the essential cysteine residue in Klebsiella aerogenes urease; Todd MJ et al.; During reaction with {14C}iodoacetamide at pH 6.3, radioactivity was incorporated primarily into a single Klebsiella aerogenes urease peptide concomitant with activity loss . This peptide was protected from modification at pH 6.3 by inclusion of phosphate, a competitive inhibitor of urease, which also protected the enzyme from inactivation . At pH 8.5, several peptides were alkylated; however, modification of one peptide, identical to that modified at pH 6.3, paralleled activity loss . The N-terminal amino acid sequence and composition of the peptide containing the essential thiol was determined . Previous enzyme inactivation studies of K . aerogenes urease could not distinguish whether one or two essential thiols were present per active site (Todd, M . J., and Hausinger, R . P . (1991) J . Biol . Chem . 266, 10260-10267); we conclude that there is a single essential thiol present and identify this residue as Cys319 in the large subunit of the heteropolymeric enzyme. Med J Malaysia, 1991 Dec, 46(4), 376 - 8 A neonate with bilateral refractory chylothorax--a case report; Salem P; A thirty six week gestation male baby weighing three kilogram was born to a twenty five year old mother by spontaneous vaginal delivery . At four hours of life, the baby developed respiratory distress with cyanosis and was admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit . There was clinical and radiological evidence of bilateral pleural effusion . Thoracentesis revealed a transudate . Repeated thoracentesis was necessary to relieve the respiratory distress . Subsequently, multi resistant Klebsiella aerogenes was isolated from the blood . The baby expired due to gram negative sepsis. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis, 1991 Dec, 10(12), 1019 - 25 Impact of the duration of infection on the activity of ceftazidime, gentamicin and ciprofloxacin in Klebsiella pneumoniae pneumonia and septicemia in leukopenic rats; Roosendaal R et al.; An experimental Klebsiella pneumoniae pneumonia and septicemia in leukopenic rats was used to study the impact of the duration of infection on the bactericidal activity of ceftazidime, gentamicin and ciprofloxacin . It appeared that the number of bacteria persisting after a single intravenous injection progressively increased with delay of antibiotic administration up to 3 h after bacterial inoculation with each of the drugs tested . This effect was most pronounced for ciprofloxacin . An inoculum effect could not explain this decrease in bacterial killing . It was also observed that a single injection with a particular dose of each of the respective drugs did not kill all the Klebsiella pneumoniae organisms in the lung . Persisting bacteria did not represent a preexisting less susceptible subpopulation selected after antibiotic administration . In further experiments the impact of delay of the start of treatment on the efficacy of ceftazidime or ciprofloxacin after administration for a period of four days with intramuscular injections at 6 h intervals was investigated . Treatment was started at 5, 12 or 24 h after bacterial inoculation . The therapeutic efficacy of both drugs decreased with the increase of duration of infection, which may be at least in part due to the progressive number of bacteria persisting after antibiotic administration . These data underline the need to start antimicrobial treatment as soon as possible. Planta Med, 1991 Dec, 57(6), 536 - 42 Formation of nitrogen-containing metabolites from geniposide and gardenoside by human intestinal bacteria; Kawata Y et al.; During the course of our studies on the metabolism of iridoid glycosides by human intestinal bacteria, we found that geniposide (1) and gardenoside (4) were transformed to new nitrogen-containing compounds, genipinine (3) and gardenine (6), respectively, along with the known aglycones . Although the amounts of new metabolites were somewhat lower than those of the aglycones, they were quantitatively analyzed by means of liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) . Of 25 strains of human intestinal bacteria, Peptostreptococcus anaerobius, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Bacteroides fragilis ssp . thetaotus produced appreciable amounts of 3, while a bacterial mixture of human feces produced 10 times or more higher amounts of 3, as compared to the individual strains. Immunobiology, 1991 Dec, 184(1), 63 - 74 Analysis of K . pneumoniae by monoclonal antibody: immunohistochemical detection of K . pneumoniae surface antigen injected into mice and rats; Uchiyama J et al.; The monoclonal antibody Kp62 recognized surface antigenic determinants of some strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae . The antigen recognized by Kp62 was demonstrated on the bacterial surface using immunoelectron microscopy . Kp62 reacted with K . pneumoniae No . 1 or K . pneumoniae B 5055 and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from the same bacteria . However, Kp62 was not inhibited by the LPS from Escherichia coli (E . coli) O111:B4 and E . coli O55:B5 . Thus, Kp62 might be a useful monoclonal antibody to detect K . pneumoniae and LPS from K . pneumoniae . The possibility to visualize the localization of K . pneumoniae LPS injected into animals using immunohistochemical methods with this monoclonal antibody was examined . It was possible to detect the injected LPS in the spleen of mouse and rat with the monoclonal antibody to K . pneumoniae . In order to detect the early events taking place in the spleen after intravenous injection of LPS, time course of LPS distribution in mice and rats was studied . After 30 min, 2, 4, 8 and 24 h LPS localized in the marginal zone (MZ) in mice and rats, although the degree of LPS positive cells varied . The cells responsible for trapping the injected LPS appeared to be marginal zone macrophages . The early trapping of LPS by marginal zone macrophages was thought to be important for the following immune responses to the injected LPS . Interestingly the antigenic determinant on the injected LPS appeared to last long on or within the cells in the spleen from the injected animals . Such a remaining antigen might be important for the continuous stimulation of B cells by the LPS . With respect to the distribution of red pulp (RP) and white pulp (WP), we found the varied distribution of LPS between mouse and rat, and SPF and conventionally fed (Conv) animals . For example, LPS-positive cells in RP of rat were scarce, while significant degree of LPS-positive cells were observed in mice . And in WP, LPS-positive cells were observed in Conv DA rats, but not in mice or SPF-fed Wistar rats . These results may suggest that the mode of antigen processing may be different in the spleen of rat and mouse or even among the different strain of rats and previous sensitization to the LPS (or the similar antigenic determinants) may lead to the different distribution of LPS in the spleen . The monoclonal antibody specifically raised against K . pneumoniae was shown to be very useful to follow the fate of LPS derived from K . pneumoniae using immunohistochemical method.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS) J Laryngol Otol, 1991 Dec, 105(12), 1025 - 30 Parapharyngeal abscesses; Sethi DS et al.; Fifty-five patients with deep neck infections treated consecutively over a period of six and a half years between January 1983 and July 1989 were reviewed . Nine of these patients had abscesses localized to the pharapharyngeal space and form the basis of this study . The aetiology of the parapharyngeal abscess was odontogenic in two patients and remained unknown in the other seven . Five patients had associated systemic disease; four were diabetics and one patient had non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma . High dosage intravenous antibiotics directed towards the causative micro-organisms, airway control and early surgical intervention was the mainstay of treatment . All patients underwent open surgical drainage of the parapharyngeal abscess within 24 h of admission . Bacteriology results showed Klebsiella sp . to be the dominant micro-organism cultured in four patients . Morbidity was low; seven patients had no post-operative complications and were discharged from the hospital between 7-24 d (mean 12.9 d) . There were two deaths . Early open surgical drainage remains the most appropriate method of treating parapharyngeal space infections; it avoids life threatening complications with rapid recovery. Appl Environ Microbiol, 1991 Dec, 57(12), 3541 - 6 1,3-Propanediol production by Escherichia coli expressing genes from the Klebsiella pneumoniae dha regulon; Tong IT et al.; The dha regulon in Klebsiella pneumoniae enables the organism to grow anaerobically on glycerol and produce 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD) . Escherichia coli, which does not have a dha system, is unable to grow anaerobically on glycerol without an exogenous electron acceptor and does not produce 1,3-PD . A genomic library of K . pneumoniae ATCC 25955 constructed in E . coli AG1 was enriched for the ability to grow anaerobically on glycerol and dihydroxyacetone and was screened for the production of 1,3-PD . The cosmid pTC1 (42.5 kb total with an 18.2-kb major insert) was isolated from a 1,3-PD-producing strain of E . coli and found to possess enzymatic activities associated with four genes of the dha regulon: glycerol dehydratase (dhaB), 1,3-PD oxidoreductase (dhaT), glycerol dehydrogenase (dhaD), and dihydroxyacetone kinase (dhaK) . All four activities were inducible by the presence of glycerol . When E . coli AG1/pTC1 was grown on complex medium plus glycerol, the yield of 1,3-PD from glycerol was 0.46 mol/mol . The major fermentation by-products were formate, acetate, and D-lactate . 1,3-PD is an intermediate in organic synthesis and polymer production . The 1,3-PD fermentation provides a useful model system for studying the interaction of a biochemical pathway in a foreign host and for developing strategies for metabolic pathway engineering. J Bacteriol, 1991 Dec, 173(24), 7741 - 9 The product of the nitrogen fixation regulatory gene nfrX of Azotobacter vinelandii is functionally and structurally homologous to the uridylyltransferase encoded by glnD in enteric bacteria; Contreras A et al.; We sequenced the nitrogen fixation regulatory gene nfrX from Azotobacter vinelandii, mutations in which cause a Nif- phenotype, and found that it encodes a 105-kDa protein (NfrX), the N terminus of which is highly homologous to that of the uridylyltransferase-uridylyl-removing enzyme encoded by glnD in Escherichia coli . In vivo complementation experiments demonstrate that the glnD and nfrX products are functionally interchangeable . A vinelandii nfrX thus appears to encode a uridylyltransferase-uridylyl-removing enzyme, and in this paper we report the first sequence of such a protein . The Nif- phenotype of nfrX mutants can be suppressed by a second mutation in a recently identified nifL-like gene immediately upstream of nifA in A . vinelandii . NifL mediates nif regulation in response to the N status in A . vinelandii, presumably by inhibiting NifA activator function as occurs in Klebsiella pneumoniae; thus, one role of NfrX is to modify, either directly or indirectly, the activity of the nifL product. Mikrobiol Zh, 1991 Nov-Dec, 53(6), 88 - 93 {The bacteriocin typing of Klebsiella pneumoniae strains}; Pokhil SI et al.; Results of bacteriocin typing of 196 strains of the Klebsiella genus are presented . They are typified by their sensitivity to bacteriocins and by their production using colicinogenic and indicating strains from collection of P . Fredericq {correction of Frederick}, D . G . Kudlai, N . I . Koshanova as well as klebocinogenic K-type cultures of Klebsiella previously suggested by the authors . Investigation results have shown sufficient stability of a bacteriocinotype of the cultures confirmed by the population analysis . It is concluded that bacteriocin typing may be recommended as an additional method in epidemiological labelling of Klebsiella cultures. Bol Asoc Med P R, 1991 Nov, 83(11), 485 - 6 Septic endophthalmitis associated with bacteremia and liver abscess caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae; Martinez M et al.; Pyogenic liver abscess is a serious clinical problem associated with severe complications in 10-20% of cases . Metastatic septic endophthalmitis is a rare complication associated with liver abscess . Despite appropriate treatment the outcome is devastating . We will review in this case presentation some important aspects of the etiology, diagnosis and treatment recommendations for septic endophthalmitis. Indian Pediatr, 1991 Nov, 28(11), 1265 - 70 Neonatal septicemia: a reappraisal with special reference to the use of cefotaxime; Vaidya U et al.; In a study period of one year, 381 babies (38.7% of all nursery admissions) were clinically diagnosed to have sepsis . Of these, 156 (40.9%) had positive blood cultures . Klebsiella was by far the commonest organism isolated (41%) followed by other Gram negative organisms . Gram positive organisms were uncommon (8%) . Sensitivity of Gram negative organisms was poor to penicillin (11%) and ampicillin (18%); significantly better to kanamycin (65%), gentamicin (74%) and best to cefotaxime (79%) . Only 8% isolates were resistant to all antibiotics . Combination of cefotaxime and gentamicin was effective against 90% of the isolates (in vitro) as compared to 74% for gentamicin and ampicillin . In vivo, mortality in the cefotaxime treated group was significantly lower (24.3%) than control group (47%) although both groups were clinically and bacteriologically comparable (p less than 0.05). Indian Pediatr, 1991 Nov, 28(11), 1259 - 63 Mortality in neonatal septicemia with involvement of mother in management; Mathur NB et al.; In most Special Care Neonatal Units (SCNUs) in India, mothers are excluded from the care of their sick babies for fear of over-crowding and dislocation . We have attempted to study the feasibility of involving mothers in the care of their babies admitted for neonatal septicemia and to analyse whether this changed the sepsis related case fatality rate . The study material consisted of 158 neonates with blood culture positive neonatal septicemia whose mothers were actively involved in their care during their stay in the SCNU of LNJPN Hospital throughout 1987-88 . The mothers lived in with their sick neonates and were extremely useful in feeding, cleaning, and monitoring for some important signs and symptoms . There were no epidemics of infection in the nursery during this period . All the babies discharged were receiving breast feeds, and the mothers were confident in taking care of them before discharge . The mortality in this group was 43% . The onset of septicemia was most often in the first week (36%) being 25.9% in second week, 26.6% in the third, and 11.4% in the fourth . Mortality was maximum (64.5%) when the onset of illness was in the first 3 days . Klebsiella and S . aureus were commonly isolated organisms (38.6 and 21.5%, respectively) . Gram negative organisms were isolated in 66.5% cases with higher mortality in this group . Nearly 46% of the babies weighed 2 kg or less, with a mortality of 60.2% compared to 28.2% in those more than 2 kg . Only 3 to 5% and 40 to 66.7% of Gram negative and 23 and 70% of Gram positive organisms were sensitive to ampicillin and gentamicin, respectively. Mol Microbiol, 1991 Nov, 5(11), 2789 - 97 An amplifiable and deletable chloramphenicol-resistance determinant of Streptomyces lividans 1326 encodes a putative transmembrane protein; Dittrich W et al.; A genetically unstable chloramphenicol resistance gene from Streptomyces lividans 1326 was cloned and characterized . This gene and adjacent DNA regions can be lost spontaneously or amplify within variants . Biochemical studies proved that chloramphenicol is not modified by an acetyltransferase or any other enzyme and that ribosomes of the resistant strain are sensitive to chloramphenicol . Sequence data revealed that the resistance gene encodes a hydrophobic protein predicted to have 12 membrane-spanning alpha-helices and a hydropathic profile similar to the membrane of proteins required for the efflux of tetracycline . Variable proportions of the amino acids (about 16-24%) within the presumed chloramphenicol-resistant protein are identical to various aligned tetracycline-resistant proteins from Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and to transporters for citrate in Klebsiella pneumonaie and for ferrichrome in Escherichia coli. Bol Med Hosp Infant Mex, 1991 Nov, 48(11), 820 - 5 {Hospital infections in children in a general hospital}; Ibarra-Colado JE et al.; INTRODUCTION . The following is a summary of what was found after setting into motion an epidemiological surveillance system of nosocomial infections occurring in the Pediatrics Ward of a 2nd level general hospital . MATERIAL AND METHODS . The rate of interhospital infections was 7.6 episodes per 100 patients discharged; the most frequent infections were diarrheas (40.6%), urosepsis (14.3%) and pneumoniae (12.1%) . The mortality rate was 0.33 deaths per 100 episodes . The average number of days spent in the hospital by the general population is 7.3 days and for infected patients, 24 . The germs most frequently found were Klebsiella and E . coli . CONCLUSIONS . The control of nosocomial infections requires more efficient surveillance systems for all hospitals. J Dairy Res, 1991 Nov, 58(4), 477 - 83 Evaluation of a rapid fluorogenic method for the detection of Escherichia coli in dairy products; Sarhan HR et al.; A rapid fluorogenic medium was evaluated for the detection of Escherichia coli in dairy products . The medium was capable of detecting Esch . coli after 7.5 h incubation at 41.5 degrees C . Samples of pasteurized milk (136), raw milk (63), soft cheese (60) and pasteurized cream (39) were examined with media based on 4-methylumbelliferyl-beta-D-glucuronide (MUG-7) and Violet red bile agar and there were no significant differences between the numbers of Esch . coli detected on the two media . MUG-7 medium had a specificity of 98.6% and the small number of organisms giving a false positive reaction were identified as Klebsiella pneumoniae . The incidence of false negative results was approximately 2% . MUG-7 medium was suitable for pour plate, spread plate and membrane filtration methods . Possible applications of the method are discussed. Mol Gen Genet, 1991 Nov, 230(1-2), 270 - 6 Comparison of the sequences of the nagE operons from Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli K12: enhanced variability of the enzyme IIN-acetylglucosamine in regions connecting functional domains; Vogler AP et al.; The nagE operon, encoding the enzyme II specific for N-acetylglucosamine (EIINag), and adjacent DNA from the chromosome of Klebsiella pneumoniae were sequenced and compared with the corresponding sequence from Escherichia coli K12 . The deduced EIINag sequences differ in 72 out of 651 amino acids, the K . pneumoniae sequence being three residues longer . The amino acid differences were distributed unevenly, and were most frequent in regions connecting the three functional domains of the protein . In the nagE-nagB intergenic region, two promoter, two operator, and one CAP consensus sequence with regulatory functions were highly conserved . The nag structural genes from both species were very similar (83% DNA similarity; 89% amino acid similarity) except for frequent AT to GC exchanges in the wobble base of codons in K . pneumoniae DNA relative to the E . coli DNA. J Infect Dis, 1991 Nov, 164(5), 901 - 6 Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor enhances pulmonary host defenses in normal and ethanol-treated rats; Nelson S et al.; Ethanol suppresses functions of the polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMNL), seriously compromising normal host defenses against pneumonia . Because granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) augments the number and function of PMNL, the effect of G-CSF on the antibacterial defenses of the lung in normal and acutely intoxicated rats was studied . Animals received G-CSF or vehicle twice a day for 2 days, then ethanol or saline, followed by challenge with Klebsiella pneumoniae . K . pneumoniae elicited an intrapulmonary influx of PMNL in control rats that was markedly suppressed by prior ethanol administration . G-CSF augmented the recruitment of PMNL into the lungs of control rats and significantly attenuated the adverse effects of ethanol on PMNL entry into the lung . G-CSF enhanced intrapulmonary bactericidal activity against this pathogen in normal and ethanol-treated rats . All intoxicated rats pretreated with the vehicle died, while greater than 90% of rats pretreated with G-CSF survived . These findings suggest a potential role for G-CSF in mitigating the adverse effects of ethanol on PMNL delivery and pulmonary host defenses. Mol Microbiol, 1991 Nov, 5(11), 2575 - 80 The role of the NAC protein in the nitrogen regulation of Klebsiella aerogenes; Bender RA; The NAC (nitrogen assimilation control) protein from Klebsiella aerogenes is a LysR-like regulator for transcription of several operons involved in nitrogen metabolism, and couples the transcription of these sigma 70-dependent operons to regulation by the sigma 54-dependent NTR system . NAC activates expression of operons (e.g . histidine utilization, hut), allowing use of poor nitrogen sources, and represses expression of operons (e.g . glutamate dehydrogenase, gdh) allowing assimilation of the preferred nitrogen source, ammonium . NAC is both necessary and sufficient to activate transcription, but the expression of the nac gene is totally dependent on the central nitrogen regulatory system (NTR) and RNA polymerase carrying the sigma 54 sigma factor (RNAP sigma 54) . Nitrogen starvation signals the NTR system to transcribe nac, and NAC activates the transcription of hut, put (proline utilization), and urease . NAC does not affect the transcription of RNAP sigma 54-dependent operons like ginA or nifLA, which respond directly to the NTR system, but activates transcription of RNAP sigma 70-dependent operons . Thus NAC acts as a bridge between RNAP sigma 70-dependent operons like hut and the RNAP sigma 54-dependent NTR system . The activation of operons like hut by NAC in response to nitrogen starvation is at least superficially similar to their activation by CAP-cAMP in response to carbon and energy starvation. Mol Gen Genet, 1991 Oct, 229(3), 479 - 82 The gltF gene of Klebsiella pneumoniae: cloning and initial characterization; Kuczius T et al.; From a gene bank of Klebsiella pneumoniae M5a1, a 1.7 kb gene fragment was isolated which was able to restore the Ntr+ phenotype and ammonium (methylammonium) transport, but not glutamate synthase in an Escherichia coli glt mutant (glutamate synthase deficiency) . The fragment strongly hybridized with the gltF regulatory gene from E . coli . After subcloning the fragment into an overexpression vector, a protein with a molecular weight of 27,000 dalton was identified as the gene product . The results indicate that the fragment cloned contains the gltF gene from K.pneumoniae. Biochem J, 1991 Oct 1, 279 ( Pt 1), 155 - 8 Purification and partial characterization of a pyruvate oxidoreductase from the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum grown under nitrogen-fixing conditions; Brostedt E et al.; A pyruvate oxidoreductase with the capacity to support pyruvate-dependent nitrogenase activity in vitro has been purified from the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum . The enzyme requires CoA for activity and is irreversibly inactivated by oxygen . The molecular properties and Km values for the substrates have been studied . In supporting nitrogenase activity addition of ferredoxin is required . Overall the enzyme is similar to the nif-specific pyruvate: flavodoxin oxidoreductase purified from Klebsiella pneumoniae. Radiat Res, 1991 Oct, 128(1 Suppl), S18 - 28 Therapy of infections in mice irradiated in mixed neutron/photon fields and inflicted with wound trauma: a review of current work; Ledney GD et al.; When host antimicrobial defenses are severely compromised by radiation or trauma in conjunction with radiation, death from sepsis results . To evaluate therapies for sepsis in radiation casualties, we developed models of acquired and induced bacterial infections in irradiated and irradiated-wounded mice . Animals were exposed to either a mixed radiation field of equal proportions of neutrons and gamma rays (n/gamma = 1) from a TRIGA reactor or pure gamma rays from 60{Co sources . Skin wounds (15% of total body surface area) were inflicted under methoxyflurane anesthesia 1 h after irradiation . In all mice, wounding after irradiation decreased resistance to infection . Treatments with the immunomodulator synthetic trehalose dicorynomycolate (S-TDCM) before or after mixed neutron-gamma irradiation or gamma irradiation increased survival . Therapy with S-TDCM for mice irradiated with either a mixed field or gamma rays increased resistance to Klebsiella pneumoniae-induced infections . Combined therapy with S-TDCM and ceftriaxone for K . pneumoniae infections in mice exposed to a mixed radiation field or to gamma rays was more effective than single-agent therapy . In all irradiated-wounded mice, single therapy of acquired infections with an antibiotic or S-TDCM did not increase survival . Survival of irradiated-wounded mice after topical application of gentamicin sulfate cream suggested that bacteria colonizing the wound disseminated systemically in untreated irradiated mice, resulting in death from sepsis . In lethal models of acquired infections in irradiated-wounded mice, significant increases in survival were achieved when systemic treatments with S-TDCM or gentamicin were combined with topical treatments of gentamicin cream . Therapies for sepsis in all mice exposed to a mixed field were less effective than in mice exposed to gamma rays . Nonetheless, the data show a principle by which successful therapy may be provided to individuals receiving tissue trauma in conjunction with radiation injury. Harefuah, 1991 Oct, 121(7-8), 228 - 9 {Adult respiratory distress syndrome complicating acute pyelonephritis in pregnancy}; Edoute Y et al.; On the fifth day of a course of antibiotic therapy for acute Klebsiella pyelonephritis, a 21-year-old pregnant woman developed adult respiratory distress syndrome . She improved rapidly on fluid restriction and intravenous furosemide and did not require mechanical ventilation . 17 weeks later, after 40 weeks of pregnancy, she spontaneously delivered a healthy male infant weighing 3280 g. Zentralbl Bakteriol, 1991 Oct, 275(4), 521 - 9 Chemiluminescence response of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes induced by purified, latex attached Klebsiella fimbriae; Przondo-Mordarska A et al.; Type 1 fimbriae (T1F) and type 3 fimbriae (T3F) were isolated from Klebsiella species, purified, attached to latex beads and tested for their ability to stimulate human polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMNL) oxidative activity . The luminol dependent chemiluminescence assay was used to evaluate the response of phagocytes . Latex particles coated with type 3 fimbriae (1-T3F) induced a significantly higher chemiluminescence response than those with type 1 fimbriae (1-T1F) . Opsonization of 1-T1F with pooled human serum induced chemiluminescence responses which were statistically significantly enhanced as compared to opsonized 1-T3F and both kinds of non-opsonized fimbriae. J Bacteriol, 1991 Oct, 173(20), 6339 - 46 Involvement of GroEL in nif gene regulation and nitrogenase assembly; Govezensky D et al.; Several approaches were used to study the role of GroEL, the prototype chaperonin, in the nitrogen fixation (nif) system . An Escherichia coli groEL mutant transformed with the Klebsiella pneumoniae nif gene cluster accumulated very low to nondetectable levels of nitrogenase components compared with the isogenic wild-type strain or the mutant cotransformed with the wild-type groE operon . In K . pneumoniae, overexpression of the E . coli groE operon markedly accelerated the rate of appearance of the MoFe protein and its constituent polypeptides after the start of derepression . The groEL mutation in E . coli decreased NifA-dependent beta-galactosidase expression from the nifH promoter but did not affect the constitutive expression of nifA from the tet promoter of ntr-controlled expression from the nifLA promoter . The possibility that GroEL is required for the correct folding of NifA was supported by coimmunoprecipitation of NifA with anti-GroEL antibodies . Kinetic analyses of nitrogenase assembly in 35S pulse-chased K . pneumoniae pointed to the existence of high-molecular-weight intermediates in MoFe protein assembly and demonstrated the transient binding of newly synthesized NifH and NifDK to GroEL . Overall, these results indicate that GroEL fulfills both regulatory and structural functions in the nif system. J Natl Med Assoc, 1991 Oct, 83(10), 922 - 4 Sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy (Rosai-Dorfman disease) in a patient with elevated Epstein-Barr virus titers; Harley EH; Sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy (SHML) is a newly recognized disorder . The etiology of this disease is unknown . An exaggerated response to an offending agent such as the Epstein-Barr virus or Klebsiella bacteria has been postulated . Its course is usually benign . Cervical adenopathy is seen in 97% of the patients, while 30% of patients have nodal involvement in other sites, and 30% have extranodal involvement . There is a 7% mortality rate that occurs primarily in patients with immunologic defects . Corticosteroids ameliorate the constitutional symptoms, but cyclophosphamide appears to have the most beneficial effect . This article presents the case of a patient with SHML who demonstrated elevated Epstein-Barr virus titers. Biochem J, 1991 Oct 1, 279 ( Pt 1), 81 - 5 Klebsiella pneumoniae nitrogenase . The pre-steady-state kinetics of MoFe-protein reduction and hydrogen evolution under conditions of limiting electron flux show that the rates of association with the Fe-protein and electron transfer are independent of the oxidation level of the MoFe-protein; Fisher K et al.; The pre-steady-state kinetics of H2 evolution from Klebsiella pneumoniae nitrogenase functioning at 23 degrees C, pH 7.4, under conditions of extremely low electron flux through the MoFe-protein exhibited a lag phase of several minutes duration . The approach to a steady-state rate of H2 evolution was accompanied by a 50% decrease in the amplitude of the MoFe-protein e.p.r . signal . These kinetics have been simulated using our published kinetic model for nitrogenase {Lowe & Thorneley (1984) Biochem . J . 224, 877-886}, which was developed using data obtained with nitrogenase functioning at high electron fluxes . The e.p.r . data showed that the rate of complex-formation between reduced Fe-protein and the MoFe-protein (k+1 = 5 x 10(7) M-1.s-1) is the same for the resting (E0) and one-electron-reduced (E1H) states of the MoFe-protein . Stopped-flow spectrophotometry also showed that electron transfer from the Fe-protein to the MoFe-protein in states E0 and E1H occurs at the same rate (kobs . = 140 s-1) . These data support our previous assumption that the rate constants that define the 'Fe-protein cycle' are independent of the level of reduction of the MoFe-protein. J Bacteriol, 1991 Oct, 173(20), 6626 - 31 Klebsiella aerogenes catabolite gene activator protein and the gene encoding it (crp); Osuna R et al.; The catabolite gene activator protein from Klebsiella aerogenes (CAPK) and the corresponding protein from Escherichia coli (CAPE) were shown to be nearly identical . Both CAPK and CAPE activated transcription from the CAP-dependent promoters derived from E . coli and K . aerogenes . The crp gene from K . aerogenes (encoding CAP) is tightly linked to rpsL . The nucleotide sequence of crp predicts an amino acid sequence for CAPK that differs in only one position from that of CAPE. J Bacteriol, 1991 Oct, 173(20), 6499 - 506 Isolation of Escherichia coli mutants defective in uptake of molybdate; Hemschemeier S et al.; For the study of molybdenum uptake by Escherichia coli, we generated Tn5lac transposition mutants, which were screened for the pleiotropic loss of molybdoenzyme activities . Three mutants A1, A4, and M22 were finally selected for further analysis . Even in the presence of 100 microM molybdate in the growth medium, no active nitrate reductase, formate dehydrogenase, and trimethylamine-N-oxide reductase were detected in these mutants, indicating that the intracellular supply of molybdenum was not sufficient . This was also supported by the observation that introduction of plasmid pWK225 carrying the complete nif regulon of Klebsiella pneumoniae did not lead to a functional expression of nitrogenase . Finally, molybdenum determination by induced coupled plasma mass spectroscopy confirmed a significant reduction of cell-bound molybdenum in the mutants compared with that in wild-type E . coli, even at high molybdate concentrations in the medium . A genomic library established with the plasmid mini-F-derived cop(ts) vector pJE258 allowed the isolation of cosmid pBK229 complementing the molybdate uptake deficiency of the chlD mutant and the Tn5lac-induced mutants . Certain subfragments of pBK229 which do not contain the chlD gene are still able to complement the Tn5lac mutants . Mapping experiments showed that the Tn5lac insertions did not occur within the chromosomal region present in pBK229 but did occur very close to that region . We assume that the Tn5lac insertions have a polar effect, thus preventing the expression of transport genes, or that a positively acting regulatory element was inactivated. Biotechnology (N Y), 1991 Oct, 9(10), 982 - 6 Production of cyclodextrins, a novel carbohydrate, in the tubers of transgenic potato plants; Oakes JV et al.; Cyclodextrins (CDs) are cyclic oligosaccharides containing six (alpha), seven (beta), or eight (gamma) glucose molecules, respectively . The cyclodextrin glycosyltransferases (CGT), which produce CDs from starch, are found only in bacteria and are used in batch fermentors with hydrolyzed starch to produce CDs commercially . Using a CGT gene from Klebsiella, we attempted to engineer the tubers of developing potatoes to produce these novel, high-value carbohydrates . A chimeric gene, consisting of (1) the patatin promoter for tuber-specific expression, (2) the small subunit of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase (SSU) transit peptide for plastid targeting, (3) the CGT structural gene from Klebsiella and (4) the nopaline synthase 3' region, was introduced into potatoes . Both alpha and beta CDs were produced in tubers of transgenic potatoes at levels corresponding to 0.001-0.01% of the starch being converted to CDs. Carbohydr Res, 1991 Sep 18, 217, 117 - 25 Structure of the O-specific polysaccharide chain from Klebsiella pneumoniae O1K2 (NCTC 5055) lipopolysaccharide; Kol O et al.; The structure of the O-specific polysaccharide of Klebsiella pneumoniae O1K2 lipopolysaccharide was investigated by use of methylation, periodate oxidation, partial hydrolysis, and 1H- and 13C-n.m.r . spectroscopy . It was shown to consist of a linear chain composed of two disaccharide repeating units, {----3)-alpha-D-Galp-(1----3)-beta-D-Galp-(1----} and {----3)-alpha-D-Galp-(1----3)-beta-D-Galf-(1----}. Ugeskr Laeger, 1991 Sep 16, 153(38), 2635 - 6 {Phlegmonous enteritis--a rare cause of acute abdomen}; Brooks B et al.; A 73 year old woman presenting with an acute abdomen was diagnosed as having phlegmonous enteritis after microscopic examination revealed the characteristic finding of a diffuse suppurative inflammation limited to the submucosa in the resected ileal segment . Culture of Klebsiella pneumoniae, and the microscopic demonstration of gram positive cocci and gram negative rods confirmed the bacterial etiology of this disease . There was no evidence of mucosal injury in this patient, but the possible role of ischemia secondary to atherosclerotic vascular disease cannot be assessed . Because of the associated high morbidity and mortality, phlegmonous enteritis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute abdomen. J Antimicrob Chemother, 1991 Sep, 28(3), 389 - 97 Characterization of Klebsiella oxytoca septicaemia isolates resistant to aztreonam and cefuroxime; Wu SW et al.; Eleven clinical isolates of Klebsiella oxytoca from Stockholm hospitals were found to be resistant to aztreonam and cefuroxime, but susceptible to cefotaxime, ceftazidime and imipenem . Resistance could be overcome by combining the beta-lactams with the inhibitor clavulanic acid . Crude beta-lactamase preparations from the isolates inactivated aztreonam and cefuroxime rapidly . By isoelectric focusing, a single common beta-lactamase of pI 5.25 was detected . The K . oxytoca isolates belonged to three subgroups, based on their plasmid profiles and Bg/II restriction endonuclease digestion of plasmid DNA . It was concluded that resistance to aztreonam and cefuroxime in these isolates was conferred by a beta-lactamase distinct from TEM-1, TEM-2 and SHV-1, but possibly derived from TEM-like enzymes. J Protozool, 1991 Sep-Oct, 38(5), 507 - 11 Axenic cultivation of the anaerobic free-living ciliate Trimyema compressum; Broers CA et al.; The strain N of Trimyema compressum, an anaerobic free-living ciliate, was cultivated axenically in a medium containing a buffered salt solution, yeast extract, trypticase, and glutathione . Dead bacteria were indispensable as food; a culture of the ciliate together with heat-killed Klebsiella pneumoniae has been established for more than one year . In the medium described, the ciliates grow to a higher cell density than in cultures with living bacteria as food . During the process of axenization, a nonmethanogenic bacterial endosymbiont was lost . In the microbodies of T . compressum, hydrogenase could be localized by the technique of indirect immunofluorescence. J Bacteriol, 1991 Sep, 173(17), 5457 - 69 Nucleotide sequence and genetic analysis of the Azotobacter chroococcum nifUSVWZM gene cluster, including a new gene (nifP) which encodes a serine acetyltransferase; Evans DJ et al.; Nucleotide sequence was obtained for a region of 7,099 bp spanning the nifU, nifS, nifV, nifW, nifZ, and nifM genes from Azotobacter chroococcum . Chromosomal mutations constructed at several sites within the locus confirmed a requirement for this region for expression of the molybdenum nitrogenase in this organism . The genes are tightly clustered and ordered as in Klebsiella pneumoniae except for two additional open reading frames (ORFs) between nifV and nifW . The arrangement of genes in A . chroococcum closely matches that described for Azotobacter vinelandii . The polypeptide encoded by ORF4 immediately downstream from nifV is 41% identical over 186 amino acids to the product of the cysE gene from Escherichia coli, which encodes serine acetyltransferase (SAT), a key enzyme in cysteine biosynthesis . Plasmids which potentially express ORF4 complemented E . coli JM39, a cysteine auxotroph which lacks SAT . SAT activity was detected in crude extracts of one such complemented strain . A strain of A . chroococcum carrying a chromosomal disruption of ORF4 grew normally with ammonium as the N source but more slowly than the parental strain when N2 was the sole N source . These data suggest that ORF4 encodes a nif-specific SAT required for optimizing expression of nitrogenase activity . ORF4 was assigned the name nifP . nifP may be required to boost rates of synthesis or intracellular concentrations of cysteine or methionine . Sequence identity between nifV and leuA gene products suggests that nifV may catalyze a condensation reaction analogous to that carried out by isopropylmalate synthase (LEUA) but in which acetyl coenzyme and alpha-ketoglutarate are substrates for the formation of homocitrate, the proposed product of NIFV activity. Mikrobiol Zh, 1991 Sep-Oct, 53(5), 46 - 53 {Bacteriocinogeny in Klebsiella and the applied use of klebocins}; Pokhil SI et al.; A phenomenon of bacteriocinogeny is studied in 83 K-type strains of Klebsiella . Physicochemical (permeability through cellophane, thermo-resistance, diffusion rate in agar, inactivation by trypsin, induction by UV irradiation) and biological (activity spectrum, specificity) properties are studied . Eight preparations of klebocins are examined by electron microscopy . Conclusions are made on the possibility to use klebocinogenic and indicating K-type cultures of Klebsiella for bacteriocin typing of clinical isolates of these microbes. Indian J Med Res, 1991 Sep, 93, 293 - 6 Enterotoxigenic Klebsiella pneumoniae in acute childhood diarrhoea; Panigrahi D et al.; K . pneumoniae strains recovered as pure or predominant isolate from stool specimens of 50 children below three years of age, presenting with acute watery diarrhoea, were studied for heat-labile enterotoxin production . Twenty three (46%) of the 50 crude toxin concentrates showed positivity in rabbit ileal loops and skin permeability tests . Antigenically 17 (34%) and 20 (40%) of the toxin extracts reacted with immuno-purified anti H-LT antibody in latex particle agglutination and immuno-dot blot assays respectively . Polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis, Western-blotting and enzyme-immunoassay revealed heat-labile enterotoxin and its subunits in 19 (68%) of 28 extracts tested . In 5 of 10 strains tested the toxigenicity could be transferred to recipient Escherichia coli J-35 in plasmid transfer experiments . Klebsiella induced enterotoxigenic diarrhoea and produced a heat-labile toxin which seems to be biologically, antigenically and possibly genetically related to the heat-labile toxin of the cholera-coli family. Anticancer Res, 1991 Sep-Oct, 11(5), 1849 - 53 Responsiveness of human monocytes to Ru 41.740 (Biostim) . Influence of preincubation in vitro; Blomgen H et al.; Biostim, which is a glucoprotein extract of Klebsiella pneumoniae, is known to trigger human monocytes to increased secretion of metabolites, which inhibit lymphocyte mitogenesis and which augment NK-activity of lymphocytes . Some aspects of this monocyte activation have been examined in this study . The conclusion of the present investigation is that preincubation of human monocytes for 6-24 h in serum-free medium at 37 degrees C renders them unresponsive to Biostim, as assessed by secretion of the above factors . Monocytes which were preincubated in 100% serum or in serum-free medium at 3 degrees C retained their responsiveness to Biostim . Loss of Biostim responsiveness could not be prevented by interferon alpha, beta, gamma or by granulocyte-monocyte and granulocyte colony stimulating factors . One interpretation of these results is that human monocytes possess distinct receptors for Biostim whose expression is lost under suboptimal culture conditions . Expression of these receptors is a prerequisite for responsiveness to the drug. J Mol Biol, 1991 Aug 20, 220(4), 915 - 31 Organization and function of binding sites for the transcriptional activator NifA in the Klebsiella pneumoniae nifE and nifU promoters; Cannon W et al.; The interaction of the Klebsiella pneumoniae NifA protein, a sigma 54-dependent activator, with the nifE and nifU promoters was analysed . At these promoters NifA established contacts in addition to those predicted by the minimal formulation NifA binding site (5'-TGT-N10-ACA) . The positions of the contacts indicate that bound NifA molecules could assemble to form an oligomer . At both promoters contacts with NifA are made predominantly on one face of the DNA helix, and all contacts appear necessary for full activation by NifA . The close contacts made by NifA appear to be made by the DNA-binding domain of NifA . This domain shows specific DNA-binding activity in vitro . The binding of NifA to one site in the nifU promoter depends upon occupancy of additional upstream sequences by NifA . At the nifE promoter NifA binds adjacent to an integration host factor (IHF) binding site, but in contrast to results obtained with the nifU promoter IHF does not diminish nifE promoter occupancy by NifA . The IHF requirement for efficient in vivo activation of the nifU promoter by NifA was greater than that of the nifE promoter . Accordingly, the affinity of IHF for the nifU promoter is higher than for the nifE promoter . Amongst promoters utilizing the sigma 54 holoenzyme, the nifE promoter appears somewhat atypical in having the activator bound at around position -74 rather than the usual 100 base-pairs or more upstream from the transcription start site. FEMS Microbiol Immunol, 1991 Aug, 3(4), 205 - 10 Klebsiella pneumoniae glycoprotein RU-41740 enhances resistance of mice against Mycoplasma arthritidis-induced arthritis; Kaklamani E et al.; The effect of a purified glycoprotein extract from Klebsiella pneumoniae with non-specific immunostimulating properties (RU 41740) on the development and course of mycoplasma arthritis was investigated . Male A/J mice aged 2-3 months were given RU-41740 either intraperitoneally (i.p.) or orally prior to injection with Mycoplasma arthritidis . RU-41740 injected i.p . at 0.1 mg kg-1 or given orally at 1 mg kg-1 prior to the infection and subsequently on alternate days enhanced the resistance of mice to mycoplasma arthritis (P less than 0.001) . Doses of 1 mg kg-1 i.p . or 10 mg kg-1 orally did not modify the course of the arthritis significantly, probably due to immunosuppressive factors from monocytes . It is suggested that RU-41740 protects the mice by stimulating macrophages . This immunostimulant might prove useful in the treatment of mycoplasma diseases, especially in the immunocompromised host. Antimicrob Agents Chemother, 1991 Aug, 35(8), 1557 - 61 Synergistic activity of 5-trifluoromethylthioribose and inhibitors of methionine synthesis against Klebsiella pneumoniae; Tower PA et al.; 5-Methylthioribose (MTR) is an intermediate in the methionine recycling pathway of organisms containing the enzyme MTR kinase . Analogs of MTR have been proposed as a new class of antimicrobial agents because of their ability to perturb the growth of MTR kinase-containing pathogens through inhibition of methionine salvage or by conversion to toxic products . One such analog, 5-trifluoromethylthioribose (TFMTR), has demonstrated potent inhibitory effects on the growth of Klebsiella pneumoniae (A . G . Gianotti, P . A . Tower, J . H . Sheley, P . A . Conte, C . Spiro, J . H . Fitchen, and M . K . Riscoe, J . Biol . Chem . 265:831-837, 1990) . Although the mode of action of TFMTR has yet to be determined, it is believed that the drug is converted to the toxic products trifluoromethionine or carbonothioic difluoride via MTR kinase and the methionine recycling pathway . On the basis of this assumption, we theorized that blocking de novo methionine synthesis would increase dependence on the methionine salvage pathway and lead to an increased rate of synthesis of toxic metabolites from TFMTR . In this report, we show that three separate inhibitors of de novo methionine synthesis (1,2,4-triazole, azaserine, and propargylglycine) act synergistically with TFMTR in inhibiting the growth of K . pneumoniae. Biochem J, 1991 Aug 1, 277 ( Pt 3), 735 - 41 Nitrogenase of Klebsiella pneumoniae . Reversibility of the reductant-independent MgATP-cleavage reaction is shown by MgADP-catalysed phosphate/water oxygen exchange; Thorneley RN et al.; The steady-state kinetics of reductant-independent ATP hydrolysis by Klebsiella pneumoniae nitrogenase at 23 degrees C at pH 7.4 were determined as a function of component protein ratio (optimal at an oxidized Fe protein/MoFe protein ratio of 3:1) and MgATP concentration (Km 400 microM) . Competitive inhibition was observed for MgADP (Ki 145 microM), {beta gamma-methylene}ATP (Mgp{CH2}ppA) (Ki 115 microM), {beta gamma-monofluoromethylene}ATP (Mgp{CHF}ppA) (Ki 53 microM) and {beta gamma-difluoromethylene}ATP (Mgp{CF2}ppA) (Ki 160 microM) . The tighter binding of MgADP to free oxidized Fe protein (KD less than 10 microM) than to the oxidized Fe protein-MoFe protein complex (Ki 145 microM) is proposed as the driving force that induces rate-limiting protein dissociation in the catalytic cycle of nitrogenase . The reversible nature of the reductant-independent MgATP-cleavage reaction was demonstrated by an MgADP-induced enhancement of the rate of the phosphate/water oxygen exchange reaction with 18O-labelled phosphate ion . This enhancement, like the reductant-independent ATPase reaction, only occurred with the complex formed by oxidized Fe protein and MoFe protein and not with the individual proteins . The results are discussed in terms of the mechanism of ATP hydrolysis by nitrogenase and other systems involving protein-protein interactions. Arch Intern Med, 1991 Aug, 151(8), 1557 - 9 Septic metastatic lesions of pyogenic liver abscess . Their association with Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteremia in diabetic patients; Cheng DL et al.; Septic metastatic endophthalmitis from Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscess, first reported in seven cases treated at the Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, between 1981 and 1985, was seen in six similar cases at the same hospital in the subsequent 2 years . We conducted a retrospective search for factors that might be associated with these complications of pyogenic liver abscess . A total of 23 cases with septic metastatic lesions from pyogenic liver abscess were found between 1981 and 1987, and 164 cases of pyogenic liver abscess without septic metastatic lesions were identified as a comparison group . Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscess, bacteremia, and the underlying diabetes mellitus were significantly more common in the study group than in the comparison group . Of the 23 patients with septic metastatic lesions, there were 14 cases (60.8%) of endophthalmitis or uveitis, 10 cases (43.4%) of pulmonary abscess and/or emboli, six cases (26.0%) of brain abscess and/or purulent meningitis, five cases (21.7%) of bacteriuria and/or prostate abscess, two cases (8.6%) of osteomyelitis and/or pyogenic arthritis, and one case (4.3%) of psoas abscess. Zh Mikrobiol Epidemiol Immunobiol, 1991 Aug, (8), 40 - 3 {The spread of Klebsiella in obstetrical hospitals and the biological properties of the isolated strains}; Bairamova AS et al.; Examination of 278 newborn infants, parturients, and medical personnel in two maternity hospitals revealed a high level of Klebsiella colonization of all examined biotopes of infants (the nasal cavity in up to 36.5% of cases) and the skin of the mammary glands of nursing mothers (in 36.2% of cases) . In the intestine and the nasal cavity of parturient women and medical personnel Klebsiella could be detected 3-10 times more often than in the same biotopes of nonhospitalized pregnant women . From 254 objects of the hospital environment Klebsiella were isolated in 9.05% of cases . The possibility of the transmission of Klebsiella in hospitals by patients with inflammatory processes in their genitals were established . The diversity of the serological picture of strains of most K-serovars and a short period of their isolation were shown . In one hospital serovar K10 with some features of a "hospital" strain was isolated . The strains under study were sensitive to aminoglycosides, cephamesine, chlorhexidine, but resistant to semisynthetic penicillins and chloramine. Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo), 1991 Aug, 39(8), 2143 - 5 Separation and characterization of three positional isomers of dimaltosyl-cyclomaltoheptaose (dimaltosyl-beta-cyclodextrin); Koizumi K et al.; A mixture of maltosylcyclomaltoheptaoses (maltosyl-beta-cyclodextrins, G2-beta CDs) was prepared from maltose and beta-cyclodextrin (beta CD) through the reverse action of Klebsiella pneumoniae pullulanase . Three positional isomers of dimaltosyl-beta CD in the mixture were separated by high-performance liquid chromatography on a reversed phase column and a graphitized carbon column . Their molecular weights were measured by fast-atom bombardment mass spectrometry, and the structures were established by methylation analysis, hydrolysis with glucoamylase to the known compounds, three positional isomers of diglucosyl-beta CD, and 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Zentralbl Bakteriol, 1991 Aug, 275(3), 369 - 73 Molecular cloning and nucleotide sequence of a new plasmid-coded Klebsiella pneumoniae beta-lactamase gene (SHV-2a) responsible for high-level cefotaxime resistance; Podbielski A et al.; Patient specimen isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae exhibiting an MIC of greater than 128 mg/l for cefotaxime were shown to produce a beta-lactamase with a pI of 7.6, which is encoded on a 66 kb conjugative plasmid . A 3.5 kb Bam HI fragment of this plasmid was cloned into pLG339 and totally sequenced . The nucleotide sequence of the beta-lactamase gene presented 99% homology to those of SHV-2 and SHV-3, the deduced amino acid sequence differed from both enzymes in one and two positions, respectively, leading to the denomination SHV-2a for the new enzyme . Since the kinetic data of SHV-2a and SHV-2 are similar, too, quantitative effects mediated by distinctly different promotor regions are thought to be responsible for the elevated MIC for cefotaxime induced by SHV-2a. Zhonghua Min Guo Wei Sheng Wu Ji Mian Yi Xue Za Zhi, 1991 Aug, 24(3), 264 - 71 Molecular epidemiology of Klebsiella pneumoniae; Peng HL et al.; Plasmid profile, restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterned by an rRNA probe, and capsule serotyping of 143 Taiwan local bacteriemic isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae were analyzed . Our results indicate that K1 and K2 are probably the most prevalent serotypes in Taiwan, accounting for 39% of total isolates tested . A remarkable genotypic heterogeneity was observed among these isolates by the analysis of rRNA gene RFLP patterns and plasmid profile, which highlighted differences that were not discerned by the serological tests used to differentiated these strains . On the basis of these analyses, 27 rRNA gene restriction patterns and 57 plasmid profiles were identified. Arzneimittelforschung, 1991 Aug, 41(8), 815 - 20 Effect of an immunostimulatory substance of Klebsiella pneumoniae on inflammatory responses of human granulocytes, basophils and platelets; Scheffer J et al.; RU 41740 (Biostim), a biological response modifier of bacterial origin obtained from the 01.K2 strain of K . pneumoniae, was studied with regard to its effect to modulate the chemiluminescence response, phagocytosis and leukotriene formation from polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs), the histamine release from basophils and the aggregation of human platelets . For histamine release human basophils were analyzed with either the calcium ionophore A23187 or hemolysin producing bacteria . RU 41740 reduced the E . coli K12 pANN5211 induced histamine release whereas the calcium ionophore A23187 induced histamine release was not affected . The studies with regard to adherence and phagocytosis showed a significant increase in phagocytosis for S . aureus in the presence of RU 41740 . With regard to the chemiluminescence response of human granulocytes, donor cells were divided into cells with a high and a low response . The chemiluminescence response of high responder cells towards a potent stimulus, e.g . the calcium ionophore A23187, was decreased by RU 41740 whereas weak stimuli (e.g . E . coli K12) were not affected . In contrast to these results the chemiluminescence response of low responder cells to a weak stimulus e.g . E . coli K12 was increased by RU 41740 and the potent stimuli were not affected . RU 41740 also modulates the eicosanoid synthesis of human polymorphonuclear granulocytes . For the calcium ionophore A23187 induced leukotriene production an increase of LTB4 and a decrease of LTC4 by RU 41740 was observed . Furthermore, preincubation of platelets with various concentrations of RU 41740 for 5 min shows an inhibition of platelet aggregation, when an additional stimulation with the calcium ionophore A23187 was carried out. Eur J Biochem, 1991 Aug 1, 199(3), 637 - 41 Comparative study of the structure/function relationship of wild-type and structurally modified maltopentaose-producing amylase; Candussio A et al.; Amylase A-180, which is secreted by a new alkaliphilic organism, isolate 163-26, consists of a single type of polypeptide chain of 186.5 kDa and hydrolyses starch by exo-attack releasing malto-pentaose as preferential product . The structure/function relationship of this unusual starch-degrading enzyme was analysed by introducing 3' deletions into the structural gene . It was found that removal of up to a 110-kDa portion from the C-terminus leaving 563 N-terminal amino acids still led to the formation of a fully active enzyme . The part of the structural gene coding for these 563 N-terminal amino acids was fused with the signal peptide-encoding segment of the cyclodextrin glucanotransferase gene from Klebsiella oxytoca and was cloned into an expression vector . The resulting truncated A-180 derivative, A-180/21, was efficiently transported through the cytoplasmic membrane and released into the medium by an Escherichia coli strain which 'leaks' periplasmatic components . A-180/21 was purified and its catalytic properties, i.e . specific activity and product specificity, proved to be identical to those of the wild-type enzyme; however, in contrast to the wild-type enzyme, it was unable to bind to raw starch and it displayed an altered temperature and pH dependence of activity. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 1991 Aug, 35(5), 606 - 10 Gene cloning of the maoA gene and overproduction of a soluble monoamine oxidase from Klebsiella aerogenes; Sugino H et al.; We cloned the structural gene for monoamine oxidase (maoA) from Klebsiella aerogenes into a pKI212 vector in an maoA mutant strain of K . aerogenes . Deletion analysis and complementation tests of the recombinant plasmid showed that the maoA gene was located entirely within a 4.1-kb segment . In an maoA mutant strain harbouring the cloned maoA gene, synthesis of monoamine oxidase was induced by addition of tyramine and related compounds . Transfer of a plasmid containing the maoA gene into a monoamine oxidase-producing strain of K . aerogenes W70 resulted in about a 30- to 40-fold increase in total production of the enzyme . When cells of K . aerogenes carrying the plasmid containing the maoA gene were grown with tyramine, more than 85% of the monoamine oxidase was produced in soluble form, whereas the parent strain W70 produced most monoamine oxidase as the membrane-bound form. Gene, 1991 Jul 31, 104(1), 81 - 4 Construction of a novel suicide vector: selection for Escherichia coli HB101 recombinants carrying the DNA insert; Arakawa Y et al.; We constructed a new type of cloning vector, pERISH2, that transforms Escherichia coli HB101 only when a foreign DNA fragment is ligated into the cloning site of the plasmid vector . Plasmid pERISH2 carries the rcsB gene which is derived from the chromosome of E . coli HB101 and is involved in the regulation of colanic acid production . When E . coli HB101 is transformed by this vector carrying the intact rcsB gene, the gene product RcsB blocks bacterial growth . However, if the rcsB gene is inactivated by the insertion of a foreign DNA fragment, this recombinant plasmid no longer inhibits the growth of E . coli HB101 . Although E . coli HB101 is not stably transformed by pERISH2, E . coli K-12 strains such as JM109 and C600 can harbor this vector . Therefore, pERISH2 can be amplified in JM109 and be prepared from this strain in a large quantity using conventional methods . A chromosomal gene library of Klebsiella pneumoniae is constructed easily and efficiently by the utilization of this new cloning vector. Gene, 1991 Jul 15, 103(1), 83 - 6 Cys184 and Cys187 of NifL protein of Klebsiella pneumoniae are not absolutely required for inhibition of NifA activity; Contreras A et al.; The sequence Cys184-Ala-Asp-Cys187 in the NifL protein of Klebsiella pneumoniae, for which a role in oxygen sensing and/or metal binding has been proposed, was altered by introducing two mutations, Cys184----Ala and Cys187----Ala, using oligodeoxyribonucleotide-directed mutagenesis . Neither mutation abolished ammonium or oxygen control of nif transcription, although some impairment of function was apparent . The two Cys residues are therefore unlikely to have a direct role in oxygen sensing or metal binding, but probably make some contribution to protein folding or stability. J Clin Invest, 1991 Jul, 88(1), 34 - 9 Treatment with recombinant human tumor necrosis factor-alpha protects rats against the lethality, hypotension, and hypothermia of gram-negative sepsis; Alexander HR et al.; Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is a peptide secreted by macrophages in response to endotoxin that can produce many of the changes seen in septic shock . After cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) rats gradually develop tachycardia, hypotension, tachypnea, and hypothermia . At 5 h post-CLP, rats have a peak in serum levels of endotoxin and 60% of rats have blood cultures that grow Gram-negative rods (Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumonia) . At 20 h post-CLP all rats develop positive blood cultures . Serum levels of TNF are not reproducibly measurable in rats following CLP . Rats undergoing CLP have a 50-80% mortality with deaths usually occurring 24-72 h postinjury . Repetitive (twice daily x 6 d) i.p . injection of sublethal doses of recombinant human TNF-alpha (100 micrograms/kg) to rats undergoing CLP 1 d after the treatment period resulted in a significant reduction in mortality compared to control rats previously unexposed to rTNF (P less than 0.03) . Animals treated with rTNF had no hypotension or hypothermia after CLP and regained normal food intake faster than control rats . 12 h after CLP the gene expression for manganous superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), an inducible mitochondrial metalloenzyme responsible for cellular resistance to injury from toxic reactive oxygen species, was higher in livers of rats treated with rTNF suggesting that the TNF treatment augmented expression of this protective enzyme . Unlike MnSOD, expression of the gene for copper-zinc SOD was not affected by CLP or rTNF treatment . The results suggest that prior treatment with recombinant TNF can ameliorate the lethality, hypotension, hypothermia, and anorexia of Gram-negative sepsis in rats and that the mechanism may be related to enhanced hepatic expression of the gene for MnSOD . Repeated administration of recombinant TNF may be a strategy to minimize mortality and morbidity of Gram-negative sepsis. J Gen Microbiol, 1991 Jul, 137 ( Pt 7), 1667 - 75 Different promoters of SHV-2 and SHV-2a beta-lactamase lead to diverse levels of cefotaxime resistance in their bacterial producers; Podbielski A et al.; Clinical Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates as well as Escherichia coli transformants producing the beta-lactamases SHV-2 or SHV-2a demonstrate MIC values for cefotaxime of 4 mg l-1 or 64 to greater than 128 mg l-1, respectively . The beta-lactamases differ by one possibly insignificant amino acid exchange at position number 10 of the mature protein; their kinetic parameters are rather similar . The 5' untranslated regions of both corresponding genes show no homology starting 74 nucleotides upstream to the start codon . Hybridization of intragenically annealing oligonucleotides to dot-blotted serial dilutions of total cellular RNA from E . coli transformants harbouring these genes cloned into the same vector plasmid gave a positive signal down to 1.2 micrograms (SHV-2) and 0.32 to 0.16 micrograms (SHV-2a), indicating a four to eight times higher amount of specific transcript in the case of SHV-2a . By primer extension analysis and S1 nuclease digestion the starting point to transcription was located 100 nucleotides (SHV-2) and 50 nucleotides (SHV-2a) in front of the start codon . No other transcripts of different length could be detected after prolonged exposure . Northern blot analysis demonstrated the length of the beta-lactamase mRNA to be about 1.6 kb in both cases, thus comprising a potential open reading frame downstream of the two enzymes' genes . Selective PCR amplification of both promoter regions and of the structural gene of SHV-2 and subsequent combined cloning of each of the promoters and the SHV-2 gene into pBGS19 using a BamHI restriction site introduced by three point mutations into the cloned sequences was employed to transforms E . coli DH5 alpha.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) J Nucl Biol Med, 1991 Jul-Sep, 35(3), 162 - 6 Technetium-99m distribution into Klebsiella pneumoniae; Bernardo-Filho M et al.; Bacteria labelled with radionuclide has been the subject of much investigation and has been applied in microbiological research . Technetium-99m (99mTc) may be an alternative radionuclide for the labelling of bacteria employed in various microbiological procedures . This radionuclide is easily available, is not expensive and presents important physical and biological characteristics . 99mTc-labelled bacteria are stable and their cell viability and biological properties are not modified . Study of the distribution of radioactivity in 99mTc-labelled Klebsiella pneumoniae cultures, after homogenization and differential centrifugation of the cells fractions, showed that this radionuclide was present inside the cell, mainly in a ribosomal fraction . Treatment of these fractions with enzymes and detergent revealed a high sensitivity to pronase and Triton X-100 . After phenol extraction, a large percentage of radioactivity was detected in the phenol phase . Treatment of the soluble fraction with trichloroacetic acid at different temperatures showed that the concentration of 99mTc in the precipitate was lower at 100 degrees than at 4 degrees C . These results suggest that 99mTc binds mainly to the proteins in Klebsiella pneumoniae. J Gen Microbiol, 1991 Jul, 137 ( Pt 7), 1479 - 83 Aerobic 2-ketogluconate metabolism of Klebsiella pneumoniae NCTC 418 grown in chemostat culture; Simons JA et al.; Klebsiella pneumoniae NCTC 418 is able to convert 2-ketogluconate intracellularly to 6-phosphogluconate by the combined action of an NADPH-dependent 2-ketogluconate reductase and gluconate kinase . Synthesis of the former enzyme was maximal under 2-ketogluconate-limited growth conditions . An instantaneous transition to a 2-ketogluconate-excess condition resulted in an acceleration of catabolism of this carbon source, accompanied by complete inhibition of biosynthesis . It is suggested that the cause of this inhibition resides in depletion of the NADPH pool due to the high rate at which NADPH is oxidized by 2-ketogluconate reductase. Mol Microbiol, 1991 Jul, 5(7), 1657 - 67 Substitutions at a single amino acid residue in the nitrogen-regulated activator protein NTRC differentially influence its activity in response to phosphorylation; Dixon R et al.; Four substitutions at serine residue 160 which increase the activity of the sigma 54-dependent activator protein NTRC in the absence of NTRB have been analysed in detail . Mutagenesis of the putative phosphoacceptor site of NTRC and analysis of double mutants indicate that the positive control function of the S160W and S160C mutants is phosphorylation-dependent, whereas the activity of the S160Y and S160F mutants is phosphorylation-independent . This was confirmed with two purified mutant proteins in vitro . Occupancy of tandem NTRC-binding sites upstream of the Klebsiella pneumoniae nifL promoter by S160W protein is also phosphorylation-dependent in contrast to occupancy by S160F protein, confirming that both the DNA-binding and activator functions of NTRC are influenced by phosphorylation . The S160W and S160C mutants are apparently more responsive than wild-type protein to 'cross-talk' by other members of the histidine protein kinase family but are less responsive to phosphorylation and dephosphorylation mediated by NTRB. Anal Biochem, 1991 Jun, 195(2), 262 - 4 Bulk purification of isochorismic acid by low-pressure octadecyl (C18) reverse-phase liquid chromatography; Seeger JW Jr et al.; Partially purified isochorismate synthase (EC 5.4.99.6) from Klebsiella pneumoniae 62-1 was used to produce bulk quantities (3.4-6.8 mg) of isochorismate from chorismate . A new, preparative, low-pressure liquid chromatographic method for the purification of isochorismate was used; a (1.0 X 13.0 cm) octadecyl (C18) reverse-phase column with a discontinuous, stepped methanol gradient as eluent . The recovery of isochorismate was quantitative and its purity was verified by HPLC using a butyl (C4) reverse-phase column . This chromatographic method is superior to those previously described. J Biol Chem, 1991 Jun 5, 266(16), 10260 - 7 Reactivity of the essential thiol of Klebsiella aerogenes urease . Effect of pH and ligands on thiol modification; Todd MJ et al.; The kinetics of Klebsiella aerogenes urease inactivation by disulfide and alkylating agents was examined and found to follow pseudo-first-order kinetics . Reactivity of the essential thiol is affected by the presence of substrate and competitive inhibitors, consistent with a cysteine located proximal to the active site . In contrast to the results observed with other reagents, the rate of activity loss in the presence of 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB) saturated at high reagent concentrations, indicating that DTNB must first bind to urease before inactivation can occur . The pH dependence for the rate of urease inactivation by both disulfide and alkylating agents was consistent with an interaction between the thiol and a second ionizing group . The resulting macroscopic pKa values for the 2 residues are less than 5 and 12 . Spectrophotometric studies at pH 7.75 demonstrated that 2,2'-dithiodipyridine (DTDP) modified 8.5 +/- 0.2 mol of thiol/mol of enzyme or 4.2 mol of thiol/mol of catalytic unit . With the slow tight binding competitive inhibitor phenyl-phosphorodiamidate (PPD) bound to urease, 1.1 +/- 0.1 mol of thiol/mol of catalytic unit were protected from modification . PPD-bound DTDP-modified urease could be reactivated by dialysis, consistent with the presence of one thiol per active site . Analogous studies at pH 6.1, using the competitive inhibitor phosphate, confirmed the presence of one protected thiol per catalytic unit . Under denaturing conditions, 25.5 +/- 0.3 mol of thiol/mol of enzyme (Mr = 211, 800) were modified by DTDP. APMIS, 1991 Jun, 99(6), 530 - 6 Characterization of beta-lactam-resistant Klebsiella oxytoca isolated in a neonatal intensive care unit; Jalakas-Pornull K et al.; The occurrence of Klebsiella oxytoca resistant to ampicillin, piperacillin, aztreonam and cefuroxime in a neonatal intensive care unit, including two cases of septicemia, was shown to consist of a spread on three consecutive occasions caused by three different biochemical Klebsiella oxytoca phenotypes . All isolates, except six surface isolates from one infant belonging to phenotype 1, were sensitive to cefotaxime (MIC 0.5-4 mg/l) and ceftazidime (MIC 0.25-1 mg/l) . Isolates of phenotypes 1 and 2 produced a beta-lactamase with an isoelectric point of 5.5 and isolates of phenotype 3, a beta-lactamase with an isoelectric point of 7.9 . The beta-lactamases of all three phenotypes hydrolysed benzylpenicillin and more slowly cephalothin . All phenotype 1 isolates carried a 2.9 Md plasmid and most isolates also a 36 Md plasmid . All phenotype 2 isolates carried a 4.8 Md plasmid and one isolate also a 30 Md plasmid . The phenotype 3 isolates carried only one 85 Md plasmid. Infect Immun, 1991 Jun, 59(6), 2043 - 50 Biosynthesis of Klebsiella K2 capsular polysaccharide in Escherichia coli HB101 requires the functions of rmpA and the chromosomal cps gene cluster of the virulent strain Klebsiella pneumoniae Chedid (O1:K2); Arakawa Y et al.; The genes determining the biosynthesis of type 2 (K2) capsular polysaccharide {3----beta Glc1,4----beta Man(1,3----beta GlcUA) 1,4----alpha Glc1----} of Klebsiella pneumoniae Chedid (O1:K2), which is highly virulent for mice, were cloned and introduced into Escherichia coli HB101 and into four noncapsulated mutants derived from K . pneumoniae reference strains of K1, K7, K9, and K28 . The recombinant plasmid pCPS7B06 carried 23 kb of a chromosomal DNA fragment of strain Chedid and encoded a part of the Klebsiella cps gene cluster . However, pCPS7B06 encoded enough genetic information for the production of Klebsiella K2 capsular polysaccharide on the cell surfaces of four noncapsulated mutants of K . pneumoniae . On the other hand, both pCPS7B06 and pROJ3 carrying the rmpA gene locus derived from a resident large plasmid of Chedid were required for the biosynthesis of Klebsiella K2 capsular polysaccharide on the cell surface of E . coli HB101 . The insertion inactivation analysis using Tn5 revealed that the cps gene cluster occupied more than 15 kb of the chromosome of Chedid . We conclude that rmpA, which has been known to enhance the biosynthesis of colanic acid in E . coli, is also involved in the biosynthesis of Klebsiella capsular polysaccharide in E . coli HB101. Zentralbl Bakteriol, 1991 Jun, 275(2), 233 - 40 Influence of cefpodoxime on selected immunological functions and bacterial pathogenicity factors in vitro; Schubert S et al.; The influence of a new oral cephalosporin cefpodoxime, on several interactions of the host-parasite relationship was investigated . Pretreatment of polymorphonuclear granulocytes (PNG) with cefpodoxime at therapeutical dosage in vitro did not have a significant effect on chemotaxis and luminol-dependent chemiluminescence . On the other hand, human serum did not exert a considerable effect on the bactericidal activity of cefpodoxime on Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staph . aureus . Serum resistance of Klebsiella pneumoniae was not altered after pretreatment with cefpodoxime 1/16 MIC (0.03 micrograms/ml) for 3 to 27 hours. Can J Microbiol, 1991 Jun, 37(6), 425 - 9 Cloning and characterization of the nifA gene from Herbaspirillum seropedicae strain Z78; Souza EM et al.; A genomic library of Herbaspirillum seropedicae was constructed and screened for the nifA gene by complementation of a nifA mutant of Azospirillum brasilense (FP10) . A recombinant plasmid, pEMS1, capable of restoring acetylene reduction activity in the mutant FP10, was isolated and found to hybridize to the nifA gene of Klebsiella pneumoniae . The results suggest that nifA is involved in the regulation of nif genes in H . seropedicae. FEMS Microbiol Lett, 1991 Jun 1, 65(1), 57 - 62 Novel transferable extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (SHV-6) from Klebsiella pneumoniae conferring selective resistance to ceftazidime; Arlet G et al.; A clinical isolate of Klebsiella pneumoniae sensu lato isolated from throat and a blood culture taken from a neutropenic patient treated for 2 weeks with ceftazidime and vancomycin was resistant to ceftazidime (MIC: 32 micrograms/ml) and moderately susceptible to aztreonam (MIC: 4 micrograms/ml) . The isolate contained a plasmid of 180 kb which, when transferred to Escherichia coli by conjugation, conferred resistance to ceftazidime and tetracycline . The transconjugant had decreased susceptibility to ceftazidime (128-fold) and aztreonam (8-fold) . Clavulanic acid and sulbactam each inhibited the resistance and clavulanic acid showed a synergistic effect when associated with ceftazidime and aztreonam . An extended-spectrum beta-lactamase with an isoelectric point of 7.6 was detected in the clinical isolates from blood and its transconjugant . This beta-lactamase showed similar substrate and inhibition profiles to SHV-1 . In particular it did not hydrolyse ceftazidime . Hybridization with an intragenic probe for SHV-3 indicates that this beta-lactamase is an SHV-type enzyme . We propose that this novel CAZ-type extended-spectrum beta-lactamase be named SHV-6. Mol Microbiol, 1991 Jun, 5(6), 1309 - 17 Cassette mutagenesis implicates a helix-turn-helix motif in promoter recognition by the novel RNA polymerase sigma factor sigma 54; Coppard JR et al.; Cassette mutagenesis has been used to study the role of a helix-turn-helix (HTH) motif in the novel RNA polymerase sigma factor sigma 54 of Klebsiella pneumoniae . Of the four residues which are predicted to be solvent-exposed in the second helix, the first (Glu-378) tolerated all substitutions, and some mutations of this residue increased expression from sigma 54-dependent promoters . Certain substitutions in the third exposed residue (Ser-382) produced a promoter-specific phenotype and all substitutions in the fourth residue (Arg-383) inactivated the protein, identifying this residue as being likely to be involved in base-specific interactions with the promoter . In vivo footprinting indicated that the inactive HTH mutants of sigma 54 were defective in interaction with both the -24 and -12 regions of the glnAp2 promoter. Infect Immun, 1991 Jun, 59(6), 2006 - 11 Surface exposure of O1 serotype lipopolysaccharide in Klebsiella pneumoniae strains expressing different K antigens; Tomas JM et al.; Surface exposure of the O1 serotype lipopolysaccharide in encapsulated Klebsiella pneumoniae strains belonging to different serotypes was examined by using the O1 antigen-specific bacteriophages FC3-1 and FC3-2 in conjunction with immunogold electron microscopy and enzyme immunoassays with specific antisera . Despite the presence of the capsular polysaccharide, the O1 antigen was exposed at the cell surface in strains producing K2, K7, K8, K12, K19, K21, K22, K34, K35, K42, K45, K55, K57, K62, K66, K69, and K70 capsular polysaccharides . However, in strains producing K1, K10, and K16 capsular polysaccharides, the O1 antigen was masked by the K antigen . These results suggest that, since the O1 antigen is surface exposed in many different strains of K . pneumoniae with different capsular serotypes and is also able to immunoprotect, its potential as a useful vaccine component should not be overlooked. Zh Mikrobiol Epidemiol Immunobiol, 1991 Jun, (6), 18 - 22 {The hemagglutinating activity of bacteria in the genus Klebsiella and the morphofunctional characteristics of their fimbriae}; Sorkin VM et al.; The hemagglutinating activity of 77 Klebsiella strains from the international collection, grown in a culture medium prepared on the basis of soy-bean flour enzymatic hydrolysate, was studied . These strains could be divided into four groups according to their capacity for synthesizing different types of hemagglutinins on their surface: 2 strains carried mannose-sensitive hemagglutinins, 18 strains had mannose-resistant K-type hemagglutinins, 48 strains exhibited the signs indicating the presence of both mannose-sensitive and mannose-resistant hemagglutinins, and 9 strains showed no hemagglutinating activity . The hemagglutinating activity of strains K-74, K-79, K-80, K-81 and K-82 was characterized . Of the reference strains under study, 22 strains were found to have mannose-resistant hemagglutinating activity with respect to fresh chick red blood cells . The occurrence of hemagglutinins in Klebsiella was shown to depend on the temperature of cultivation and the consistency of the culture medium . The formation of large-sized capsules in Klebsiella grown in the Werfel-Fergusson medium with a considerable content of saccharose was shown to cause the absorption of their fimbrial structures by the capsular substance and, as a consequence, the suppression of their hemagglutinating activity. J Hosp Infect, 1991 Jun, 18(2), 155 - 9 Nosocomial infections: cockroaches as possible vectors of drug-resistant Klebsiella; Fotedar R et al.; The possibility that hospital cockroaches may act as vectors of drug-resistant Klebsiella spp . was investigated during Nov 1985 to April 1989, at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital . Klebsiella spp . (majority Klebsiella pneumoniae) were isolated from 28.3% of hospital cockroaches and 28.1% of infected wounds of patients . Most of Klebsiella isolates from patients (96.3%), and hospital cockroaches (85.9%) showed multiple drug resistance to four or more antimicrobials . Similar strains of Klebsiella spp . were encountered among patients and hospital cockroaches . These findings suggest that hospital cockroaches may act as vectors of drug-resistant Klebsiella spp . and may contribute to the epidemiology of nosocomial infections. J Hosp Infect, 1991 Jun, 18(2), 131 - 8 Re-use of enteral feeding tubes--a potential hazard to the patient? A study of the efficiency of a representative range of cleaning and disinfection procedures; Anderton A et al.; Some hospitals and manufacturers are now recommending that patients (particularly those on home enteral feeding) remove and re-insert their tubes on a daily basis . This study was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of a representative range of currently used cleaning procedures in removing bacteria from the lumina of these tubes . One thousand-ml portions of feed experimentally contaminated with 10(2)-10(3) Klebsiella aerogenes ml(-1) were perfused through three types of commonly used polyurethane enteral feeding tubes for 15 h . The tubes were then cleaned by a range of methods including rinsing them with sterile water, sterile water and detergent and/or disinfection with hypochlorite solution . A further 1000-ml sterile feed was then perfused through the tubes for 15 h and it was found that residual organisms in the tubes multiplied to yield levels of 10(6)-10(9) colony-forming units (cfu) ml(-1) in the feed collected from the distal ends of the tubes after 15 h . It is concluded that none of the cleaning methods tested can be recommended as being totally effective in removing bacteria from the lumina of contaminated tubes. FEMS Microbiol Lett, 1991 May 15, 64(2-3), 217 - 20 The anaerobic utilisation of cyanide in the presence of sugars by microbial cultures can involve an abiotic process; Hope KM et al.; The degradation of cyanide under anaerobic conditions in the presence of a growing culture of a strain of Klebsiella planticola has been shown to be due to a chemical process dependent upon the presence of a reducing sugar in the medium . The conversion of cyanide to ammonia was independent of any biological factors under these conditions. Nucleic Acids Res, 1991 May 11, 19(9), 2281 - 7 Influence of a mutation in the putative nucleotide binding site of the nitrogen regulatory protein NTRC on its positive control function; Austin S et al.; A mutation, serine 170 to alanine, in the proposed ATP binding site of the activator protein NTRC prevents transcriptional activation at sigma 54-dependent promoters both in vivo and in vitro . The rate of phosphorylation of the mutant protein by NTRB and the stability of mutant NTRC-phosphate were similar to those of wild-type NTRC . The phosphorylated mutant protein shows only a slight decrease in affinity (around 2-fold) for tandem NTRC binding sites in the Klebsiella pneumoniae nifL promoter suggesting that the mutation primarily influences the positive control function of NTRC . Moreover the mutant protein is trans dominant to the wild-type protein with respect to transcriptional activation at both the glnAp2 and nifL promoters . In vitro footprinting experiments reveal that the mutant protein is unable to catalyse isomerisation of closed promoter complexes between sigma 54-RNA polymerase and the nifL promoter to open promoter complexes . However, the mutant protein retains the ability to increase the occupancy of the -24, -12 region by sigma 54-RNA polymerase, forming closed complexes at the nifL promoter, which are not detectable in the absence of NTRC . These data support a model in which the activator influences the formation of closed complexes at the nifL promoter in addition to its role in catalysing open complex formation. J Antibiot (Tokyo), 1991 May, 44(5), 498 - 506 Studies on cephalosporin antibiotics . III . Synthesis, antibacterial activity and oral absorption of new 3-(substituted-alkylthio)-7 beta-{(Z)-2-(2-aminothiazol-4-yl)-2- (carboxymethoxyimino)acetamido}cephalosporins; Yokoo C et al.; The synthesis, antibacterial activity and oral absorption in rats of new 7 beta-{(Z)-2-(2-aminothiazol-4-yl)-2-(carboxymethoxyimino)ace tamido} cephalosporins (1) having various substituted-alkylthio groups at the C-3 position of the cephem nucleus are described . Of these, the cephalosporins with a cyanomethylthio group (1d) and fluoroethylthio group (1p) at the C-3 position showed a potent in vitro antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as good oral absorption in rats . When administered orally to mice infected with Klebsiella pneumoniae, 1d had stronger protective effect than 1p . The structure-activity relationships of 1 are also presented. Mol Gen Genet, 1991 May, 227(1), 86 - 90 Identification of a promoter dependent on NifA and sigma 54 upstream of nifH in Azospirillum lipoferum; Tripathi AK et al.; Southern hybridization experiments strongly indicate that the regulatory region of the Azospirillum lipoferum nifH gene is located on a cloned 1.1 kb BamHI-XhoI restriction fragment . By cloning this fragment into a promoter-probe plasmid in Escherichia coli, a promoter was identified oriented towards the nifH gene . Using a set of several bacterial strains and plasmids, both NifA and the alternative sigma factor, sigma 54, from Klebsiella pneumoniae were shown to be required for the induction of the assumed nifH promoter in this particular heterologous system . However, NtrC from K . pneumoniae did not stimulate this promoter . No other promoter activity was detected in the direction opposite to the identified promoter, indicating that the transcription of the adjacent nifJ gene cannot be initiated from the 1.1 kb BamHI-XhoI fragment . Thus, the genes nifH and nifJ in A . lipoferum cannot be oriented divergently, in contrast to the situation in several other nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Infect Immun, 1991 May, 59(5), 1673 - 82 Lectinophagocytosis of encapsulated Klebsiella pneumoniae mediated by surface lectins of guinea pig alveolar macrophages and human monocyte-derived macrophages; Athamna A et al.; Macrophages express a mannose/N-acetylglucosamine-specific lectin which serves as a receptor for nonopsonic phagocytosis of mannose-coated particles . We have examined the binding to guinea pig alveolar macrophages in a serum-free medium of 16 Klebsiella pneumoniae serotypes and of the capsular polysaccharides isolated from 7 of these serotypes . Only five polysaccharides containing the repeating sequence Man alpha 2/3Man or L-Rha alpha 2/3-L-Rha bound to the macrophages . Of the 11 bacterial serotypes expressing such disaccharides in their capsular polysaccharides, 7 bound efficiently, 2 bound poorly, and 2 did not bind at all . No binding occurred with five serotypes lacking these disaccharides . Binding of the bacteria was inhibited by homologous and heterologous capsular polysaccharides that contain the disaccharide sequences, by mannan, and by (Man)25BSA (where BSA is bovine serum albumin) . Man alpha 2/3Man-containing oligosaccharides were potent inhibitors compared with monosaccharides . Binding was dependent on Ca2+, modulated by cultivating the macrophages on mannan-coated surfaces, and increased in human monocyte-derived macrophages compared with monocytes . The bulk of the bacteria bound to the macrophages was internalized and killed . The data taken together suggest that Klebsiella pneumoniae cells undergo lectinophagocytosis mediated by capsular disaccharides recognized by the mannose/N-acetylglucosamine-specific lectin of macrophages . This may enhance clearance of the organisms from the serum-poor environment of the lung. J Immunol, 1991 May 1, 146(9), 3160 - 4 Human monoclonal antibodies specific for capsular polysaccharides of Klebsiella recognize clusters of multiple serotypes; Lang AB et al.; We report the generation and the characterization of a set of human monoclonal antibodies (HmAb) specific for Gram-negative bacteria of Klebsiella pneumoniae . The eight human hybridomas secrete either IgM kappa, IgA1 kappa, or IgA2 kappa antibodies . One HmAb binds bacteria of only one serotype . Five HmAb recognize non-overlapping clusters of 2, 3, or 10 different serotypes . The remaining two HmAb both recognize three serotypes . Two serotypes are recognized by both HmAb, and in addition both HmAb bind one more nonidentical serotype . These results suggest that in man, epitopes are immunodominant, different from serotype-specific determinants detected by conventional rabbit antisera . Screening of clinical isolates revealed that the HmAb recognize not only representative typing strains but also most isolates of the corresponding serotype . In addition, most of the isolates that were non-typable by polyclonal antisera were recognized by one of the HmAb . Fine specificity analyses revealed that all HmAb are highly specific for the isolated capsular polysaccharides (CPS) of bacteria within the corresponding cluster of serotypes . However, the avidity of a HmAb for the different CPS can differ significantly . Taken together, our results suggest that the unequivocal interactions between HmAb and CPS offer the basis for an alternative, better defined classification system, and that passive immunization with a limited number of HmAb may provide a feasible strategy for the protection against the majority of fatal, nosocomial infections with multidrug-resistant strains of K . pneumoniae. J Bacteriol, 1991 May, 173(9), 2993 - 9 Expression of regulatory nif genes in Rhodobacter capsulatus; Hubner P et al.; Translational fusions of the Escherichia coli lacZ gene to Rhodobacter capsulatus nif genes were constructed in order to determine the regulatory circuit of nif gene expression in R . capsulatus, a free-living photosynthetic diazotroph . The expression of nifH, nifA (copies I and II), and nifR4 was measured in different regulatory mutant strains under different physiological conditions . The expression of nifH and nifR4 (the analog of ntrA in Klebsiella pneumoniae) depends on the NIFR1/R2 system (the analog of the ntr system in K . pneumoniae), on NIFA, and on NIFR4 . The expression of both copies of nifA is regulated by the NIFR1/R2 system and is modulated by the N source of the medium under anaerobic photosynthetic growth conditions . In the presence of ammonia or oxygen, moderate expression of nifA was detectable, whereas nifH and nifR4 were not expressed under these conditions . The implications for the regulatory circuit of nif gene expression in R . capsulatus are discussed and compared with the situation in K . pneumoniae, another free-living diazotroph. Pathol Biol (Paris), 1991 May, 39(5), 353 - 60 {Comparative activities of 15 beta-lactam antibiotics against 590 strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae according to the production of beta-lactamase}; Bercion R et al.; In October 1988, all non repetitive strains of K . pneumoniae isolated in 17 hospitals have been studied . Among these 590 strains: 451 (76%) only produce the specific beta-lactamase of the species SHV-1 (pI 7,7) or SHV-1 type (pI 7,1), while 74 (12.5%) produce a TEM-1 or TEM-2 type beta-lactamase, and 65 (11%) an extended broad spectrum beta-lactamase: 22 CTX-1, 5 SHV-2, 4 SHV-3, 26 SHV-4, 8 SHV-5 . The minimum inhibitory concentrations of the following antibiotics were performed by a liquid micro dilution technic: amoxicillin (AMX), amoxicillin + clavulanic acid (CL), 5 mg/l, ticarcillin (TIC), piperacillin (PIP), cefazolin (CEZ), cefamandole (CFM), cefoperazone (CFP), cefotaxime (CTX), cefotaxime + clavulanic acid 5 mg/l, cefotaxime + sulbactam (SUL) 5 mg/l, cefpirome (CPI), ceftazidime (CAZ), azthreonam (AZT), latamoxef (MOX), cefoxitin (FOX), cefotetan (CTT), temocillin (TMO), imipenem (IMI) . The "wild" strains with SHV-1 beta-lactamase are resistant to AMX and have a decreased susceptibility to TIC and PIP, but are susceptible to other antibiotics . The TEM producing strains are more resistant to PIP and TIC, have a decreased susceptibility to CEZ and CFM but are susceptible to other antibiotics . For the extended broad-spectrum beta-lactamase producing strains, the MIC of penicillin antibiotics (AMX, TIC, PIP) are very high and also the MIC of CEZ, CFM and CFP . The MIC of CTX are higher for CTX-1 or SHV-4 producing strains, than for SHV-2, SHV-3, or SHV-5 producing strains . The combination with CL is more efficacious than the one with SUL to reduce the MIC of CTX in susceptibility area.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) Antimicrob Agents Chemother, 1991 May, 35(5), 1001 - 3 High-level resistance to cefotaxime and ceftazidime in Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates from Cleveland, Ohio; Thomson KS et al.; Two isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae possessing both TEM-1 and SHV-2 beta-lactamases were isolated from patients at the Cleveland Clinic in 1988 . The beta-lactamases were discriminated and identified by using substrate hydrolysis data and an isoelectric focusing procedure in which the gel was overlaid with beta-lactamase inhibitors. J Hosp Infect, 1991 May, 18(1), 5 - 13 A case-control study of an outbreak of infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae strains producing CTX-1 (TEM-3) beta-lactamase; De Champs C et al.; In July 1984 Klebsiella pneumoniae producing beta-lactamase CTX-1(TEM-3) (K . pneumoniae-CTX-1) spread from an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) throughout the hospitals of Clermont-Ferrand, France, and were isolated in four other hospitals of the region . A retrospective case control study was conducted in the ICU to characterize the risk factors for nosocomial infection with this organism . The cases were the 74 patients who had had K . pneumoniae-CTX-1 isolated from one or more clinical samples between July 1984 and December 1987 . They were compared with 74 controls for host risk factors, underlying disease, procedures and antibiotic treatment . The monthly incidence of infection/colonization varied from 0% to 14.6% . The mortality rate attributable to this organism was 0.26% during the study period . The duration of stay of cases was longer than that of controls . More cases than controls had ventilatory assistance . However, the predominant risk factor was emergency abdominal surgery . Before K . pneumoniae-CTX-1 was isolated, cases received quinolones and trimethoprim sulphamethoxazole more often than controls . However, only 15% of cases had received third generation cephalosporins while at the onset of K . pneumoniae-CTX-1 infection colonization, 32 patients were no longer being given antibiotics . The use of antibiotic prophylaxis by, for example, selective digestive tract decontamination should be considered in patients at high risk of infection. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1991 Apr 29, 1077(3), 299 - 307 Purification and characterization of a catalase-peroxidase and a typical catalase from the bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae; Hochman A et al.; The bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae synthesizes three different types of catala