Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year(sorted ascending) Filter | PMID Filter |
|---|
| how phosphotransferase system-related protein phosphorylation regulates carbohydrate metabolism in bacteria. | the phosphoenolpyruvate(pep):carbohydrate phosphotransferase system (pts) is found only in bacteria, where it catalyzes the transport and phosphorylation of numerous monosaccharides, disaccharides, amino sugars, polyols, and other sugar derivatives. to carry out its catalytic function in sugar transport and phosphorylation, the pts uses pep as an energy source and phosphoryl donor. the phosphoryl group of pep is usually transferred via four distinct proteins (domains) to the transported sugar bo ... | 2006 | 17158705 |
| structural classification of bacterial response regulators: diversity of output domains and domain combinations. | chey-like phosphoacceptor (or receiver [rec]) domain is a common module in a variety of response regulators of the bacterial signal transduction systems. in this work, 4,610 response regulators, encoded in complete genomes of 200 bacterial and archaeal species, were identified and classified by their domain architectures. previously uncharacterized output domains were analyzed and, in some cases, assigned to known domain families. transcriptional regulators of the ompr, narl, and ntrc families w ... | 2006 | 16740923 |
| the signaling helix: a common functional theme in diverse signaling proteins. | the mechanism by which the signals are transmitted between receptor and effector domains in multi-domain signaling proteins is poorly understood. | 2006 | 16953892 |
| protrepeatsdb: a database of amino acid repeats in genomes. | genome wide and cross species comparisons of amino acid repeats is an intriguing problem in biology mainly due to the highly polymorphic nature and diverse functions of amino acid repeats. innate protein repeats constitute vital functional and structural regions in proteins. repeats are of great consequence in evolution of proteins, as evident from analysis of repeats in different organisms. in the post genomic era, availability of protein sequences encoded in different genomes provides a unique ... | 2006 | 16827924 |
| evolutionary links between flih/yscl-like proteins from bacterial type iii secretion systems and second-stalk components of the fof1 and vacuolar atpases. | bacterial type iii secretion drives flagellar biosynthesis and mediates bacterial-eukaryotic interactions. type iii secretion is driven by an atpase that is homologous to the catalytic subunits of proton-translocating atpases, such as the f(o)f(1) atpase. here we use psi-blast searches to show that some noncalatytic components are also conserved between type iii secretion systems and proton-translocating atpases. in particular, we show that the flih/yscl-like proteins and the e subunits of vacuo ... | 2006 | 16522800 |
| whipple's disease: a macrophage disease. | 2006 | 16467322 | |
| the shape and dynamics of the leptospiraceae. | most swimming bacteria produce thrust by rotating helical filaments called flagella. typically, the flagella stick out into the external fluid environment; however, in the spirochetes, a unique group that includes some highly pathogenic species of bacteria, the flagella are internalized, being incased in the periplasmic space; i.e., between the outer membrane and the cell wall. this coupling between the periplasmic flagella and the cell wall allows the flagella to serve a skeletal, as well as a ... | 2007 | 17434949 |
| yellow fever and max theiler: the only nobel prize for a virus vaccine. | in 1951, max theiler of the rockefeller foundation received the nobel prize in physiology or medicine for his discovery of an effective vaccine against yellow fever--a discovery first reported in the jem 70 years ago. this was the first, and so far the only, nobel prize given for the development of a virus vaccine. recently released nobel archives now reveal how the advances in the yellow fever vaccine field were evaluated more than 50 years ago, and how this led to a prize for max theiler. | 2007 | 18039952 |
| life sciences and biotechnology in china. | life science and biotechnology have become a top priority in research and development in many countries as the world marches into the new century. china as a developing country with a 1.3 billion population and booming economy is actively meeting the challenge of a new era in this area of research. owing to support from the government and the scientific community, and reform to improve the infrastructure, recent years have witnessed a rapid progress in some important fields of life science and b ... | 2007 | 17331895 |
| computational rna secondary structure design: empirical complexity and improved methods. | we investigate the empirical complexity of the rna secondary structure design problem, that is, the scaling of the typical difficulty of the design task for various classes of rna structures as the size of the target structure is increased. the purpose of this work is to understand better the factors that make rna structures hard to design for existing, high-performance algorithms. such understanding provides the basis for improving the performance of one of the best algorithms for this problem, ... | 2007 | 17266771 |
| high serum nitric oxide levels in patients with severe leptospirosis. | leptospirosis is a globally distributed zoonosis of major public health importance and is associated with severe disease manifestations such as acute renal failure and pulmonary haemorrhage syndrome. however, the extent to which the pathogenesis of leptospirosis mimics sepsis caused by gram-negative bacteria remains unknown. the aim of this study was to evaluate serum levels of nitric oxide (no) in patients diagnosed with severe leptospirosis. sera from 35 confirmed cases of severe leptospirosis ... | 2007 | 17196920 |
| high serum nitric oxide levels in patients with severe leptospirosis. | leptospirosis is a globally distributed zoonosis of major public health importance and is associated with severe disease manifestations such as acute renal failure and pulmonary haemorrhage syndrome. however, the extent to which the pathogenesis of leptospirosis mimics sepsis caused by gram-negative bacteria remains unknown. the aim of this study was to evaluate serum levels of nitric oxide (no) in patients diagnosed with severe leptospirosis. sera from 35 confirmed cases of severe leptospirosis ... | 2007 | 17196920 |
| assessing the evolutionary rate of positional orthologous genes in prokaryotes using synteny data. | comparison of completely sequenced microbial genomes has revealed how fluid these genomes are. detecting synteny blocks requires reliable methods to determining the orthologs among the whole set of homologs detected by exhaustive comparisons between each pair of completely sequenced genomes. this is a complex and difficult problem in the field of comparative genomics but will help to better understand the way prokaryotic genomes are evolving. | 2007 | 18047665 |
| transcriptional regulatory network discovery via multiple method integration: application to e. coli k12. | transcriptional regulatory network (trn) discovery from one method (e.g. microarray analysis, gene ontology, phylogenic similarity) does not seem feasible due to lack of sufficient information, resulting in the construction of spurious or incomplete trns. we develop a methodology, trnd, that integrates a preliminary trn, microarray data, gene ontology and phylogenic similarity to accurately discover trns and apply the method to e. coli k12. the approach can easily be extended to include other me ... | 2007 | 17397539 |
| a novel superfamily containing the beta-grasp fold involved in binding diverse soluble ligands. | domains containing the beta-grasp fold are utilized in a great diversity of physiological functions but their role, if any, in soluble or small molecule ligand recognition is poorly studied. | 2007 | 17250770 |
| structural basis for the acyl chain selectivity and mechanism of udp-n-acetylglucosamine acyltransferase. | udp-n-acetylglucosamine (udp-glcnac) acyltransferase (lpxa) catalyzes the first step of lipid a biosynthesis, the reversible transfer of the r-3-hydroxyacyl chain from r-3-hydroxyacyl acyl carrier protein to the glucosamine 3-oh group of udp-glcnac. escherichia coli lpxa is highly selective for r-3-hydroxymyristate. the crystal structure of the e. coli lpxa homotrimer, determined previously in the absence of lipid substrates or products, revealed that lpxa contains an unusual, left-handed parall ... | 2007 | 17698807 |
| genome evolution and the emergence of fruiting body development in myxococcus xanthus. | lateral gene transfer (lgt) is thought to promote speciation in bacteria, though well-defined examples have not been put forward. | 2007 | 18159227 |
| [identification of leptospira interrogans serovar pomona in mice genetically selected for high and low antibody production, by means of the immunoperoxidase technique in renal tissue and bacterial isolation in fletcher medium]. | the present work had the objective of identifying the presence of leptospira interrogans serovar pomona in mice that had been genetically selected for high and low response to antibodies. all the animals were subjected to bacterial isolation, immunohistochemical analysis (immunoperoxidase) in renal tissue sections and hematoxylin-eosin staining. the immunoperoxidase technique was little more sensitive than culturing, but both were good parameters for agent identification. more severe renal lesio ... | 2007 | 18200418 |
| virus detection and monitoring of viral load in crimean-congo hemorrhagic fever virus patients. | we developed a real-time reverse transcription--pcr that detected 1,164 copies/ml of crimean-congo hemorrhagic fever virus per milliliter of serum at 95% probability (probit analysis) and was 100% concordant with nested pcr on 63 samples from 31 patients with confirmed infection. infected patients who died appeared to have higher viral loads; low viral loads correlated with igg detection. | 2007 | 18214191 |
| a serologic assessment of exposure to viral pathogens and leptospira in an urban raccoon (procyon lotor) population inhabiting a large zoological park. | in urban environments, raccoons (procyon lotor) may act as reservoirs for an array of pathogenic organisms, presenting spillover risks for human, domestic animal, and captive (zoo) animal populations. over 5 yr, 159 raccoons from a high-density raccoon population in st. louis, missouri (usa), were surveyed for exposure to canine distemper virus (cdv), canine adenovirus 1 (cav-1); feline parvovirus (fpv; =feline panleukopenia), and several serovars of leptospira interrogans. exposure to each of t ... | 2007 | 17469271 |
| zinc is the metal cofactor of borrelia burgdorferi peptide deformylase. | peptide deformylase (pdf, e.c. 3.5.1.88) catalyzes the removal of n-terminal formyl groups from nascent ribosome-synthesized polypeptides. pdf contains a catalytically essential divalent metal ion, which is tetrahedrally coordinated by three protein ligands (his, his, and cys) and a water molecule. previous studies revealed that the metal cofactor is a fe2+ ion in escherichia coli and many other bacterial pdfs. in this work, we found that pdfs from two iron-deficient bacteria, borrelia burgdorfe ... | 2007 | 17977509 |
| transferable resistance to aminoglycosides by methylation of g1405 in 16s rrna and to hydrophilic fluoroquinolones by qepa-mediated efflux in escherichia coli. | plasmid pip1206 was detected in escherichia coli strain 1540 during the screening of clinical isolates of enterobacteriaceae for high-level resistance to aminoglycosides. the sequence of this incfi conjugative plasmid of ca. 100 kb was partially determined. pip1206 carried the rmtb gene for a ribosome methyltransferase that was shown to modify the n7 position of nucleotide g1405, located in the a site of 16s rrna. it also contained the qepa (quinolone efflux pump) gene that encodes a 14-transmem ... | 2007 | 17470656 |
| a dominant clone of leptospira interrogans associated with an outbreak of human leptospirosis in thailand. | a sustained outbreak of leptospirosis occurred in northeast thailand between 1999 and 2003, the basis for which was unknown. | 2007 | 17989782 |
| cyclical changes in seroprevalence of leptospirosis in california sea lions: endemic and epidemic disease in one host species? | leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease infecting a broad range of mammalian hosts, and is re-emerging globally. california sea lions (zalophus californianus) have experienced recurrent outbreaks of leptospirosis since 1970, but it is unknown whether the pathogen persists in the sea lion population or is introduced repeatedly from external reservoirs. | 2007 | 17986335 |
| [membrane location and naturally antibody responses of genus-specific antigen ompl1s of leptospira interrogans]. | the major aim of this study is to determine the location on outer envelope of the genus-specific antigen ompl1s of leptospira interrogans, and the inducement of naturally antibody response and types of the antigen, which will offer the evidences to use ompl1s as the antigen candidate for developing universal genetic engineering vaccine and detection kit. the serum samples from 156 leptospirosis patients in sichuan area were detected using microscope agglutination test (mat). by using pcr plus nu ... | 2007 | 17552244 |
| expression and characterization of an iron-regulated hemin-binding protein, hbpa, from leptospira interrogans serovar lai. | in an earlier study, based on the ferric enterobactin receptor fepa of escherichia coli, we identified and modeled a tonb-dependent outer membrane receptor protein (lb191) from the genome of leptospira interrogans serovar lai. based on in silico analysis, we hypothesized that this protein was an iron-dependent hemin-binding protein. in this study, we provide experimental evidence to prove that this protein, termed hbpa (hemin-binding protein a), is indeed an iron-regulated hemin-binding protein. ... | 2007 | 17576761 |
| agonistic and antagonistic properties of a rhizobium sin-1 lipid a modified by an ether-linked lipid. | lps from rhizobium sin-1 (r. sin-1) can antagonize the production of tumor necrosis factor alpha (tnf-alpha) by e. coli lps in human monocytic cells. therefore these compounds provide interesting leads for the development of therapeutics for the prevention or treatment of septic shock. detailed structure activity relationship studies have, however, been hampered by the propensity of these compounds to undergo beta-elimination to give biological inactive enone derivatives. to address this problem ... | 2007 | 17581652 |
| identification of prophages in bacterial genomes by dinucleotide relative abundance difference. | prophages are integrated viral forms in bacterial genomes that have been found to contribute to interstrain genetic variability. many virulence-associated genes are reported to be prophage encoded. present computational methods to detect prophages are either by identifying possible essential proteins such as integrases or by an extension of this technique, which involves identifying a region containing proteins similar to those occurring in prophages. these methods suffer due to the problem of l ... | 2007 | 18030328 |
| parallel dimerization of a prrc-anticodon nuclease region implicated in trnalys recognition. | the optional escherichia coli restriction trnase prrc represents a family of potential antiviral devices widespread among bacteria. prrc comprises a functional c-domain of unknown structure and regulatory abc/atpase-like n-domain. the possible involvement of a c-domain sequence in trna(lys) recognition was investigated using a matching end-protected 11-meric peptide. this mimic, termed here larp (lys-anticodon recognizing peptide) uv-cross-linked trna(lys) anticodon stem-loop (asl) analogs and i ... | 2007 | 17604307 |
| identification of a novel potential antigen for early-phase serodiagnosis of leptospirosis. | this study examined four genes encoding for predicted membrane proteins selected from the genome sequences of leptospira interrogans. genes were cloned and the proteins expressed in e. coli. immunoblotting analysis of the recombinants with sera from early and convalescent phases of a leptospirosis patient showed that two proteins, namely lp29 and lp49, were reactive with serum from both phases of the illness. these data were further confirmed in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using sera from ... | 2007 | 17609931 |
| comparison of invasion of fibroblasts and macrophages by high- and low-virulence leptospira strains: colonization of the host-cell nucleus and induction of necrosis by the virulent strain. | the infection cycle of low- and high-virulence strains of leptospira interrogans was compared in fibroblasts and macrophages. l. interrogans serovar lai strain lai was used as a representative high-virulence strain, while l. interrogans serovars pomona strain luo was used as a low-virulence strain. l. biflexa serovar patoc strain patoc i, a nonparasitic strain of leptospira, was used as a control. both the high- and low-virulence strains could adhere to fibroblasts and macrophages using one or b ... | 2007 | 17622516 |
| pathology and pathophysiology of pulmonary manifestations in leptospirosis. | leptospirosis is a re-emerging zoonosis occurring as large outbreaks throughout the world caused by leptospira interrogans. the incidence of pulmonary involvement in leptospirosis has been reported to be increasing in the last years, affecting up to 70% of the patients. alveolar hemorrhage presented as dyspnea and hemoptysis is the main pulmonary manifestation. the emergence of massive hemoptysis and acute respiratory distress syndrome has characterized the recent changes reported in the clinica ... | 2007 | 17625743 |
| recombinant mycobacterium bovis bcg expressing the lipl32 antigen of leptospira interrogans protects hamsters from challenge. | the bacillus calmette--guerin (bcg), a live attenuated mycobacterium bovis strain is considered a promising candidate as a vector system for delivery of foreign antigens to the immune system. the gene coding for the leptospira interrogans external membrane protein lipl32, a highly immunogenic antigen found in all pathogenic leptospira, was cloned into several mycobacterial vectors for expression in bcg. hamsters immunized with recombinant bcg (rbcg) expressing lipl32 were protected against morta ... | 2007 | 18063449 |
| increased prevalence of borrelia burgdorferi infections in bernese mountain dogs: a possible breed predisposition. | glomerulonephritis in dogs has been associated with b. burgdorferi infections. in bernese mountain dogs with glomerulonephritis antibodies against b. burgdorferi have been found in most dogs, raising the question if the breed is predisposed to infections with b. burgdorferi. the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of antibodies against b. burgdorferi sensu lato in a well defined population of bernese mountain dogs and to compare this prevalence with data from dogs of other breeds. | 2007 | 17626630 |
| the ompa-like protein loa22 is essential for leptospiral virulence. | pathogenic mechanisms of leptospira interrogans, the causal agent of leptospirosis, remain largely unknown. this is mainly due to the lack of tools for genetic manipulations of pathogenic species. in this study, we characterized a mutant obtained by insertion of the transposon himar1 into a gene encoding a putative lipoprotein, loa22, which has a predicted ompa domain based on sequence identity. the resulting mutant did not express loa22 and was attenuated in virulence in the guinea pig and hams ... | 2007 | 17630832 |
| [establishment of standardized method for pulsed-field gel electrophoresis on leptospira interrogans and analysis on their patterns]. | to establish a standardized operation procedure for pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (pfge) on leptospira interrogans as well as a figure digital database to develop the chinese representative reference strains. | 2007 | 18080564 |
| [study on the location of membrane and detection of antibody in the sera of genus-specific antigen lipl41s in patients with leptospira interrogans]. | to determine the location on outer envelope and natural antibody response and types of genus-specific lipoprotein antigen lipl41s in patients with leptospira interrogans. | 2007 | 18080565 |
| two arabidopsis genes (ipms1 and ipms2) encode isopropylmalate synthase, the branchpoint step in the biosynthesis of leucine. | heterologous expression of the arabidopsis (arabidopsis thaliana) ipms1 (at1g18500) and ipms2 (at1g74040) cdnas in escherichia coli yields isopropylmalate synthases (ipmss; ec 2.3.3.13). these enzymes catalyze the first dedicated step in leucine (leu) biosynthesis, an aldol-type condensation of acetyl-coenzyme a (coa) and 2-oxoisovalerate yielding isopropylmalate. most biochemical properties of ipms1 and ipms2 are similar: broad ph optimum around ph 8.5, mg2+ as cofactor, feedback inhibition by ... | 2007 | 17189332 |
| the terminal portion of leptospiral immunoglobulin-like protein liga confers protective immunity against lethal infection in the hamster model of leptospirosis. | subunit vaccines are a potential intervention strategy against leptospirosis, which is a major public health problem in developing countries and a veterinary disease in livestock and companion animals worldwide. leptospiral immunoglobulin-like (lig) proteins are a family of surface-exposed determinants that have ig-like repeat domains found in virulence factors such as intimin and invasin. we expressed fragments of the repeat domain regions of liga and ligb from leptospira interrogans serovar co ... | 2007 | 17629368 |
| cloning and sequencing of a 21 kda outer membrane protein gene of leptospira interrogans serovar canicola strain hond utrecht iv. | 2007 | 17221364 | |
| human pathogenic borrelia spielmanii sp. nov. resists complement-mediated killing by direct binding of immune regulators factor h and factor h-like protein 1. | borrelia spielmanii sp. nov. has recently been shown to be a novel human pathogenic genospecies that causes lyme disease in europe. in order to elucidate the immune evasion mechanisms of b. spielmanii, we compared the abilities of isolates obtained from lyme disease patients and tick isolate pc-eq17 to escape from complement-mediated bacteriolysis. using a growth inhibition assay, we show that four b. spielmanii isolates, including pc-eq17, are serum resistant, whereas a single isolate, pmew, wa ... | 2007 | 17635869 |
| genetic diversity among major endemic strains of leptospira interrogans in china. | leptospirosis is a world-widely distributed zoonosis. humans become infected via exposure to pathogenic leptospira spp. from contaminated water or soil. the availability of genomic sequences of leptospira interrogans serovar lai and serovar copenhageni opened up opportunities to identify genetic diversity among different pathogenic strains of l. interrogans representing various kinds of serotypes (serogroups and serovars). | 2007 | 17603913 |
| vaccinia virus 4c (a26l) protein on intracellular mature virus binds to the extracellular cellular matrix laminin. | vaccinia virus intracellular mature virus (imv) binds to glycosaminoglycans (gags) on cells via three virion proteins, h3l, a27l, and d8l. in this study, we demonstrated that binding of imv to bsc40 cells was competitively inhibited by soluble laminin but not by fibronectin or collagen v, suggesting that this cell surface extracellular matrix (ecm) protein may play a role in vaccinia virus entry. moreover, imv infection of gag(-) sog9 cells was also inhibited by laminin, demonstrating that virio ... | 2007 | 17166913 |
| bartonella quintana lipopolysaccharide is a natural antagonist of toll-like receptor 4. | bartonella quintana is a gram-negative microorganism that causes trench fever and chronic bacteremia. b. quintana lipopolysaccharide (lps) was unable to induce the production of proinflammatory cytokines in human monocytes. interestingly, b. quintana lps is a potent antagonist of toll-like receptor 4 (tlr4), as it inhibited both mrna transcription and the release of tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin 1beta (il-1beta), and il-6 by escherichia coli lps in human monocytes, at ratios ranging f ... | 2007 | 17606598 |
| vaccinia virus 4c (a26l) protein on intracellular mature virus binds to the extracellular cellular matrix laminin. | vaccinia virus intracellular mature virus (imv) binds to glycosaminoglycans (gags) on cells via three virion proteins, h3l, a27l, and d8l. in this study, we demonstrated that binding of imv to bsc40 cells was competitively inhibited by soluble laminin but not by fibronectin or collagen v, suggesting that this cell surface extracellular matrix (ecm) protein may play a role in vaccinia virus entry. moreover, imv infection of gag(-) sog9 cells was also inhibited by laminin, demonstrating that virio ... | 2007 | 17166913 |
| serological evidence of leptospiral infection in pig populations in different districts in japan. | serum samples were collected from 938 pigs of 24 farms in hokkaido, kagoshima, and okinawa prefectures in japan in 2001-2005. enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) was used for the detection of antibodies to lipl32 antigen which is common to leptospira interrogans. samples positive in elisa were then investigated by microscopic agglutination test for the identification of causal leptospires. antibodies specific to leptospires of serovars copenhageni, bratislava, australis and javanica were d ... | 2007 | 17579270 |
| leptospirosis in farmed deer in new zealand : a review. | current knowledge of leptospirosis in farmed deer in new zealand is reviewed. over the past 25 years, leptospirosis has been reported to occur in individual cases as well as in herd outbreaks in farmed deer and in human cases linked to farmed deer. serological studies and evidence from bacterial culture suggest infection is widespread. mixing of young stock from several sources appears to be a significant risk factor for outbreaks. the culture of leptospira interrogans serovars hardjobovis, pomo ... | 2007 | 17534410 |
| use of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in bulk milk to estimate the prevalence of neospora caninum on dairy farms in prince edward island, canada. | this study evaluated the use of bulk milk as a diagnostic tool for estimation of herd-level neospora caninum exposure in atlantic canada; it was used to estimate the prevalence of dairy farms with a within-herd n. caninum-seroprevalence > or = 15% in prince edward island (pei). the variation over time of n. caninum antibodies in bulk milk is also reported. skimmed bulk milk and individual serum samples were analyzed for n. caninum antibodies by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa). ... | 2007 | 17542367 |
| leptospirosis in urban wild boars, berlin, germany. | we found antibodies to leptospires in 25 (18%) of 141 wild boars from berlin (95% confidence interval 12-25). seropositivity was associated with chronic interstitial nephritis (odds ratio 10.5; p=0.01), and leptospires were detected in kidney tissues. wild boars represent a potential source for human leptospirosis in urban environments. | 2007 | 17553254 |
| crystal structure of sam-dependent o-methyltransferase from pathogenic bacterium leptospira interrogans. | the s-adenosylmethionine (sam)-dependent o-methyltransferase from leptospira interrogans (liomt) expressed by gene la0415 belongs to the methyltransf_3 family (pfam pf01596). in this family all of the five bacterial homologues with known function are reported as sam-dependent o-methylstransferases involved in antibiotic production. the crystal structure of liomt in complex with s-adenosylhomocysteine reported here is the first bacterial protein structure in this family. the liomt structure shows ... | 2007 | 17561415 |
| human infection with schineria iarvae. | 2007 | 17561570 | |
| rasta-bacteria: a web-based tool for identifying toxin-antitoxin loci in prokaryotes. | toxin/antitoxin (ta) systems, viewed as essential regulators of growth arrest and programmed cell death, are widespread among prokaryotes, but remain sparsely annotated. we present rasta-bacteria, an automated method allowing quick and reliable identification of ta loci in sequenced prokaryotic genomes, whether they are annotated open reading frames or not. the tool successfully confirmed all reported ta systems, and spotted new putative loci upon screening of sequenced genomes. rasta-bacteria i ... | 2007 | 17678530 |
| seroepidemiological survey of rodents collected at a u.s. military installation, yongsan garrison, seoul, republic of korea. | a seroepidemiological study of selected rodent-borne diseases (hantavirus [seoul [seo] virus], scrub typhus [orientia tsutsugamushi], murine typhus [rickettsia typhi], and leptospirosis [leptospira interrogans]), as part of the u.s. military rodent surveillance and control program, was conducted from 2001 through 2005 at yongsan garrison, seoul, republic of korea. rodents were collected to determine the prevalence of rodent-borne diseases at a u.s. military installation in an urban environment. ... | 2007 | 17691691 |
| cloning and sequence analysis of the gene encoding lipl32 of leptospira interrogans serovar sejroe. | leptospira, a member of the order spirochaetales, is the causative agent of leptospirosis, an important zoonosis encountered worldwide. the leptospira interrogans serovar sejroe was grown in emjh medium and its dna was isolated using standard techniques. the lipl32 gene was amplified using the reported primer of kirschneri of lipl32. the amplified product was found to comprise 756 base pairs. this amplified gene fragment of lipl32 lipoprotein was cloned in e. coli (dh5 alpha) cells using pdrive ... | 2007 | 17221365 |
| leptospirosis serology in the common brushtail possum (trichosurus vulpecula) from urban sydney, australia. | the common brushtail possum (trichosurus vulpecula) is indeed a common marsupial in major cities of australia. this species is known to be susceptible to leptospirosis and often lives in close contact with humans, raising concerns about the potential for transmission of this disease in urban areas. a total of 192 brushtail possum blood samples were collected from 136 individuals in suburban areas of metropolitan sydney from november 2002 to november 2004. sera were screened against a reference p ... | 2007 | 17699087 |
| isolation of leptospira noguchii from sheep. | the main goal of this study was to obtain new isolates of leptospira spp. from sheep. a total of 10 kidney samples and 44 blood samples were collected from sheep slaughtered in pelotas, southern brazil. one isolate was obtained which was identified by 16s rrna gene sequencing and serogrouping to be leptospira noguchii serogroup autumnalis. microscopic agglutination test (mat) evaluation revealed that 4.5% of the sheep sera reacted against the autumnalis serogroup. this is the first report of iso ... | 2007 | 17222993 |
| structure and biological activities of beta toxin from staphylococcus aureus. | beta toxin is a neutral sphingomyelinase secreted by certain strains of staphylococcus aureus. this virulence factor lyses erythrocytes in order to evade the host immune system as well as scavenge nutrients. the structure of beta toxin was determined at 2.4-a resolution using crystals that were merohedrally twinned. this structure is similar to that of the sphingomyelinases of listeria ivanovii and bacillus cereus. beta toxin belongs to the dnase i folding superfamily; in addition to sphingomyel ... | 2007 | 17873030 |
| isolation of leptospira noguchii from sheep. | the main goal of this study was to obtain new isolates of leptospira spp. from sheep. a total of 10 kidney samples and 44 blood samples were collected from sheep slaughtered in pelotas, southern brazil. one isolate was obtained which was identified by 16s rrna gene sequencing and serogrouping to be leptospira noguchii serogroup autumnalis. microscopic agglutination test (mat) evaluation revealed that 4.5% of the sheep sera reacted against the autumnalis serogroup. this is the first report of iso ... | 2007 | 17222993 |
| a comprehensive survey on isoleucine biosynthesis pathways in seven epidemic leptospira interrogans reference strains of china. | previous studies have indicated that different species of leptospira synthesize isoleucine via either pyruvate and/or threonine pathways. seven epidemic leptospira interrogans reference strains from china belonging to different serovars, together with three saprophytic strains of leptospira biflexa and leptospira meyeri, were analysed. the isoleucine biosynthesis properties were studied firstly by measuring the key enzymes of the two pathways, citramalate synthase (cima, ce4.1.3.-) and threonine ... | 2007 | 17227461 |
| comparative genomic analysis of tropheryma whipplei strains reveals that diversity among clinical isolates is mainly related to the wisp proteins. | the aim of this study was to analyze the genomic diversity of several tropheryma whipplei strains by microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization. fifteen clinical isolates originating from biopsy samples recovered from different countries were compared with the t. whipplei twist strain. for each isolate, the genes were defined as either present or absent/divergent using the gack analysis software. genomic changes were then further characterized by pcr and sequencing. | 2007 | 17910761 |
| [reconstruction of leptospira interrogans lipl21 gene and characteristics of its expression product]. | to reconstruct the nucleotide sequence of leptospira interrogans lipl21 gene for increasing the output of prokaryotic expression and to understand the changes on immunogenicity of the expression products before and after reconstruction, and to determine the position of envelope lipoprotein lipl21 on the surface of leptospiral body. | 2007 | 17924464 |
| properties of r-citramalyl-coenzyme a lyase and its role in the autotrophic 3-hydroxypropionate cycle of chloroflexus aurantiacus. | the autotrophic co(2) fixation pathway (3-hydroxypropionate cycle) in chloroflexus aurantiacus results in the fixation of two molecules of bicarbonate into one molecule of glyoxylate. glyoxylate conversion to the co(2) acceptor molecule acetyl-coenzyme a (coa) requires condensation with propionyl-coa (derived from one molecule of acetyl-coa and one molecule of co(2)) to beta-methylmalyl-coa, which is converted to citramalyl-coa. extracts of autotrophically grown cells contained both s- and r-cit ... | 2007 | 17259315 |
| simple method for repurification of endotoxins for biological use. | a method for obtaining highly purified endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide [lps]) in a few hours by repurification of commercial or laboratory preparations was devised. it avoids the use of phenol, which is not suitable for phenol-soluble lipopolysaccharides nor for some industrial purposes. sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry analysis confirmed the integrity of the purified lpss. the purified products did not acti ... | 2007 | 17261511 |
| a novel leptospiral protein increases icam-1 and e-selectin expression in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. | it has been reported previously that activation of vascular endothelium by outer membrane proteins of the spirochetes borrelia sp. and treponema sp. resulted in enhanced expression of endothelial cell adhesion molecules. to investigate the role of leptospiral proteins in this process, a predicted lipoprotein encoded by the gene lic10365 was selected, which belongs to a paralogous family that presents a domain of unknown function, duf1565. the lic10365 gene was cloned and the protein expressed in ... | 2007 | 17956423 |
| clinicopathologic features and outcome predictors of leptospira interrogans australis serogroup infection in dogs: a retrospective study of 20 cases (2001-2004). | we retrospectively evaluated the clinicopathologic findings and outcome predictors in dogs with leptospira interrogans australis serogroup infections. | 2007 | 17338143 |
| a canonical ftsz protein in verrucomicrobium spinosum, a member of the bacterial phylum verrucomicrobia that also includes tubulin-producing prosthecobacter species. | the origin and evolution of the homologous gtp-binding cytoskeletal proteins ftsz typical of bacteria and tubulin characteristic of eukaryotes is a major question in molecular evolutionary biology. both ftsz and tubulin are central to key cell biology processes--bacterial septation and cell division in the case of ftsz and in the case of tubulins the function of microtubules necessary for mitosis and other key cytoskeleton-dependent processes in eukaryotes. the origin of tubulin in particular is ... | 2007 | 17349062 |
| safety and immunogenicity of subcutaneous or intramuscular administration of a monovalent inactivated vaccine against leptospira interrogans serogroup icterohaemorrhagiae in healthy volunteers. | the safety and immunogenicity of a monovalent inactivated vaccine against leptospira interrogans serogroup icterohaemorrhagiae was evaluated in 84 volunteers according to the route of administration, i.e., subcutaneous (sc) or intramuscular (im), in a double-blind randomised trial. the volunteers were randomised into four groups: sc vaccine; im vaccine; sc placebo; and im placebo. primary vaccination comprised two injections on day 0 and day 14, with a booster after 6 months. a second booster wa ... | 2007 | 17359323 |
| molecular typing of leptospira spp. based on putative o-antigen polymerase gene (wzy), the benefit over 16s rrna gene sequence. | molecular typing of leptospiral strains based on variation within putative o-antigen polymerase gene (wzy) was determined among reference strains and those isolated from patients. using the pcr primers designed from the flanking gene of wzy derived from leptospira interrogans serovar copenhageni, all l. interrogans serovars as well as human and rodent leptospiral isolates from thailand could be amplified. the size of pcr product ranged from 1 to 1.5 kb. the limitation of these primer pairs was t ... | 2007 | 17403048 |
| leptospirosis vaccines. | abstract: leptospirosis is a serious infection disease caused by pathogenic strains of the leptospira spirochetes, which affects not only humans but also animals. it has long been expected to find an effective vaccine to prevent leptospirosis through immunization of high risk humans or animals. although some leptospirosis vaccines have been obtained, the vaccination is relatively unsuccessful in clinical application despite decades of research and millions of dollars spent. in this review, the r ... | 2007 | 18072968 |
| sequence-based typing of leptospira: epidemiology in the genomic era. | 2007 | 18060079 | |
| detection of leptospira interrogans dna and antigen in fixed equine eyes affected with end-stage equine recurrent uveitis. | equine recurrent uveitis (eru) is the most frequent cause of blindness in horses worldwide. leptospira has been implicated as an etiologic agent in some cases of eru and has been detected in fresh ocular tissues of affected horses. the objective of this study was to determine the presence of leptospira antigen and dna in fixed equine ocular tissues affected with end-stage eru. sections of eyes from 30 horses were obtained. controls included 1) 10 normal equine eyes and 2) 10 equine eyes with a n ... | 2007 | 17998558 |
| morphological alterations in the kidney of rats with natural and experimental leptospira infection. | leptospirosis is a widespread anthropozoonosis, with a broad array of mammalian reservoirs, occurring as rural endemics, urban outbreaks related to floods, and emergent disease associated with water sports and recreational exposure in developed countries. rats are the major source of human infection, particularly in urban areas; however few reports have focused on the pathology of leptospirosis in this host. this study reports pathological changes in 60 kidneys from captured wild rats and compar ... | 2007 | 17996544 |
| leptospira interrogans endostatin-like outer membrane proteins bind host fibronectin, laminin and regulators of complement. | the pathogenic spirochete leptospira interrogans disseminates throughout its hosts via the bloodstream, then invades and colonizes a variety of host tissues. infectious leptospires are resistant to killing by their hosts' alternative pathway of complement-mediated killing, and interact with various host extracellular matrix (ecm) components. the lena outer surface protein (formerly called lfha and lsa24) was previously shown to bind the host ecm component laminin and the complement regulators fa ... | 2007 | 18000555 |
| frequency and causes of infectious abortion in a dairy herd in queretaro, mexico. | the objective of this study was to determine the frequency of infectious bovine abortion and to identify some of its causes, specifically brucellosis, leptospirosis, bovine viral diarrhea, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, and neosporosis. the study was carried out in a dairy herd in the state of queretaro, mexico, between september 2002 and march 2003. at the beginning of the study, blood samples were taken from a random 33% of the 300 lactating or pregnant cows; antibodies against leptospira ... | 2007 | 17955907 |
| crystal structures of leptospira interrogans fad-containing ferredoxin-nadp+ reductase and its complex with nadp+. | ferredoxin-nadp(h) reductases (fnrs) are flavoenzymes that catalyze the electron transfer between nadp(h) and the proteins ferredoxin or flavodoxin. a number of structural features distinguish plant and bacterial fnrs, one of which is the mode of the cofactor fad binding. leptospira interrogans is a spirochaete parasitic bacterium capable of infecting humans and mammals in general. leptospira interrogans fnr (lepfnr) displays low sequence identity with plant (34% with zea mays) and bacterial (31 ... | 2007 | 17958910 |
| leptospirosis: clinical presentation and correlation with serovars. | a total of 2400 patients with pyrexia of unknown origin and or suspected leptospirosis were included in this study. dark field microscopy detected leptospira in 690 cases, leptospira serological investigations proved positive in 570 out of these 690 patients. among them 212 had the classical icteric and the other 358 had anicteric type of presentation. notably eptospira interrogans serovar ictero haemorrhagiae infection was encountered in 212 patients. in 30 patients, who had multi organ dysfunc ... | 2007 | 18338689 |
| serosurvey of ex situ giant pandas (ailuropoda melanoleuca) and red pandas (ailurus fulgens) in china with implications for species conservation. | conservation strategies for the giant panda (ailuropoda melanoleuca) include the development of a self-sustaining ex situ population. this study examined the potential significance of infectious pathogens in giant pandas ex situ. serologic antibody titers against canine distemper virus (cdv), canine parvovirus (cpv), canine adenovirus (cav), canine coronavirus (ccv), canine herpesvirus, canine parainfluenza virus (cpiv), toxoplasma gondii, neospora caninum, and leptospira interrogans were measur ... | 2007 | 18229861 |
| bilateral acute keratouveitis in leptospirosis: a new entity. | 2007 | 17699963 | |
| ompl1 dna vaccine cross-protects against heterologous leptospira spp. challenge. | available leptospirosis vaccines made up of inactivated bacteria or their membrane components elicit immunity which is serovar specific and unsatisfactory immunological memory. a vaccine that protects across leptospira serogroups/serovars, i.e. broad spectrum, and induces long-lasting memory is needed for both human and veterinary uses. in this study, a plasmid dna vaccine was constructed from cloning gene encoding a transmembrane porin protein, ompl1, of pathogenic leptospira interrogans, serog ... | 2007 | 17891923 |
| osmotic regulation of expression of two extracellular matrix-binding proteins and a haemolysin of leptospira interrogans: differential effects on liga and sph2 extracellular release. | the life cycle of the pathogen leptospira interrogans involves stages outside and inside the host. entry of l. interrogans from moist environments into the host is likely to be accompanied by the induction of genes encoding virulence determinants and the concomitant repression of genes encoding products required for survival outside of the host. the expression of the adhesin liga, the haemolysin sph2 (lk73.5) and the outer-membrane lipoprotein lipl36 of pathogenic leptospira species have been re ... | 2007 | 17906138 |
| crystal structure of homoserine o-acetyltransferase from leptospira interrogans. | homoserine o-acetyltransferase (hta, ec 2.3.1.31) initiates methionine biosynthesis pathway by catalyzing the transfer of acetyl group from acetyl-coa to homoserine. this study reports the crystal structure of hta from leptospira interrogans determined at 2.2a resolution using selenomethionyl single-wavelength anomalous diffraction method. hta is modular and consists of two structurally distinct domains--a core alpha/beta domain containing the catalytic site and a helical bundle called the lid d ... | 2007 | 17927957 |
| classical complement activation and acquired immune response pathways are not essential for retinal degeneration in the rd1 mouse. | misregulation of the innate immune response and other immune-related processes have been suggested to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of a number of different neurodegenerative diseases, including age related macular degeneration. in an animal model for photoreceptor degeneration, several genes of the innate and acquired immune system were found to be differentially regulated in the retina during the degenerative process. in addition to this differential regulation of individual genes, ... | 2007 | 17069800 |
| a genomic island of the pathogen leptospira interrogans serovar lai can excise from its chromosome. | an examination of the two leptospira interrogans genomes sequenced so far reveals few genetic differences, including an extra dna region, 54 kb in length, in l. interrogans serovar lai. this locus contains 103 predicted coding sequences that are absent from the genome of l. interrogans serovar copenhageni, of which only 20% had significant blastp hits in genbank. by analyzing the l. interrogans serovar lai genome by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, we also found that this 54-kb dna fragment exi ... | 2007 | 17118975 |
| characterization of the outer membrane proteome of leptospira interrogans expressed during acute lethal infection. | pathogenic leptospira species adapt to a wide range of environmental conditions during disease transmission and infection. while the proteome of in vitro cultivated leptospira has been characterized in several studies to date, relatively little is known of the proteome as expressed by leptospira during disease processes. isolates of leptospira obtained from patients suffering the severe pulmonary form of leptospirosis cause acute lethal infection in guinea pigs and chronic asymptomatic infection ... | 2007 | 17101664 |
| epidemiology and control of neosporosis and neospora caninum. | neospora caninum is a protozoan parasite of animals. until 1988, it was misidentified as toxoplasma gondii. since its first recognition in dogs in 1984 and the description of the new genus and species neospora caninum in 1988, neosporosis has emerged as a serious disease of cattle and dogs worldwide. abortions and neonatal mortality are a major problem in livestock operations, and neosporosis is a major cause of abortion in cattle. although antibodies to n. caninum have been reported, the parasi ... | 2007 | 17428888 |
| enzymology and evolution of the pyruvate pathway to 2-oxobutyrate in methanocaldococcus jannaschii. | the archaeon methanocaldococcus jannaschii uses three different 2-oxoacid elongation pathways, which extend the chain length of precursors in leucine, isoleucine, and coenzyme b biosyntheses. in each of these pathways an aconitase-type hydrolyase catalyzes an hydroxyacid isomerization reaction. the genome sequence of m. jannaschii encodes two homologs of each large and small subunit that forms the hydrolyase, but the genes are not cotranscribed. the genes are more similar to each other than to p ... | 2007 | 17449626 |
| efficacy of fluoroquinolones against leptospira interrogans in a hamster model. | ciprofloxacin, gatifloxacin, and levofloxacin were evaluated for their abilities to prevent mortality in hamsters infected with a lethal inoculum of leptospira interrogans serovar portlandvere. each agent produced a statistically significant survival advantage compared to no treatment and demonstrated survival similar to that seen with doxycycline therapy. | 2007 | 17470646 |
| pathogenesis of leptospirosis: interaction of leptospira interrogans with in vitro cultured mammalian cells. | interactions of virulent leptospira interrogans with murine monocyte-macrophage-like j774a.1 cells and vero (african green monkey kidney fibroblasts) cells from attachment to internalization were investigated by a series of morphological analysis. fontana silver staining revealed that only the pathogenic leptospires were able to attach to host cells and the attachment pattern varied depending on cell types that they interacted with. transmission electron microscopy (tem) analysis confirmed the f ... | 2007 | 17429690 |
| vapc-1 of nontypeable haemophilus influenzae is a ribonuclease. | nontypeable haemophilus influenzae (nthi) organisms are obligate parasites of the human upper respiratory tract that can exist as commensals or pathogens. toxin-antitoxin (ta) loci are highly conserved gene pairs that encode both a toxin and antitoxin moiety. seven ta gene families have been identified to date, and nthi carries two alleles of the vapbc family. here, we have characterized the function of one of the nthi alleles, vapbc-1. the gene pair is transcribed as an operon in two nthi clini ... | 2007 | 17496075 |
| attenuated virulence of a francisella mutant lacking the lipid a 4'-phosphatase. | francisella tularensis causes tularemia, a highly contagious disease of animals and humans, but the virulence features of f. tularensis are poorly defined. f. tularensis and the related mouse pathogen francisella novicida synthesize unusual lipid a molecules lacking the 4'-monophosphate group typically found in the lipid a of gram-negative bacteria. lpxf, a selective phosphatase located on the periplasmic surface of the inner membrane, removes the 4'-phosphate moiety in the late stages of f. nov ... | 2007 | 17360489 |
| lipid a modification systems in gram-negative bacteria. | the lipid a moiety of lipopolysaccharide forms the outer monolayer of the outer membrane of most gram-negative bacteria. escherichia coli lipid a is synthesized on the cytoplasmic surface of the inner membrane by a conserved pathway of nine constitutive enzymes. following attachment of the core oligosaccharide, nascent core-lipid a is flipped to the outer surface of the inner membrane by the abc transporter msba, where the o-antigen polymer is attached. diverse covalent modifications of the lipi ... | 2007 | 17362200 |
| seroprevalence of leptospirosis in domesticated asian elephants (elephas maximus) in north and west thailand in 2004. | serum samples from asian elephants (elephas maximus) in the kanchanaburi, chiang mai and lampang provinces of thailand were tested using the microscopic agglutination test against 22 serovars of leptospira interrogans. a titre of more than 1:100 was used as evidence of infection. in northern thailand, the seroprevalence was 58 per cent and the prevalent serovars were leptospira interrogans serovar sejroe, leptospira interrogans serovar tarassovi, leptospira interrogans serovar ranarum and leptos ... | 2007 | 17369477 |
| response of leptospira interrogans to physiologic osmolarity: relevance in signaling the environment-to-host transition. | transmission of pathogenic leptospira between mammalian hosts usually involves dissemination via soil or water contaminated by the urine of carrier animals. the ability of leptospira to adapt to the diverse conditions found inside and outside the host is reflected in its relatively large genome size and high percentage of signal transduction genes. an exception is leptospira borgpetersenii serovar hardjo, which is transmitted by direct contact and appears to have lost genes necessary for surviva ... | 2007 | 17371863 |
| seroprevalence of selected viral and bacterial pathogens in free-ranging european bison from the białowieza primeval forest (poland). | blood was collected from bison that were selected between 1991 and 2001 for poor body condition, cachexia, lameness and balanoposthitis. sera were tested for antibodies to bovine herpes virus type 1 (bhv-1), bovine viral diarrhoea virus (bvdv), foot-and-mouth disease virus (fmdv), parainfluenza virus type 3 (pi-3), brucella abortus, chlamydophila abortus, coxiella burnetti, and leptospira interrogans. the results of serological tests showed a prevalence of low titers of a serological reaction to ... | 2007 | 17388020 |
| a detailed analysis of 16s ribosomal rna gene segments for the diagnosis of pathogenic bacteria. | bacterial 16s ribosomal rna (rrna) genes contain nine "hypervariable regions" (v1-v9) that demonstrate considerable sequence diversity among different bacteria. species-specific sequences within a given hypervariable region constitute useful targets for diagnostic assays and other scientific investigations. no single region can differentiate among all bacteria; therefore, systematic studies that compare the relative advantage of each region for specific diagnostic goals are needed. we characteri ... | 2007 | 17391789 |
| genome-wide identification of francisella tularensis virulence determinants. | francisella tularensis is a gram-negative pathogen that causes life-threatening infections in humans and has potential for use as a biological weapon. the genetic basis of the f. tularensis virulence is poorly understood. this study screened a total of 3,936 transposon mutants of the live vaccine strain for infection in a mouse model of respiratory tularemia by signature-tagged mutagenesis. we identified 341 mutants attenuated for infection in the lungs. the transposon disruptions were mapped to ... | 2007 | 17420240 |
| predicted epitopes of lig a of leptospira interrogans by bioinformatics method: a clue for further vaccine development. | leptospirosis is an important tropical infection. providing sufficient antibiotic drugs and development and approval of new vaccines are the control of the possible emerging pandemic of this pathogen. for leptospira interrogans, leptospiral ig-like a (liga) liga may have value in serodiagnosis or as a protective immunogen in novel vaccines. here, the author reports the preliminary data from the computation analysis of lig a to find potential t-cell epitopes using a new bioinformatics tool. among ... | 2007 | 17239493 |
| plasmids and rickettsial evolution: insight from rickettsia felis. | the genome sequence of rickettsia felis revealed a number of rickettsial genetic anomalies that likely contribute not only to a large genome size relative to other rickettsiae, but also to phenotypic oddities that have confounded the categorization of r. felis as either typhus group (tg) or spotted fever group (sfg) rickettsiae. most intriguing was the first report from rickettsiae of a conjugative plasmid (prf) that contains 68 putative open reading frames, several of which are predicted to enc ... | 2007 | 17342200 |
| does human proximity affect antibody prevalence in marine-foraging river otters (lontra canadensis)? | the investigation of diseases of free-ranging river otters (lontra canadensis) is a primary conservation priority for this species; however, very little is known about diseases of river otters that forage in marine environments. to identify and better understand pathogens that could be important to marine-foraging river otters, other wildlife species, domestic animals, and humans and to determine if proximity to human population could be a factor in disease exposure, serum samples from 55 free-r ... | 2007 | 17347401 |
| surprising arginine biosynthesis: a reappraisal of the enzymology and evolution of the pathway in microorganisms. | major aspects of the pathway of de novo arginine biosynthesis via acetylated intermediates in microorganisms must be revised in light of recent enzymatic and genomic investigations. the enzyme n-acetylglutamate synthase (nags), which used to be considered responsible for the first committed step of the pathway, is present in a limited number of bacterial phyla only and is absent from archaea. in many bacteria, shorter proteins related to the gcn5-related n-acetyltransferase family appear to acet ... | 2007 | 17347518 |