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

Two strains of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 monoclonal subgroup Pontiac were grown for the first time in continuous culture using a chemically defined medium. The influence of temperature on physiology and morphology was investigated by fixing the growth rate (equal to the dilution rate, D) at 0.08 h-1 and controlling the pH and dissolved oxygen concentration of the culture. Serine provided the principal source of carbon and energy but growth was limited by tyrosine. The bacterium behaved as a microaerophile in this medium, with maximal growth occurring at 0.31 (mg O2)I-1 (equivalent to a dissolved oxygen tension of 4% (v/v) air saturation at 30 degrees C). The cultures consisted of flagellated, short rods at 24 degrees C, but exhibited an increased level of pleomorphism and the loss of flagella as the temperature was increased to 37 degrees C. The presence of intracellular granules was noted, and their abundance was temperature-dependent. Polyhydroxybutyrate was present in L. pneumophila, and the proportion of the cell dry weight that it accounted for varied with temperature, being maximal at 24 degrees C. The ratio of saturated to unsaturated fatty acids in the cells decreased as the temperature was reduced towards 24 degrees C, so as to maintain membrane fluidity at low growth temperature.
J Gen Microbiol 1992 Nov
PMID:Physiology and morphology of Legionella pneumophila in continuous culture at low oxygen concentration. 147 56

The conjugative properties of an indigenous 85 MDa plasmid (designated pCH1) from Legionella pneumophila were studied. To determine if pCH1 was transmissible by conjugation, mating experiments were performed between legionellae that harboured pCH1 and several plasmid-less recipients. Plasmid transfer was monitored by colony hybridization, using a cloned 21.0 kb SalI restriction fragment from pCH1 as a probe. The results from these experiments showed that pCH1 could be conjugatively transferred into several strains of L. pneumophila serogroup 1 but not into strain Bloomington-2 (serogroup 3) or Escherichia coli. Southern hybridization experiments in which pCH1 DNA was used as a probe showed that pCH1 does not share homology with other indigenous L. pneumophila plasmids. There was no detectable DNA homology between pCH1 and L. pneumophila chromosomal DNA. Additional mating experiments revealed that pCH1 was unable to mobilize the L. pneumophila chromosome. The conjugative transfer of pCH1 into plasmid-less avirulent or virulent serogroup 1 strains did not alter the intracellular growth characteristics of these strains in U937 cells, a human-monocyte-like cell line, or in the amoeba Hartmannella vermiformis. These results suggest that pCH1 does not contribute to the ability of L. pneumophila to enter or grow within eukaryotic cells.
J Gen Microbiol 1992 Jul
PMID:Isolation and characterization of a conjugative plasmid from Legionella pneumophila. 151 68

The major extracellular enzyme of Legionella pneumophila, a metalloprotease, has been proposed as a pathogenic factor in Legionnaires' disease due to its cytotoxic, tissue-destructive, and phagocyte-inhibitory properties. The relevance of these activities depends on the production of the protease during infection, i.e. by L. pneumophila multiplying intracellularly. In this study, L. pneumophila was demonstrated to produce protease in guinea-pig and human alveolar macrophages infected in vitro. After 24 h infection, approximately 0.1 to 0.2 micrograms of protease per 10(6) bacteria was measured by ELISA in culture supernatants and lysates of the infected cells, whereas no protease could be detected immediately after infection. Immunogold labelling using anti-protease antibody showed the enzyme to be located within phagosomes and distributed throughout the macrophages. Recent observations have shown that this protease could modify host defence mechanisms through inhibition of bacterial killing by neutrophils and monocytes. The intracellular production of the enzyme in infected macrophages demonstrated here further supports a role for the protease in the pathogenesis of Legionnaires' disease.
J Gen Microbiol 1992 Aug
PMID:Demonstration of the intracellular production of tissue-destructive protease by Legionella pneumophila multiplying within guinea-pig and human alveolar macrophages. 152 7

An Escherichia coli K-12 strain deleted for sodA and sodB (manganese and iron superoxide dismutases) was constructed and characterized by Southern blotting, enzyme assays, and physiological analyses. The sod deletion strain was used to clone the iron superoxide dismutase gene of Legionella pneumophila by complementation to paraquat resistance.
Mol Gen Genet 1992 Apr
PMID:Construction of an Escherichia coli K-12 strain deleted for manganese and iron superoxide dismutase genes and its use in cloning the iron superoxide dismutase gene of Legionella pneumophila. 158 12

The pSAM2 element of Streptomyces ambofaciens integrates site-specifically in the genome of different Streptomyces species by recombination between a 58 bp sequence common to the plasmid (attP) and the chromosome (attB). Southern hybridization analysis showed that sequences similar to the pSAM2 attB site were found in other actinomycetes (Mycobacterium, Nocardia, Micromonospora) as well as unrelated bacteria (Bacillus circulans, Escherichia coli, Clostridium botulinum, Bordetella pertussis, and Legionella pneumophila). Hybridizing fragments from B. circulans and Mycobacterium tuberculosis were cloned and sequenced. Comparison of these sequences with the sequence of the integration zone of S. ambofaciens revealed a conserved region of 76 bp which overlapped with the attB site. This conserved sequence was similar to the Salmonella typhimurium and E. coli tRNA(pro1) genes as well as a number of eucaryotic tRNA genes and had a proline-tRNA-like cloverleaf structure. Furthermore, the Streptomyces lividans attB site of the Streptomyces glaucescens element pIJ408 was also found to overlap a potential tRNA gene (tRNA(thr)). We note here that these two putative tRNA genes as well as those which overlap the attB site of the elements SLP1 of Streptomyces coelicolor and pMEA100 of Nocardia mediterranei all contain the site where integrative recombination takes place. These presumptive actinomycete tRNA genes lack the 3' terminal CCA sequence found in most procaryotic tRNA genes.
Mol Gen Genet 1990 Jul
PMID:The chromosomal integration site of the Streptomyces element pSAM2 overlaps a putative tRNA gene conserved among actinomycetes. 170 70

This study describes a computer-based technique for classifying and identifying bacterial samples using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) patterns. Classification schemes were tested for selected series of bacterial strains and species from a variety of different genera. Dissimilarities between bacterial IR spectra were calculated using modified correlation coefficients. Dissimilarity matrices were used for cluster analysis, which yielded dendrograms broadly equated with conventional taxonomic classification schemes. Analyses were performed with selected strains of the taxa Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Clostridium, Legionella and Escherichia coli in particular, and with a database containing 139 bacterial reference spectra. The latter covered a wide range of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Unknown specimens could be identified when included in an established cluster analysis. Thirty-six clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus and 24 of Streptococcus faecalis were tested and all were assigned to the correct species cluster. It is concluded that: (1) FT-IR patterns can be used to type bacteria; (2) FT-IR provides data which can be treated such that classifications are similar and/or complementary to conventional classification schemes; and (3) FT-IR can be used as an easy and safe method for the rapid identification of clinical isolates.
J Gen Microbiol 1991 Jan
PMID:Classification and identification of bacteria by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. 171 Jun 44

The 16S ribosomal RNA sequences of Legionella pneumophila, L. erythra, L. hackeliae, L. spiritensis, L. longbeachae, L. bozemanii (Fluoribacter bozemanae) and L. micdadei (Tatlockia micdadei) were determined using reverse transcriptase. The sequences were compared with published sequences for Gram-negative bacteria and phylogenetic trees were constructed. The data confirm previous work which showed that the family Legionellaceae forms a monophyletic subgroup within the gamma subdivision of the Proteobacteria. The data show that all of the legionellae studied are highly related (greater than 95%) on the basis of 16S rRNA sequences and do not support the division of the family Legionellaceae into three genera.
J Gen Microbiol 1991 May
PMID:The use of 16S ribosomal RNA analyses to investigate the phylogeny of the family Legionellaceae. 171 50

Legionella pneumophila, the causative agent of Legionnaires' disease, was analysed by electron microscopy for production of surface structures. Crystalline surface (S-) layers and fimbriae were not detected, but monotrichous flagellation was seen. Polyclonal antibodies specific for the 47 kDa flagellin subunit of L. pneumophila Philadelphia I were used in Western blots to confirm the presence of flagella subunits in various L. pneumophila strains tested, but the antiserum also reacted with flagellin subunits of L. micdadei, L. hackelia [serogroup (SG) 1 and SG2] and L. longbeachae (SG2). Flagellation of Legionellae was shown to be temperature regulated. When the growth temperature of virulent and avirulent of strain L. pneumophila Philadelphia I was shifted from 30 degrees C to either 37 or 41 degrees C, a decrease in the percentage of flagellated bacteria within the population was observed.
J Gen Microbiol 1991 Aug
PMID:Temperature-dependent expression of flagella in Legionella. 195 73

Recent advance in molecular biology has enabled the specific and rapid diagnosis of the various infectious diseases. Though we commonly use the three major diagnostic procedure as isolation of the pathogen, direct detection of the pathogen and measurement of the immunological host reaction, DNA probe method would be the fourth major procedure in the clinical microbiology. The indication of the DNA probe method would be considered in the four cases as follows, 1. necessity of the special equipment to isolate the pathogen, 2. necessity of the long period to isolate the pathogen, 3. existence of the cross reaction among the pathogen and relative organisms in the immunological procedure, 4. existence of the difficulty to identify the species of the pathogen by the ordinary procedure. When we consider those indications, Legionnaires' disease might be one of the typical infectious disease to show the benefits of the DNA probe method in diagnosis. So far two types of DNA probe kits for Legionnaires' disease are available. One is the genus specific direct detection kit from the clinical specimens (Gen-probe), and the other is the microplate hybridization kit to identify each species of Legionella. The results of the evaluations of both kits showed the high specificity, rapidity and the clinical usefulness. In the next few years, various types of DNA probe kits might be newly developed and the contribution of those in the clinical microbiology would be much more than we expected.
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PMID:[Molecular diagnosis in respiratory infections]. 200 45

The commercial availability of a DNA probe assay for the detection of Legionella (Gen-Probe Incorporated, San Diego, CA) provides a unique opportunity to investigate the application of this technology to antibiotic susceptibility testing of L. pneumophila. We examined the ability of erythromycin, rifampin, and ciprofloxacin to kill L. pneumophila in buffered ACES-yeast extract broth (YEB). The test organism was incubated for a total of 96 hr in the presence of 10 micrograms/ml erythromycin, 1 micrograms/ml rifampin, or 1 micrograms/ml ciprofloxacin. Growth was monitored at 24-hr intervals by quantitative plating and the DNA probe assay. The correlation between organism concentration [colony-forming units (CFU) per ml] and DNA probe activity (counts per min) was excellent (r = 0.97). The percent decrease in CFU/ml at 96 hr relative to control counts was greater than 99% for erythromycin, rifampin, and ciprofloxacin. The percent decrease in CPM at 96 hr versus control was 87% for erythromycin, 89% for rifampin, and 93% for ciprofloxacin. This data documents a novel application of DNA probe technology, which may be useful in future studies of in vitro susceptibility of Legionella to various agents.
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PMID:Application of DNA probes to antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Legionella pneumophila. 201 12


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