Gene/Protein
Disease
Symptom
Drug
Enzyme
Compound
Pivot Concepts:
Gene/Protein
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Target Concepts:
Gene/Protein
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Enzyme
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Query: EC:2.3.3.1 (
citrate synthase
)
4,488
document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)
The recent discovery of cat fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) infected with a typhuslike rickettsia (designated the ELB agent) raises the question of whether similar rickettsial infections exist in wild cat flea populations. We verified the presence of the ELB agent and Rickettsia typhi in urban and suburban areas of Los Angeles, Calif. Opossums trapped in close proximity to the residences of human murine
typhus
cases in Los Angeles county and other areas within the city of Los Angeles were tested for the presence of
typhus
group rickettsiae by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The presence of rickettsiae in the spleen tissues of three opossums (n = 9) and in 66 opossum fleas (n = 205) was determined by PCR and was verified by dot blot and Southern transfer hybridization. Further analysis of the amplified PCR products generated by a series of primer pairs derived from either the 17-kDa antigen gene or the
citrate synthase
gene revealed that both R. typhi and the ELB agent were present in the tested samples. Dual infection was not noted in the samples; however, the fleas were infected with either R. typhi or the ELB agent. The presence of the ELB agent in the cat flea population may have implications for public health. Whether this agent is responsible for the mild cases of human murine
typhus
in urban and suburban areas of Los Angeles or in other endemic foci remains to be determined.
...
PMID:Typhus and typhuslike rickettsiae associated with opossums and their fleas in Los Angeles County, California. 162 32
The identification of apparently fastidious microorganisms is often problematic. DNA from a rickettsia-like agent (called the ELB agent) present in cat fleas could be amplified by PCR with conserved primers derived from rickettsial 17-kDa common protein antigen and
citrate synthase
genes but not spotted fever group 190-kDa antigen gene. Alu I sites in both the 17-kDa and
citrate synthase
PCR products obtained with the rickettsia-like agent and Rickettsia typhi were different even though both agents reacted with monoclonal antibodies previously thought specific for R. typhi. The DNA sequence of a portion of the 17-kDa PCR product of the rickettsia-like agent differed significantly from all known rickettsial sequences and resembled the 17-kDa sequences of
typhus
more than spotted fever group rickettsiae. The rare stable transovarial maintenance of this rickettsia in cat fleas has important implications for the disease potential of cat fleas.
...
PMID:Genetic characterization and transovarial transmission of a typhus-like rickettsia found in cat fleas. 172 13
Citrate synthase [citrate (si)-synthase] (EC 4.1.3.7) was partially purified from extracts of highly purified
typhus
rickettsiae (Rickettsia prowazekii). Molecular exclusion and affinity column chromatography were used to prepare 200-fold-purified
citrate synthase
that contained no detectable malate dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.37) activity. Rickettsial malate dehydrogenase also was partially purified (200-fold) via this purification procedure. Catalytically active
citrate synthase
exhibited a relative molecular weight of approximately 62,000 after elution from a calibrated Sephacryl S-200 column. Acetyl coenzyme A saturation of partially purified enzyme was sensitive to strong competitive inhibition with adenylates (ATP greater than ADP much greater than AMP). [beta,gamma-methylene]ATP, dATP, and dADP also caused strong inhibition, but guanosine and cytosine nucleotides were significantly less inhibitory. Adenylates had no effect on oxalacetate saturation kinetics when acetyl coenzyme A was present in high concentration (greater than or equal to 50 microM). Neither NADH nor alpha-ketoglutarate affected the saturation kinetics of rickettsial
citrate synthase
. Thus,
citrate synthase
from R. prowazekii exhibits greater similarity to the eucaryotic and gram-positive procaryotic enzymes than to
citrate synthase
from free-living gram-negative bacteria. These results represent the first characterization of a highly purified key regulatory enzyme from these obligate intracellular parasitic bacteria.
...
PMID:Regulatory properties of citrate synthase from Rickettsia prowazekii. 679 96
The male-killing ladybird beetle (LB) bacterium (AB bacterium) was analyzed with specific rickettsial molecular biology tools in the LB Adalia bipunctata strains. Eight phenotype-positive LB strains showing mortality of male embryos were amplified with rickettsial genus-specific primers from the gene for
citrate synthase
(CS) and the gene for a 17-kDa protein and spotted fever group-specific primers from the gene for the 120-kDa outer membrane protein (ompB). The specificity of amplification was confirmed by Southern hybridization and the absence of the above-listed gene products in three phenotype-negative LB strains. Restriction polymorphism patterns of three examined amplicons from the CS gene, 17-kDa-protein gene, and ompB gene were identical among the eight phenotype-positive LB strains and were unique among all known rickettsiae of the spotted fever and
typhus
groups. Amplified fragments of the CS genes of the AB bacterium, Rickettsia prowazekii Breinl, Rickettsia typhi Wilmington, Rickettsia canada 2678, and Rickettsia conorii 7 (Malish) were sequenced. The greatest differences among the above-listed rickettsial and AB bacterium CS gene sequences were between bp 1078 and 1110. Numerical analysis based on CS gene fragment sequences shows the close relationships of the AB bacterium to the genus Rickettsia. Expanding of knowledge about rickettsial arthropod vectors and participation of rickettsiae in the cytoplasmic maternal inheritance of arthropods is discussed.
...
PMID:Genotype characterization of the bacterium expressing the male-killing trait in the ladybird beetle Adalia bipunctata with specific rickettsial molecular tools. 774 63
Southern blot analysis of HindIII-cleaved rickettsial DNA was used for genotypic characterization of the
typhus
group (TG) species (R. prowazekii, R. typhi, R. canada) and a few species of the spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae (R. sibirica, R. conorii, R. akari). Four different DNA probes were employed. PBH11 and PBH13 probes were morphospecific HindIII fragments of R. prowazekii DNA. MW218 probe contained the gene for 51 K antigen and MW264 probe contained the
citrate synthase
gene of R. prowazekii. All the probes hybridized with the tested TG and SFG rickettsial DNAs, forming from 1 to 5 bands, but they did not with R. tsutsugamushi or C. burnetii DNAs. All the probes demonstrated specific hybridization patterns with TG species and R. akari. PBH11, PBH13 and MW264 probes clearly distinguished R. sibirica and R. conorii from the other tested rickettsiae, but not from each other. However, these two species differed slightly with MW218 probe. Several strains of each species were analyzed in this way and except for strains of R. conorii identical intraspecies patterns were obtained. These data lead us to consider the obtained hybridization patterns as criteria for genotypic identification.
...
PMID:Genotypic characterization of rickettsiae by DNA probes generated from Rickettsia prowazekii DNA. 797 65
Identification of ELB agent-infected fleas and rodents within several foci of murine
typhus
in the United States has prompted a retrospective investigation for this agent among human murine
typhus
patients. This agent is a recently described rickettsia which is indistinguishable from Rickettsia typhi with currently available serologic reagents. Molecular analysis of the 17-kDa antigen gene and the
citrate synthase
gene has discriminated this bacterium from other
typhus
group and spotted fever group rickettsiae. Current sequencing of its 16S ribosomal DNA gene indicates a homology of 98.5% with R. typhi and 99.5% with R. rickettsii. Through a combination of restriction fragment length polymorphism and Southern hybridization analysis of rickettsia-specific PCR products, one of five tested patient blood samples was shown to be infected with ELB while R. typhi infections were confirmed in the remaining samples. This is the first reported observation of a human infection by the ELB agent and underscores the utility of PCR-facilitated diagnosis and discrimination of these closely related rickettsial infections.
...
PMID:Identification of a novel rickettsial infection in a patient diagnosed with murine typhus. 802 48
Using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, we studied the chromosomes of spotted fever group rickettsiae. We digested the DNA of 16 species currently known to belong to this group with SmaI, EagI, and BssHII. The genome size of 13 rickettsiae was between 1,200 and 1,300 kb. "Rickettsia massiliae" and "R. helvetica" genome sizes were 1,370 and 1,397 kb, respectively, and that of R. bellii was 1,660 kb. It was possible to obtain distinctive patterns for each species, but in R. conorii, 10 isolates exhibited the same profiles, showing that pulsed-field gel electrophoresis is a good interspecies identification tool. We achieved a phylogenetic analysis of these bacteria by using the Dice coefficient and UPGMA and Package Philip programming. We established a dendrogram of the genetic relationships between the different species showing the existence of a cluster in the spotted fever group rickettsiae including R. conorii, R. rickettsii, R. parkeri, R. sibirica, "R. africae," "R. slovaca," Thai tick
typhus
rickettsia, and Israeli tick
typhus
rickettsia. We located three genes previously cloned and sequenced (genes encoding the R. rickettsii surface proteins of 120 and 190 kDa and the R. prowazekii
citrate synthase
gene), using Southern hybridization. The genes encoding
citrate synthase
and the surface protein of 190 kDa were usually located on the same band, and it is hypothesized that they are relatively close on the chromosome.
...
PMID:Genotypic identification and phylogenetic analysis of the spotted fever group rickettsiae by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. 839 9
A spotted fever group rickettsia isolated from the common tick, Ixodes ricinus, was genetically characterized by PCR and genomic sequencing. This study was performed with nymphal and adult ticks collected in southern and central Sweden. I. ricinus is the only North European tick species of medical importance which is regularly collected from humans. No species of the genus Rickettsia has previously been found in Scandinavian ticks, nor has any case of domestic rickettsial infection in humans or animals been reported. According to the nucleotide sequencing, the present Rickettsia sp. belongs to the spotted fever group of rickettsiae. Ticks are the most common arthropod reservoirs and vectors of the rickettsiae of this group. Among 748 ticks investigated, 13 (1.7%) were positive for a Rickettsia sp. Borrelia burgdorferi was detected in 52 (7%) of the ticks, a prevalence similar to or somewhat lower than that previously been recorded in other Swedish studies. There was no evidence of ehrlichial or chlamydial DNA in these ticks. The Rickettsia sp. was further characterized by 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequencing and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). The 16S rDNA sequencing resulted in a sequence identical to that described for Rickettsia helvetica, but the pattern obtained with RFLP of the
citrate synthetase
gene diverged from previously known patterns. The rickettsial agent of one tick which was positive by PCR was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. The morphology of this rickettsia was similar to that of the spotted fever and
typhus
group rickettsiae. This represents the first documented isolate of a Rickettsia sp. from Swedish ticks.
...
PMID:Characterization of a spotted fever group Rickettsia from Ixodes ricinus ticks in Sweden. 896 16
Using PCR and an automated laser fluorescent DNA sequencer, we amplified and sequenced a 1,234-bp fragment of the
citrate synthase
-encoding gene (gltA) of 28 bacteria belonging to the genus Rickettsia. Comparative sequence analysis showed that most of the spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae belonged to one of two subgroups. The first subgroup included Rickettsia massiliae, strain Bar 29, Rickettsia rhipicephali, "Rickettsia aeschlimanni," and Rickettsia montana, which have been isolated only from ticks. The second subgroup was larger and included the majority of the human pathogens and also rickettsiae isolated only from ticks; the members of this subgroup were strain S, Rickettsia africae, "Rickettsia monglotimonae," Rickettsia sibirica, Rickettsia parkeri, Rickettsia conorii, Rickettsia rickettsii, the Thai tick
typhus
rickettsia, the Israeli tick
typhus
rickettsia, the Astrakhan fever rickettsia, "Rickettsia slovaca," and Rickettsia japonica. The sequence analysis also showed that the tick-borne organisms Rickettsia helvetica and Rickettsia australis and the mite-borne organism Rickettsia akari were associated with the SFG cluster, that Rickettsia prowazekii and Rickettsia typhi, two representatives of the
typhus
group, clustered together, and that Rickettsia canada; Rickettsia bellii, and the AB bacterium probably represent three new groups. We compared the phylogenetic trees inferred from
citrate synthase
gene sequences and from 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequences. For rickettsial phylogeny, the
citrate synthase
approach was more suitable, as demonstrated by significant bootstrap values for all of the nodes except those in the larger subgroup defined above. We also compared phylogenetic analysis results obtained in a comparison of the sequences of both genes for all of the representatives of the domain Bacteria for which the gltA sequence was determined. We believe that comparison of gltA sequences could be a complementary approach to 16S rDNA sequencing for inferring bacterial evolution, especially when unstable phylogenetic models are obtained from ribosomal sequences because of high levels of sequence similarity between the bacteria studied.
...
PMID:Citrate synthase gene comparison, a new tool for phylogenetic analysis, and its application for the rickettsiae. 910 8
We recently investigated a suspected outbreak of epidemic
typhus
in a jail in Burundi. We tested sera of nine patients by microimmunofluorescence for antibodies to Rickettsia prowazekii and Rickettsia typhi. We also amplified and sequenced from lice gene portions specific for two R. prowazekii proteins: the gene encoding for
citrate synthase
and the gene encoding for the rickettsial outer membrane protein. All patients exhibited antibodies specific for R. prowazekii. Specific gene sequences were amplified in two lice from one patient. The patients had typical clinical manifestations, and two died. Molecular techniques provided a convenient and reliable means of examining lice and confirming this outbreak. The jail-associated outbreak predates an extensive ongoing outbreak of louse-borne
typhus
in central eastern Africa after civil war and in refugee camps in Rwanda, Burundi (1), and Zaire.
...
PMID:Jail fever (epidemic typhus) outbreak in Burundi. 928 81
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