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Query: UMLS:C0023241 (Legionella)
 6,990 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The phenotypic difference between virulent and avirulent Legionella pneumophila with regard to growth on supplemented Mueller-Hinton (SMH) agar was investigated. Defined populations of virulent and avirulent L. pneumophila were inoculated onto hybrid growth media containing the combination of SMH agar components with potassium phosphate-buffered charcoal-yeast extract agar. The casein acid hydrolysate component of SMH agar was found to be inhibitory to the growth of virulent but not avirulent cells. The selectively inhibitory component of the casein acid hydrolysate was identified as NaCl.
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PMID:Characterization of the selective inhibition of growth of virulent Legionella pneumophila by supplemented Mueller-Hinton medium. 272 45

Serospecific antigens isolated by EDTA extraction from four serogroups of Legionella pneumophila were analyzed for their chemical composition, molecular heterogeneity by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and immunological properties. The antigens were shown to be lipopolysaccharides and to differ from the lipopolysaccharides of other gram-negative bacteria. The serospecific antigens contained rhamnose, mannose, glucosamine, and two unidentified sugars together with 2-keto-3-deoxyoctonate, phosphate, and fatty acids. The fatty acid composition was predominantly branched-chain acids with smaller amounts of 3-hydroxymyristic acid. The antigens contain periodate-sensitive groups; mannosyl residues were completely cleaved by periodate oxidation. Hydrolysis of the total lipopolysaccharide by acetic acid resulted in the separation of a lipid A-like material that cross-reacted with the antiserum to lipid A from Salmonella minnesota but did not comigrate with it on sodium dodecyl sulfate gels. None of the four antigens contained heptose. All of the antigen preparations showed endotoxicity when tested by the Limulus amebocyte lysate assay. The results of this study indicate that the serogroup-specific antigens of L. pneumophila are lipopolysaccharides containing an unusual lipid A and core structure and different from those of other gram-negative bacteria.
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PMID:Serospecific antigens of Legionella pneumophila. 301 18

The presumed route of human infection by Legionella pneumophila is inhalation. We investigated possible oral transmission of legionellosis in guinea pigs. Fifty-six guinea pigs (group 1) were given virulent L. pneumophila, serogroup 1, in drinking water. Fifty-nine guinea pigs (group 2) were inoculated with L. pneumophila via gastric intubation. Nineteen guinea pigs (group 3) were given heat-killed L. pneumophila in drinking water. Twenty-four guinea pigs (group 4, positive control) were inoculated intraperitoneally with L. pneumophila. Twenty-seven guinea pigs (group 5, negative control) were either intubated gastrically with phosphate-buffered saline or given drinking water without L. pneumophila. Sixty-six of 115 (57%) of the guinea pigs orally inoculated with viable L. pneumophila (groups 1 and 2) had a temperature greater than or equal to 103 degrees F and 8 of 115 (7%) had diarrhea, compared with 0 of 19 (0%) and 0 of 19 (0%), respectively, in group 3 and 1 of 27 (4%) and 0 of 27 (0%), respectively, in group 5. There were no fatalities in groups 1, 2, 3, and 5 compared with 15 of 24 (63%) in group 4. Groups 1, 2, and 4 consistently showed pneumonitis and splenitis. The pneumonitis of groups 1 and 2 was mild, predominantly interstitial, and mainly composed of macrophages; neither gross nor microscopic evidence of aspiration was seen. In group 1, 4 of 29 (14%) guinea pigs tested seroconverted to L. pneumophila compared with 0 of 7 (0%) in group 3 and 0 of 10 (0%) in group 5. In groups 1 and 2 combined, L. pneumophila was isolated from the lung of 5 of 57 (11%) guinea pigs and spleen of 5 of 47 (11%) guinea pigs compared with 0 of 14 guinea pigs in group 5. We conclude that viable L. pneumophila administered orally produces a self-limited febrile illness in guinea pigs.
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PMID:A self-limited febrile illness produced in guinea pigs associated with oral administration of Legionella pneumophila. 318 81

The guinea pig is the most widely used animal model in the study of Legionellosis. The hamster should also be considered, since it acquires virtually no spontaneous epidemic lung infection, possesses similar cellular immune components observed in other mammals, has a normal body temperature identical to that of man, and is readily available for laboratory investigation. We studied the pathologic findings of four 12 week old inbred London School of Hygiene (LSH) hamsters inoculated intraperitoneally with 0.2 ml of 10(9) organisms per ml suspension of a viable Philadelphia 1 strain of Legionella pneumophila. Four LSH hamsters (control group) received 0.2 ml of sterile phosphate buffered saline, intraperitoneally. All animals of the test group became clinically ill and two of the four spontaneously expired on days 1 and 2 after inoculation. The remainder were sacrificed on day 3. In three out of four animals of the test group, a suppurative peritonitis and an interstitial pneumonitis were observed. It was characterized by infiltrates of neutrophils and macrophages. The test group also exhibited acute splenitis, including microabscesses, and two of four test animals showed hepatic congestion, vacuolization of hepatocytes, and microabscesses. None of the controls appeared sick or died after three days, and neither gross nor microscopic lesions were found at autopsy. Culture results documented L pneumophila in lung and spleen of all test animals and the absence of organisms in the control group. Hence, the LSH hamster is rapidly infected with the Philadelphia 1 strain of L pneumophila given intraperitoneally, and pathological changes can be readily observed. The findings of our study add hamsters to the list of animals susceptible to intraperitoneal infection by L pneumophila.
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PMID:Susceptibility of LSH hamsters to intraperitoneal inoculation with Legionella pneumophila. 394 31

The utilization of amino acids and other compounds as carbon and energy sources by Legionella pneumophila was examined. Based on the stimulation of oxygen consumption in washed-cell suspensions, glutamate, serine, threonine, and tyrosine were the only amino acids which were utilized as energy sources. Other stimulators of oxygen uptake were lactate, pyruvate, acetate, fumarate, and succinate. Citrate was a good stimulator only when the bacteria were grown in the presence of the substrate. Radiolabeling studies showed that [14C]glutamate was rapidly metabolized, with the label distributed evenly in all cell fractions. [14C]pyruvate and [14C]acetate were incorporated into the lipid-containing cell fraction, whereas glucose and glycerol were found in both the lipid- and polysaccharide-containing cell fractions. Radiorespirometry of differentially labeled [14C]glucose indicated that this compound was metabolized primarily by the pentose phosphate and Entner-Doudoroff pathways rather than by the glycolytic pathway.
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PMID:Intermediary metabolism in Legionella pneumophila: utilization of amino acids and other compounds as energy sources. 613 45

The objective of this study was to evaluate by relatively simple metabolic tests the usefulness of buffers and energy sources commonly used in Legionella growth media. Legionella pneumophila serogroups 1 to 6, Legionella micdadei, and Legionella bozemanii were grown in an enriched charcoal-yeast extract diphasic medium. The cells were washed thrice, suspended in various buffers (pH 6.9) with 1 or 5 mM MgSO4, and used immediately or after controlled-rate cryopreservation. CO2 produced and C incorporated into the cold trichloracetic acid-insoluble fractions from 14C-labeled substrates were determine. Potassium phosphate buffer (0.02 M) was as satisfactory as organic buffers for glutamate metabolism, but the addition of KCl or NaCl reduced activity. Metabolic activity for glutamate was not lost upon cryopreservation, and cryopreserved cells were used to test the utilization of other single or paired substrates. Rates of activity for serine, glutamate, threonine, and pyruvate, in this descending order, were high, and those for alpha-ketoglutarate, succinate, and gamma-aminobutyrate were low. Although glutamine was not used as rapidly as glutamate, when added to glutamate it was preferentially metabolized, possibly because of more rapid transport. When glutamate and serine were combined, glutamate furnished more C for CO2 and less for incorporation, whereas the reverse was true of serine. In conclusion, glutamate as an energy source may in some cases spare other amino acids for synthesis. alpha-Ketoglutarate, a common constituent of Legionella media, may reduce oxygen toxicity but is probably not a chief energy source.
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PMID:Substrate utilization by Legionella cells after cryopreservation in phosphate buffer. 614 14

The difficulties associated with the growth of Legionella species in common laboratory media may be due to the sensitivity of these organisms to low levels of hydrogen peroxide and superoxide radicals. Exposure of yeast extract (YE) broth to fluorescent light generated superoxide radicals (3 microM/h) and hydrogen peroxide (16 microM/h). Autoclaved YE medium was more prone to photochemical oxidation than YE medium sterilized by filtration. Activated charcoals and, to a lesser extent, graphite, but not starch, prevented photochemical oxidation of YE medium, decomposed hydrogen peroxide and superoxide radicals, and prevented light-accelerated autooxidation of cysteine. Also, suspensions of charcoal in phosphate buffer and in charcoal yeast extract medium readily decomposed exogenous peroxide (17 and 23 nmol/ml per min, respectively). Combinations of bovine superoxide dismutase and catalase also decreased the rate of photooxidation of YE medium. Medium protected from light did not accumulate appreciable levels of hydrogen peroxide, and autoclaved YE medium protected from light supported good growth of Legionella micdadei. Various species of Legionella (10(4) cells per ml) exhibited sensitivity to relatively low levels of hydrogen peroxide (26.5 microM) in challenge experiments. The level of hydrogen peroxide that accumulated in YE medium over a period of several hours (greater than 50 microM) was in excess of the level tolerated by Legionella pneumophila, which contained no measurable catalase activity. Strains of L. micdadei, Legionella dumoffi, and Legionella bozmanii contained this enzyme, but the presence of catalase did not appear to confer appreciable tolerance to exogenously generated hydrogen peroxide.
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PMID:Production of superoxide and hydrogen peroxide in medium used to culture Legionella pneumophila: catalytic decomposition by charcoal. 630 19

Outer membrane material was extracted from a serogroup 1 strain of Legionella pneumophila using ethylenediaminetetraacetate. Ferritin-conjugated antiserum reacted only at the surface of the organism, as seen by electron microscopy. Outer membrane material was fractionated into five peaks by molecular sieve chromatography using a gel that had been equilibrated in a buffer containing sodium deoxycholate. One resolved peak (approximately 4x10(4) daltons) was highly active serologically. When rechromatographed in the absence of sodium deoxycholate, material from this peak reaggregated to approximately 10(6) daltons. Ther serologic activity of this antigen was restricted to L. pneumophila serogroup 2, although minor cross-reactions with strains of serogroups 2 and 4 were detected using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The antigen was less than 10% carbohydrate, 15% protein, 1.1% phosphate, and the remainder lipid of unknown composition. Neither 2-keto-3-deoxyoctonate nor heptose was detected, and the antigen did not induce a Shwartzman reaction. Only one band was seen on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.
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PMID:Isolation of a serogroup 1-specific antigen from Legionella pneumophila. 705 24

Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) from Legionella bozemanii serogroup 1 and Legionella longbeachae serogroup 1 were subjected to chemical analyses. The lipid A part of both LPSs contained 2,3-dideoxy-2,3-diamino-D-glucose as major constituents and D-glucosamine and glycerol as minor constituents of the sugar backbone structure. Both LPSs exhibited a very complex fatty acid composition. Twenty amide-linked 3-hydroxy fatty acids were detected in LPS of L. longbeachae, whereas seventeen were encountered in LPS of L. bozemanii. Both LPSs contained nine ester-linked nonhydroxy fatty acids and the unique long-chain fatty acids 27-oxo-octacosanoic acid, 29-oxo-triacontanoic acid, heptacosane-1,27-dioic acid and nonacosane-1, 29-dioic acid. SDS-PAGE showed that L. bozemanii produced smooth-form LPS, whereas L. longbeachae LPS was mainly of the R-type. Composition analyses were in accordance with these electrophoretic patterns. D-Quinovosamine and L-fucosamine constituted 80 mol% of the polysaccharide part of L. bozemanii LPS. Other sugars identified were D-glucosamine, D-mannose, D-glucose, L-rhamnose, D-glycero-D-manno-heptose, L-glycero-D-manno-heptose, 2-keto-3-deoxy-octonic acid and glycerol. The polysaccharide chain from LPS of L. longbeachae appeared to be shorter, but composed of the same sugars except L-fucosamine. Both LPSs contained glycerol phosphate and glucosamine phosphate and L. longbeachae LPS contained in addition glucose phosphate.
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PMID:Chemical composition of lipopolysaccharides from Legionella bozemanii and Legionella longbeachae. 780 41

The chemical composition of lipopolysaccharides from Legionella erythra and Legionella oakridgensis was analysed. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed both lipopolysaccharides to have a smooth-type character. The polysaccharide part of both lipopolysaccharides contained D-mannose, D-glucose, D-glycero-D-mannoheptose, L-glycero-D-manno-heptose, 2-keto-3-deoxyoctonic acid, L-fucosamine, D-glucosamine, and glucosamine phosphate. In addition, L-rhamnose, glycerol phosphate, and glucose phosphate were identified in the polysaccharide part of L. erythra lipopolysaccharide. The main sugar identified in the lipid A part of both lipopolysaccharides, 2,3-diamino-2,3-dideoxy-D-glucose, was found to be substituted with a complex fatty acid composition including at least 16 different amide-linked 3-hydroxy fatty acids. Both lipopolysaccharides contained nonhydroxy fatty acids and the uncommon 27-oxo-octacosanoic acid, 29-oxotriacontanoic acid, and 27-hydroxyoctacosanoic acid. The lipopolysaccharide of L. oakridgensis also contained 29-hydroxytriacontanoic acid. The dioic long-chain acids heptacosane-1,27-dioic acid and nonacosane-1,29-dioic acid were only present in the lipopolysaccharide of L. erythra.
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PMID:Lipopolysaccharides of Legionella erythra and Legionella oakridgensis. 792 88


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