Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted descending) Filter |
|---|
| how the structural gene products of yersinia pestis relate to virulence. | bubonic plague is the most devastating acute infectious disease known to man. the causative agent, yersinia pestis, is now more firmly entrenched in sylvatic reservoirs throughout the world than at any time in the past. consequently, the organism increasingly causes casual human disease and is readily available for use as a bioweapon. recent attempts to understand the severe nature of plague have focused upon its very recent divergence from yersinia pseudotuberculosis, an etiological instrument ... | 2007 | 17683274 |
| comparison of 2 antibiotics that inhibit protein synthesis for the treatment of infection with yersinia pestis delivered by aerosol in a mouse model of pneumonic plague. | intentional release of yersinia pestis will likely be propagated by aerosol exposure. we explored the effects of neutropenia on the outcome of doxycycline and gentamicin therapy. | 2007 | 17674322 |
| [genotyping of yersinia pestis strains on the basis of variation of ribosomal rrna biosynthesis genes]. | analysis of restriction fragment length polymorphism of rrna genes of yersinia pestis and y. pseudotuberculosis strains, circulating in russian federation and abroad revealed the effectiveness of ribotyping for differentiation between these microorganisms, as well as for differentiation between different y. pestis biovars and main and nonmain subspecies of this agent. use of this method was shown to be promising as a component for the complex molecular typing system of y. pestis. variant ribotyp ... | 2007 | 17672123 |
| a putative dna adenine methyltransferase is involved in yersinia pseudotuberculosis pathogenicity. | some adenine methyltransferases have been shown not only to protect specific dna restriction sites from cleavage by a restriction endonuclease, but also to play a role in various bacterial processes and sometimes in bacterial virulence. this study focused on a type i restriction-modification system (designated yrmi) of y. pseudotuberculosis. this system is composed of three adjacent genes which could potentially encode an n6-adenine dna methylase (yama), an enzyme involved in site-specific recog ... | 2007 | 17660407 |
| yersinia pestis co92 delta yoph is a potent live, attenuated plague vaccine. | an in-frame deletion of the yoph gene in yersinia pestis co92 attenuates virulence in both bubonic and pneumonic plague models. when it is used as a live, attenuated vaccine, co92 delta yoph provides a high degree of protection from parental and respiratory challenge with y. pestis co92. | 2007 | 17652523 |
| comparison of hand-held test kits, immunofluorescence microscopy, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and flow cytometric analysis for rapid presumptive identification of yersinia pestis. | an in-house immunochromatographic test, plague biothreat alert test strips, abicap columns, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, flow cytometry, and immunofluorescence microscopy were compared for the detection of the fraction 1 capsular antigen of yersinia pestis, using spiked buffer and clinical specimens. hand-held test kits proved to be excellent benchtop tools. | 2007 | 17652472 |
| the fraction 1 and v protein antigens of yersinia pestis activate dendritic cells to induce primary t cell responses. | the f1 and v antigens of yersinia pestis, despite acting as virulence factors secreted by the organism during infection, also combine to produce an effective recombinant vaccine against plague, currently in clinical trial. the protective mechanisms induced by rf1 + rv probably involve interactions with dendritic cells (dc) as antigen uptake, processing and presenting cells. to study such interactions, naive ex vivo dc from bone marrow, spleen and lymph node were cultured with rf1, rv or combined ... | 2007 | 17645768 |
| a surface-focused biotinylation procedure identifies the yersinia pestis catalase katy as a membrane-associated but non-surface-located protein. | this study identified major surface proteins of the plague bacterium yersinia pestis. we applied a novel surface biotinylation method, followed by neutravidin (na) bead capture, on-bead digestion, and identification by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (lc-ms-ms). the use of stachyose during biotinylation focused the reaction to the surface. coupled with na pulldown and immunoblot analysis, this method determined whether a protein was accessible to the surface. we applied the method ... | 2007 | 17644638 |
| structure-function analysis of the c-terminal domain of lcrv from yersinia pestis. | lcrv, a multifunctional protein, acts as a positive regulator of effector protein secretion for the type iii secretion system (t3ss) in yersinia pestis by interaction with the negative regulator lcrg. in this study, lcrv was analyzed to identify regions required for lcrg interaction. random-linker insertion mutagenesis, deletion analysis, and site-directed mutagenesis of hydrophobic amino acids between residues 290 and 311 allowed the isolation of an lcrv mutant (lcrv l291r f308r) defective for ... | 2007 | 17644582 |
| study of the role of ccr5 in a mouse model of intranasal challenge with yersinia pestis. | ccr5 is a chemokine receptor used by hiv-1 to enter cells and has recently been found to act as a pathogen associated molecule pattern receptor. current positive selection for the high frequency of a ccr5-delta32 allele in humans has been attributed to resistance to hiv, smallpox, and plague infections. using an intranasal mouse model of y. pestis infection, we have found that lack of ccr5 does not enhance host resistance to y. pestis infection and that ccr5-mediated responses might have a prote ... | 2007 | 17644454 |
| plants as alternative systems for production of vaccines. | subunit vaccine production is typically associated with bacterial, yeast, insect or mammalian cell culture systems. plants, however, are emerging as an alternative platform for producing vaccine antigens, and offer some advantages over other recombinant systems. in particular, plant virus-based transient expression systems are suitable for rapid engineering, ease of scale-up and cost-effective production of target antigens. in addition, this system provides an ideal approach for producing large ... | 2007 | 17643065 |
| a comparison of immunogenicity and protective immunity against experimental plague by intranasal and/or combined with oral immunization of mice with attenuated salmonella serovar typhimurium expressing secreted yersinia pestis f1 and v antigen. | we investigated the relative immunogenicity and protective efficacy of recombinant x85mf1 and x85v strains of deltacyadeltacrpdeltaasd-attenuated salmonella typhimurium expressing, respectively, secreted yersinia pestis f1 and v antigens, following intranasal (i.n.) or i.n. combined with oral immunization for a mouse model. a single i.n. dose of 10(8) cfu of x85mf1 or x85v induced appreciable serum f1- or v-specific igg titres, although oral immunization did not. mice i.n. immunized three times ... | 2007 | 17640293 |
| fibrin and fibrinolysis in infection and host defense. | bacterial pathogens have frequently evolved and maintained the capacity to engage and/or activate hemostatic system components of their vertebrate hosts. recent studies of mice with selected alterations in host plasminogen and other hemostatic factors have begun to reveal a seminal role of bacterial plasminogen activators and fibrin clearance in microbial pathogenesis. bacterial pathogens appear to exploit host plasmin-mediated proteolysis to both support microbial dissemination and evade innate ... | 2007 | 17635705 |
| fouru: a novel type of rna thermometer in salmonella. | the translation of many heat shock and virulence genes is controlled by rna thermometers. usually, they are located in the 5'-untranslated region (5'-utr) and block the shine-dalgarno (sd) sequence by base pairing. destabilization of the structure at elevated temperature permits ribosome binding and translation initiation. we have identified a new type of rna thermometer in the 5'-utr of the salmonella agsa gene, which codes for a small heat shock protein. transcription of the agsa gene is contr ... | 2007 | 17630972 |
| residence-linked human plague in new mexico: a habitat-suitability model. | yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, has been detected in fleas and mammals throughout the western united states. this highly virulent infection is rare in humans, surveillance of the disease is expensive, and it often was assumed that risk of exposure to y. pestis is high in most of the western united states. for these reasons, some local health departments in these plague-affected regions have hesitated to undertake surveillance and other prevention activities. to aid in targeting l ... | 2007 | 17620642 |
| yopj targets traf proteins to inhibit tlr-mediated nf-kappab, mapk and irf3 signal transduction. | the yersinia pestis virulence factor yopj is a potent inhibitor of the nf-kappab and mapk signalling pathways, however, its molecular mechanism and relevance to pathogenesis are the subject of much debate. in this report, we characterize the effects of this type iii effector protein on bone fide signalling events downstream of toll-like receptors (tlrs), critical sensors in innate immunity. yopj inhibited tlr-mediated nf-kappab and map kinase activation, as suggested by previous studies. in addi ... | 2007 | 17608743 |
| directed evolution of aryl carrier proteins in the enterobactin synthetase. | the recognition of carrier proteins by multiple catalytic partners occurs in every cycle of chain elongation in the biosynthesis of fatty acids and of the pharmacologically important polyketide and nonribosomal peptide natural products. to dissect the features of carrier proteins that determine specific recognition at distinct points in assembly lines, we have used the two-module escherichia coli enterobactin synthetase as a model system. using an entb knockout strain, we developed a selection f ... | 2007 | 17606920 |
| introduction to united states department of agriculture vetnet: status of salmonella and campylobacter databases from 2004 through 2005. | in 2003 the united states department of agriculture established usda vetnet. it was modeled after pulsenet usa, the national molecular subtyping network for foodborne disease surveillance. the objectives of usda vetnet are: to use pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (pfge) to subtype zoonotic pathogens submitted to the animal arm of the national antimicrobial resistance monitoring system (narms); examine vetnet and pulsenet pfge patterns; and use the data for surveillance and investigation of suspe ... | 2007 | 17600492 |
| analysis of the aerobactin and ferric hydroxamate uptake systems of yersinia pestis. | yersinia pestis genomes contain genes homologous to the aerobactin receptor (iuta) and biosynthetic genes (iucabcd) as well as the ferric hydroxamate uptake system (fhucdb) of escherichia coli. however, iuca is disrupted by a frameshift mutation. an e. coli strain carrying the cloned y. pestis aerobactin region was unable to produce aerobactin, but could use the siderophore as an iron source. repair of the frameshift mutation in iuca did not allow aerobactin production in e. coli or y. pestis. i ... | 2007 | 17600077 |
| acute oral toxicity of yersinia pseudotuberculosis to fleas: implications for the evolution of vector-borne transmission of plague. | yersinia pestis diverged from yersinia pseudotuberculosis</= 20 000 years ago, during which time it evolved to be transmitted by fleas. in comparing the ability of these closely related species to infect the rat flea xenopsylla cheopis, we found that y. pseudotuberculosis, unlike y. pestis, is orally toxic to fleas. fleas showed signs of acute toxicity, including diarrhoea, immediately after feeding on blood containing y. pseudotuberculosis in response to protein toxin(s) produced by the bacteri ... | 2007 | 17587333 |
| ubiquitin-yop hybrids as probes for post-translational transport by the yersinia type iii secretion pathway. | yersinia enterocolitica uses type iii secretion to transport yop proteins into the cytoplasm of host cells. previous work generated hypotheses for both co- and post-translational transport mechanisms in the yersinia type iii pathway. here, we used ubiquitin (ub) and ubp1, the ub-specific protease, to examine whether yops can be secreted when synthesized prior to recognition by the type iii machinery. fusion of ub to the n-terminus of yops blocked substrate recognition and secretion of hybrids ge ... | 2007 | 17587230 |
| expression and insecticidal activity of yersinia pseudotuberculosis and photorhabdus luminescens toxin complex proteins. | photorhabdus luminescens toxin complex (tc) has been characterized as a potent three-component insecticidal protein complex. homologues of genes encoding p. luminescens tc components have been identified in several other enterobacteria and in gram-positive bacteria, showing these genes are widespread in bacteria. in particular, tc gene homologues have been identified in yersinia enterocolitica, yersinia pseudotuberculosis and yersinia pestis and may have a role in y. pestis evolution. y. enteroc ... | 2007 | 17573906 |
| pneumonic plague, northern india, 2002. | 2007 | 17561574 | |
| the weak interaction of lcrv and tlr2 does not contribute to the virulence of yersinia pestis. | yersinia pestis and the enteropathogenic yersinia pseudotuberculosis and yersinia enterocolitica share the virulence-antigen lcrv. previously, using reverse genetics we have proven that lcrv contributes to the virulence of y. enterocolitica serotype o:8 by inducing il-10 via toll-like receptor 2 (tlr2). however, both the ability of y. pestis lcrv to activate tlr2 and a possible role of tlr2-dependent il-10 induction by lcrv in y. pestis are not yet known. to eliminate interference from additiona ... | 2007 | 17556003 |
| gray foxes (urocyon cinereoargenteus) as a potential reservoir of a bartonella clarridgeiae-like bacterium and domestic dogs as part of a sentinel system for surveillance of zoonotic arthropod-borne pathogens in northern california. | two species of bartonella, a novel bartonella clarridgeiae-like bacterium and b. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii, were isolated from rural dogs and gray foxes in northern california. a novel b. clarridgeiae-like species was isolated from 3 (1.7%) of 182 dogs and 22 (42%) of 53 gray foxes, while b. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii was isolated from 1 dog (0.5%) and 5 gray foxes (9.4%). pcr and dna sequence analyses of the citrate synthase (glta) gene and the 16s-23s intergenic spacer region suggested that s ... | 2007 | 17553970 |
| climatically driven synchrony of gerbil populations allows large-scale plague outbreaks. | in central asia, the great gerbil (rhombomys opimus) is the main host for the bacterium yersinia pestis, the cause of bubonic plague. in order to prevent plague outbreaks, monitoring of the great gerbil has been carried out in kazakhstan since the late 1940s. we use the resulting data to demonstrate that climate forcing synchronizes the dynamics of gerbils over large geographical areas. as it is known that gerbil densities need to exceed a threshold level for plague to persist, synchrony in gerb ... | 2007 | 17550884 |
| human plague in the southwestern united states, 1957-2004: spatial models of elevated risk of human exposure to yersinia pestis. | plague is a rare but highly virulent flea-borne zoonotic disease caused by the gram-negative bacterium yersinia pestis yersin. identifying areas at high risk of human exposure to the etiological agent of plague could provide a useful tool for targeting limited public health resources and reduce the likelihood of misdiagnosis by raising awareness of the disease. we created logistic regression models to identify landscape features associated with areas where humans have acquired plague from 1957 t ... | 2007 | 17547242 |
| identification and type iii-dependent secretion of the yersinia pestis insecticidal-like proteins. | plague, or the black death, is a zoonotic disease that is spread from mammal to mammal by fleas. this mode of transmission demands that the causative agent of this disease, yersinia pestis, is able to survive and multiply in both mammals and insects. in recent years the complete genome sequence of a number of y. pestis strains have been determined. this sequence information indicates that y. pestis contains a cluster of genes with homology to insecticidal toxin encoding genes of the insect patho ... | 2007 | 17542916 |
| identification of a molecular target for the yersinia protein kinase a. | pathogenic bacteria of the genus yersinia employ a type iii secretion system to inject bacterial effector proteins directly into the host cytosol. one of these effectors, the yersinia serine/threonine protein kinase ypka, is an essential virulence determinant involved in host actin cytoskeletal rearrangements and in inhibition of phagocytosis. here we report that ypka inhibits multiple galphaq signaling pathways. the kinase activity of ypka is required for galphaq inhibition. ypka phosphorylates ... | 2007 | 17531806 |
| transcriptional responses in spleens from mice exposed to yersinia pestis co92. | yersinia pestis is one of the most threatening biological agents due to the associated high mortality and history of plague pandemics. identifying molecular players in the host response to infection may enable the development of medical countermeasures against y. pestis. in this study, microarrays were used to identify the host splenic response mechanisms to y. pestis infection. groups of balb/c mice were injected intraperitoneally with 2-257cfu of y. pestis strain co92 or vehicle. one group was ... | 2007 | 17531433 |
| [clonal structure of yersinia pestis populations in experimental soil ecosystems]. | two basic tendencies--formation of latent (uncultivable) form (lf) and hemin storage variability--has been revealed during study of clonal structure dynamics of y. pestis populations in artificial soil ecosystems in long-term incubation conditions. y. pestis populations disappeared within 3 - 6 months at 18 - 22 degrees c, whereas at 4 - 8 degrees c a subsequent replacement of vegetative cells on lf, which are capable to prolonged survival (up to 22 months) in soil with ability to reversion in t ... | 2007 | 17523422 |
| impact of resistance selection and mutant growth fitness on the relative efficacies of streptomycin and levofloxacin for plague therapy. | yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague, is a potential agent of biowarfare and bioterrorism. the aminoglycoside antibiotic streptomycin is the gold standard for treatment. however, this recommendation is based on scant animal and clinical data. we used an in vitro pharmacodynamic infection model to compare the efficacies of 10-day regimens of streptomycin versus the fluoroquinolone antibiotic levofloxacin for the treatment of y. pestis infection and to evaluate for emergence of resist ... | 2007 | 17517837 |
| herpesvirus latency confers symbiotic protection from bacterial infection. | all humans become infected with multiple herpesviruses during childhood. after clearance of acute infection, herpesviruses enter a dormant state known as latency. latency persists for the life of the host and is presumed to be parasitic, as it leaves the individual at risk for subsequent viral reactivation and disease. here we show that herpesvirus latency also confers a surprising benefit to the host. mice latently infected with either murine gammaherpesvirus 68 or murine cytomegalovirus, which ... | 2007 | 17507983 |
| [the plague, the alarm and antibiotics: re-reading of a press release]. | 2007 | 17503723 | |
| [plague]. | 2007 | 17491365 | |
| [contribution towards plague diagnosis]. | despite the clinical-epidemiological features of plague, numerous suspected cases in brazilian outbreaks have been discarded because of negative results from the hemagglutination test for antibodies against the yersinia pestis f1 antigen. the transcendence of plague justifies studying whether such results are due to unresponsiveness to f1, and whether other y. pestis proteins might be recognized in suspect serum. these would therefore be candidates to be alternative diagnostic targets to the f1 ... | 2007 | 17486254 |
| evaluation of combinatorial vaccines against anthrax and plague in a murine model. | in this study, we examine the potential of a combinatorial vaccine consisting of the lead-candidate antigens for the next generations of vaccines against anthrax (rpa) and plague (f1-v) with the specific objective of determining synergy or interference between the vaccine components when they are administered separately or together by both traditional parenteral immunization (sc) and mucosal immunization (in) in the presence of appropriate adjuvants. the most significant findings of the study re ... | 2007 | 17482725 |
| yersinia pestis orientalis in remains of ancient plague patients. | yersinia pestis dna was recently detected in human remains from 2 ancient plague pandemics in france and germany. we have now sequenced y pestis glpd gene in such remains, showing a 93-bp deletion specific for biotype orientalis. these data show that only orientalis type caused the 3 plague pandemics. | 2007 | 17479906 |
| prevention of immune cell apoptosis as potential therapeutic strategy for severe infections. | some labile cell types whose numbers are normally controlled through programmed cell death are subject to markedly increased destruction during some severe infections. lymphocytes, in particular, undergo massive and apparently unregulated apoptosis in human patients and laboratory animals with sepsis, potentially playing a major role in the severe immunosuppression that characterizes the terminal phase of fatal illness. extensive lymphocyte apoptosis has also occurred in humans and animals infec ... | 2007 | 17479879 |
| the yersinia effector protein ypka induces apoptosis independently of actin depolymerization. | the pathogenicity of the plague agent yersinia pestis is largely due to the injection of effector proteins that potently block immune responses into host cells through a type iii secretion apparatus. one yersinia effector protein, ypka, a putative serine/threonine kinase, has been reported to act by depolymerizing actin and disrupting actin microfilament organization. using ypka-gfp fusion proteins to directly visualize cells expressing ypka, we found instead that ypka triggered rapid cell death ... | 2007 | 17475872 |
| identification and characterization of autotransporter proteins of yersinia pestis kim. | yersinia pestis is a gram-negative bacterium that causes plague. currently, plague is considered a re-emerging infectious disease and y. pestis a potential bioterrorism agent. autotransporters (ats) are virulence proteins translocated by a variety of pathogenic gram-negative bacteria across the cell envelope to the cell surface or extracellular environment. in this study, we screened the genome of yersinia pestis kim for at genes whose expression might be relevant for the pathogenicity of this p ... | 2007 | 17453411 |
| attachment of lcrv from yersinia pestis at dual binding sites to human tlr-2 and human ifn-gamma receptor. | the virulence antigen (v-antigen, lcrv) of yersinia pestis, the causative agent of bubonic plague, is an established protective antigen known to regulate, target, and mediate type iii translocation of cytotoxic yersiniae outer proteins termed yops; lcrv also prompts tlr2-dependent upregulation of anti-inflammatory il-10. in this study, we determined the parameters of specific interaction of lcrv with tlr2 expressed on human transfected hek293 cells (tlr2+/cd14-), vtec2.hs cells (tlr2+/cd14-), pr ... | 2007 | 17441749 |
| evaluation of the role of lcrv-toll-like receptor 2-mediated immunomodulation in the virulence of yersinia pestis. | pathogenic members of the yersinia genus require the translocator protein lcrv for proper function of the type iii secretion apparatus, which is crucial for virulence. lcrv has also been reported to play an independent immunosuppressive role via the induction of interleukin-10 (il-10) through stimulation of toll-like receptor 2 (tlr2). to investigate the lcrv-tlr2 interaction in vitro, his-tagged recombinant lcrv (rlcrv) from yersinia pestis was cloned and expressed in escherichia coli and purif ... | 2007 | 17438030 |
| epifaunistic arthropod parasites of the four-striped mouse, rhabdomys pumilio, in the western cape province, south africa. | flea, lice, mite, and tick species associated with 510 rhabdomys pumilio were collected at 9 localities in the western cape province, south africa. the aims of the study were first to quantify the species richness, prevalence, and relative mean intensity of infestation of epifaunistic arthropod species associated with r. pumilio, and second to determine temporal variations in the mean abundance of the parasitic arthropods. each mouse was examined under a stereoscopic microscope and its parasites ... | 2007 | 17436941 |
| targeting the methyl erythritol phosphate (mep) pathway for novel antimalarial, antibacterial and herbicidal drug discovery: inhibition of 1-deoxy-d-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase (dxr) enzyme. | the 2-c-methyl-d-erythritol-4-phosphate (mep) pathway for isoprenoid biosynthesis has come under increased scrutiny as a target for novel antimalarial, antibacterial and herbicidal agents. 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase (dxr) is a key enzyme of the pathway that catalyzes the rearrangement and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (nadph)-dependent reduction of 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate (dxp) to mep. the unique properties of dxr make it a remarkable and rational target ... | 2007 | 17430177 |
| study of proinflammatory responses induced by yersinia pestis in human monocytes using cdna arrays. | yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, is known to develop strategies to overcome the host immune mechanisms and survive in the host. the molecular changes induced by y. pestis in the host are not well delineated. here, we examined the early events triggered after the intracellular infection of y. pestis in human monocytes and lymphocytes by analyzing the host transcriptional profiles using cdna arrays. we found that sets of genes that, especially at early time periods, were highly upre ... | 2007 | 17429414 |
| multiplexed identification of blood-borne bacterial pathogens by use of a novel 16s rrna gene pcr-ligase detection reaction-capillary electrophoresis assay. | we have developed a novel high-throughput pcr-ligase detection reaction-capillary electrophoresis (pcr-ldr-ce) assay for the multiplexed identification of 20 blood-borne pathogens (staphylococcus epidermidis, staphylococcus aureus, bacillus cereus, enterococcus faecalis, enterococcus faecium, listeria monocytogenes, streptococcus pneumoniae, streptococcus pyogenes, streptococcus agalactiae, escherichia coli, klebsiella pneumoniae, haemophilus influenzae, pseudomonas aeruginosa, acinetobacter bau ... | 2007 | 17428930 |
| ectoparasite diversity and exposure to vector-borne disease agents in wild rodents in central coastal california. | a survey of wild rodents was performed in the morro bay area of central coastal california to determine serological and polymerase chain reaction (pcr) prevalence of anaplasma phagocytophilum dumler, barbet, bekker, dasch, palmer, ray, rikihisa, and rurangirwa, borrelia burgdorferi johnson, schmidt, hyde, steigerwalt, and brenner, francisella tularensis mccoy, and yersinia pestis yersin; to describe the ectoparasitic fauna on important vector-borne disease hosts; and to determine whether pathoge ... | 2007 | 17427705 |
| plague. | bubonic plague is an often fulminant systemic zoonosis, caused by yersinia pestis. conventional microbiology, bacterial population genetics, and genome sequence data, all suggest that y pestis is a recently evolved clone of the enteric pathogen yersinia pseudotuberculosis. the genetic basis of this organism's rapid adaptation to its insect vector (the flea) with transmission between mammalian hosts by novel subcutaneous and pneumonic routes of infection is becoming clearer. this transition provi ... | 2007 | 17416264 |
| identification and quantification of n alpha-acetylated y. pestis fusion protein f1-v expressed in escherichia coli using lcms e. | n-terminal acetylation in e coli is a rare event catalyzed by three known n-acetyl-transferases (nats), each having a specific ribosomal protein substrate. multiple, gram-scale lots of recombinant f1-v, a fusion protein constructed from y. pestis antigens, were expressed and purified from a single stably transformed e. coli cell bank. a variant form of f1-v with mass increased by 42-43 da was detected in all purified lots by electrospray orthogonal acceleration time-of-flight mass spectrometry ( ... | 2007 | 17412441 |
| development of molecular probes for second-site screening and design of protein tyrosine phosphatase inhibitors. | we report on the design, synthesis, and evaluation of a series of furanyl-salicyl-nitroxide derivatives as effective chemical probes for second-site screening against phosphotyrosine phosphatases (ptps) using nmr-based techniques. the compounds have been tested against a panel of ptps to assess their ability to inhibit a broad spectrum of these phosphatases. the utility of the derived compounds is illustrated with the phosphatase yoph, a bacterial toxin from yersinia pestis. novel chemical fragm ... | 2007 | 17394300 |
| development of in vitro correlate assays of immunity to infection with yersinia pestis. | pneumonic plague is a severe, rapidly progressing disease for which there is no effective vaccine. since the efficacy of new vaccines cannot be tested in humans, it is essential to develop in vitro surrogate assays that are valid predictors of immunity. the f1 capsule antigen stimulates a protective immune response to most strains of yersinia pestis. however, strains of y. pestis that are f1- but still virulent have been isolated, and an in vitro assay, the results which can predict protection a ... | 2007 | 17376861 |
| a novel self-capping mechanism controls aggregation of periplasmic chaperone caf1m. | the chaperone caf1m belongs to a family of atp-independent periplasmic chaperones that together with outer membrane ushers assemble and secrete filamentous adhesion organelles in gram-negative pathogens. it assists in folding and transport of caf1 subunits of the f1 capsular antigen of yersinia pestis, the microbe causing bubonic plague. in the periplasm, caf1m prevents subunit aggregation by capping the extensive hydrophobic surface of activated caf1. we found that subunit-free caf1m exists pre ... | 2007 | 17376079 |
| multiple antimicrobial resistance in plague: an emerging public health risk. | antimicrobial resistance in yersinia pestis is rare, yet constitutes a significant international public health and biodefense threat. in 1995, the first multidrug resistant (mdr) isolate of y. pestis (strain ip275) was identified, and was shown to contain a self-transmissible plasmid (pip1202) that conferred resistance to many of the antimicrobials recommended for plague treatment and prophylaxis. comparative analysis of the dna sequence of y. pestis plasmid pip1202 revealed a near identical inc ... | 2007 | 17375195 |
| effect of deletion of the lpxm gene on virulence and vaccine potential of yersinia pestis in mice. | yersinia pestis undergoes an obligate flea-rodent-flea enzootic life cycle. the rapidly fatal properties of y. pestis are responsible for the organism's sustained survival in natural plague foci. lipopolysaccharide (lps) plays several roles in y. pestis pathogenesis, prominent among them being resistance to host immune effectors and induction of a septic-shock state during the terminal phases of infection. lps is acylated with 4-6 fatty acids, the number varying with growth temperature and affec ... | 2007 | 17374882 |
| polyamine-based analogues as biochemical probes and potential therapeutics. | the polyamines putrescine, spermidine and spermine are ubiquitous polycationic compounds that are found in nearly every cell type, and are required to support a wide variety of cellular functions. the existence of multiple cellular effector sites for naturally occurring polyamines implies that there are numerous targets for polyamine-based therapeutic agents. through a programme aimed at the synthesis and evaluation of biologically active polyamine analogues, our laboratory has identified three ... | 2007 | 17371278 |
| [methods of diagnostics and differentiation of the plague agent: intraspecies differentiation of yersinia pestis. part ii]. | state research institute for plague control, rostov-on-don in the second part of the review aspects of intraspecies differentiation of the plague agent are discussed. special emphasis is placed on the necessity of more precise definition of taxonomic position of plague agent isolates considering genotypical characteristics, data on their selective virulence, and evolutionary origin of the genus yersinia. | 2007 | 17354602 |
| pathobiology and management of laboratory rodents administered cdc category a agents. | the centers for disease control and prevention category a infectious agents include bacillus anthracis (anthrax), clostridium botulinum toxin (botulism), yersinia pestis (plague), variola major virus (smallpox), francisella tularensis (tularemia), and the filoviruses and arenaviruses that induce viral hemorrhagic fevers. these agents are regarded as having the greatest potential for adverse impact on public health and therefore are a focus of renewed attention in infectious disease research. fre ... | 2007 | 17348288 |
| a plague upon fibrin. | 2007 | 17342118 | |
| caenorhabditis elegans mutants resistant to attachment of yersinia biofilms. | the detailed composition and structure of the caenorhabditis elegans surface are unknown. previous genetic studies used antibody or lectin binding to identify srf genes that play roles in surface determination. infection by microbacterium nematophilum identified bus (bacterially unswollen) genes that also affect surface characteristics. we report that biofilms produced by yersinia pestis and y. pseudotuberculosis, which bind the c. elegans surface predominantly on the head, can be used to identi ... | 2007 | 17339204 |
| raman chemical imaging spectroscopy reagentless detection and identification of pathogens: signature development and evaluation. | an optical detection method, raman chemical imaging spectroscopy (rcis), is reported, which combines raman spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, and digital imaging. using this method, trace levels of biothreat organisms are detected in the presence of complex environmental backgrounds without the use of amplification or enhancement techniques. rcis is reliant upon the use of raman signatures and automated recognition algorithms to perform species-level identification. the rationale and steps ... | 2007 | 17338507 |
| [the mechanism of interaction between yersinia pestis and erythrocytes, and its importance for the pathogenesis of plague]. | the ability of yersinia pestis to get inside human and murine red blood cells (rbc) was found both in vivo and in vitro experiments. due to oxidase and catalase activities, the microorganisms induced the denaturation of hemoglobin (hb) through rbc oxidation to h2o2 in high concentration providing the formation of haemin and transformation of haem fe2+ into the utilizable form, fe3+. this phenomenon was found to be common in vitro for all y. pestis strains used in the study independently of pgm p ... | 2007 | 17338375 |
| [secular plague trend in ceará state, brazil]. | after its introduction into the state of ceará, brazil, in 1900, the plague was established in seven ecological complexes: chapada do araripe and the ibiapaba, baturité, machado, matas, pedra branca, and uruburetama mountains. these natural foci were monitored successively from 1935 to 2004 by the national health department, national plague service, national department of rural endemics, superintendency of public health campaigns, national health foundation, and finally by the national health su ... | 2007 | 17334584 |
| zoonotic focus of plague, algeria. | after an outbreak of human plague, 95 xenopsylla cheopis fleas from algeria were tested for yersinia pestis with pcr methods. nine fleas were definitively confirmed to be infected with y. pestis biovar orientalis. our results demonstrate the persistence of a zoonotic focus of y. pestis in algeria. | 2006 | 17326957 |
| compounds with antibacterial activity that enhance dna cleavage by bacterial dna topoisomerase i. | dna topoisomerases utilize a covalent complex formed after dna cleavage as an intermediate in the interconversion of topological forms via dna cleavage and religation. many anticancer and antibacterial therapeutic agents are effective because they stabilize or increase the level of the covalent topoisomerase-dna complex formed by type iia or type ib topoisomerases. our goal is to identify small molecules that can enhance dna cleavage by type ia dna topoisomerase. compounds that act in this mecha ... | 2007 | 17317696 |
| structural modification of a base disaccharide alters antiadhesion properties towards yersinia pestis. | incubation in the presence of structurally modified disaccharides altered the in vitro attachment of yersinia pestis gb to three human respiratory epithelial cell lines. each disaccharide resulted in decreased attachment to the alveolar epithelial (a549) cell line. the best inhibitor of attachment for each cell line was the benzylated derivative of galbeta1-4galnac. highly negatively charged saccharides were efficient inhibitors, particularly for the bronchial epithelial (beas2-b) cell line. the ... | 2007 | 17316368 |
| a north american yersinia pestis draft genome sequence: snps and phylogenetic analysis. | yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, is responsible for some of the greatest epidemic scourges of mankind. it is widespread in the western united states, although it has only been present there for just over 100 years. as a result, there has been very little time for diversity to accumulate in this region. much of the diversity that has been detected among north american isolates is at loci that mutate too quickly to accurately reconstruct large-scale phylogenetic patterns. slowly-evo ... | 2007 | 17311096 |
| suitability of partial 16s ribosomal rna gene sequence analysis for the identification of dangerous bacterial pathogens. | in a bioterrorism event a rapid tool is needed to identify relevant dangerous bacteria. the aim of the study was to assess the usefulness of partial 16s rrna gene sequence analysis and the suitability of diverse databases for identifying dangerous bacterial pathogens. | 2007 | 17309636 |
| [plague outbreaks in the mediterranean area during the 2nd world war, epidemiology and treatments]. | before the second world war, the plague was still rife in north africa but occurred only as sporadic cases or small outbreaks as in egypt or morocco. the permanent foci of infected wild rodent were the cause of these rural outbreaks. in 1943 and 1944, plague came back in several mediterranean towns and ports and was considered as a serious danger for the allied forces. these resurgences were related to the world war as well as the overpopulation of the cities, regroupings and population movement ... | 2004 | 17304758 |
| initiation and spread of traveling waves of plague, yersinia pestis, in the western united states. | yersinia pestis invaded the continental united states in 1900 and subsequently became established in wild rodent populations in several western states, traversing 2,250 km in approximately 40 years. however, the specific path of the eastward expansion of plague into the united states is poorly understood. we directly calculated velocities of disease spread and performed trend-surface analyses on spatio-temporally unique plague cases to clarify the route and speed of the initial spread of plague ... | 2007 | 17297050 |
| simultaneous real-time pcr detection of bacillus anthracis, francisella tularensis and yersinia pestis. | this report describes the development of in-house real-time pcr assays using minor groove binding probes for simultaneous detection of the bacillus anthracis pag and cap genes, the francisella tularensis 23 kda gene, as well as the yersinia pestis pla gene. the sensitivities of these assays were at least 1 fg, except for the assay targeting the bacillus anthracis cap gene, which showed a sensitivity of 10 fg when total dna was used as a template in a serial dilution. the clinical value of the ba ... | 2007 | 17294160 |
| purification and protective efficacy of monomeric and modified yersinia pestis capsular f1-v antigen fusion proteins for vaccination against plague. | the f1-v vaccine antigen, protective against yersinia pestis, exhibits a strong tendency to multimerize that affects larger-scale manufacture and characterization. in this work, the sole f1-v cysteine was replaced with serine by site-directed mutagenesis for characterization of f1-v non-covalent multimer interactions and protective potency without participation by disulfide-linkages. f1-v and f1-v(c424s) proteins were overexpressed in escherichia coli, recovered using mechanical lysis/ph-modulat ... | 2007 | 17293124 |
| a plant-produced plague vaccine candidate confers protection to monkeys. | production of vaccine antigens in plants has received considerable attention over the last decade. however, despite many antigens being expressed in plant systems, and promising efficacy data with rodent models, few vaccine candidates have advanced into studies in non-human primates or human clinical trials. here, we report on the transient expression of the f1 and lcrv antigens of yersinia pestis in nicotiana benthamiana. the antigens were expressed as fusions to the thermostable enzyme of clos ... | 2007 | 17287055 |
| universal sample preparation method for characterization of bacteria by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry. | mass spectrometry has been a very useful method to rapidly identify microorganisms associated with infectious diseases, detect bioterrorism threats, and discriminate among different subtypes of a pathogen. in this study, we developed a universal method for bacterial identification by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry. the effects on the mass spectrum of different experimental conditions, including the amount of bacterial cells used and treatment procedu ... | 2007 | 17277202 |
| a plasminogen-activating protease specifically controls the development of primary pneumonic plague. | primary pneumonic plague is transmitted easily, progresses rapidly, and causes high mortality, but the mechanisms by which yersinia pestis overwhelms the lungs are largely unknown. we show that the plasminogen activator pla is essential for y. pestis to cause primary pneumonic plague but is less important for dissemination during pneumonic plague than during bubonic plague. experiments manipulating its temporal expression showed that pla allows y. pestis to replicate rapidly in the airways, caus ... | 2007 | 17255510 |
| statistical analysis of the dynamics of antibody loss to a disease-causing agent: plague in natural populations of great gerbils as an example. | we propose a new stochastic framework for analysing the dynamics of the immunity response of wildlife hosts against a disease-causing agent. our study is motivated by the need to analyse the monitoring time-series data covering the period from 1975 to 1995 on bacteriological and serological tests-samples from great gerbils being the main host of yersinia pestis in kazakhstan. based on a four-state continuous-time markov chain, we derive a generalized nonlinear mixed-effect model for analysing th ... | 2007 | 17254979 |
| a horizontally acquired filamentous phage contributes to the pathogenicity of the plague bacillus. | yersinia pestis, the plague bacillus, has an exceptional pathogenicity but the factors responsible for its extreme virulence are still unknown. a genome comparison with its less virulent ancestor yersinia pseudotuberculosis identified a few y. pestis-specific regions acquired after their divergence. one of them potentially encodes a prophage (ypfphi), similar to filamentous phages associated with virulence in other pathogens. we show here that ypfphi forms filamentous phage particles infectious ... | 2007 | 17238929 |
| investigating the geminal diamine intermediate of yersinia pestis arginine decarboxylase with substrate, product, and inhibitors using single wavelength stopped-flow spectroscopy. | the reaction mechanism of yersinia pestis arginine decarboxylase has been investigated using a series of substrate, product, and inhibitors. using single wavelength stopped-flow spectroscopy, novel mechanistic features were noted in the presence of the product, agmatine. by focusing on the excitation and emission wavelengths of the geminal diamine intermediate, we were able to monitor the formation and decay of two different geminal diamine species. experiments revealed that the enzyme exists in ... | 2007 | 17209548 |
| roles of the yfe and feo transporters of yersinia pestis in iron uptake and intracellular growth. | in yersinia pestis, the yfe and feo systems likely function to transport ferrous iron. both feoa and feob are essential for iron acquisition activity while feoc is not. mutations in yfe and feo had an additive effect on microaerophilic growth under iron-chelating conditions. y. pestis cells lacking the ybt siderophore-dependent system, the yfe or the feo system grow normally in j774a.1 cells. however, a double yfeab feob mutant was no longer able to grow in this murine macrophage cell line. this ... | 2007 | 17206386 |
| oral vaccination with salmonella simultaneously expressing yersinia pestis f1 and v antigens protects against bubonic and pneumonic plague. | the gut provides a large area for immunization enabling the development of mucosal and systemic ab responses. to test whether the protective ags to yersinia pestis can be orally delivered, the y. pestis caf1 operon, encoding the f1-ag and virulence ag (v-ag) were cloned into attenuated salmonella vaccine vectors. f1-ag expression was controlled under a promoter from the caf1 operon; two different promoters (p), pteta in pv3, pphop in pv4, as well as a chimera of the two in pv55 were tested. f1-a ... | 2007 | 17202369 |
| signal transduction in dc differentiation: winged messengers and achilles' heel. | 2007 | 17191374 | |
| phenotypic and molecular characterizations of yersinia pestis isolates from kazakhstan and adjacent regions. | recent interest in characterizing infectious agents associated with bioterrorism has resulted in the development of effective pathogen genotyping systems, but this information is rarely combined with phenotypic data. yersinia pestis, the aetiological agent of plague, has been well defined genotypically on local and worldwide scales using multi-locus variable number tandem repeat analysis (mlva), with emphasis on evolutionary patterns using old isolate collections from countries where y. pestis h ... | 2007 | 17185545 |
| the psa fimbriae of yersinia pestis interact with phosphatidylcholine on alveolar epithelial cells and pulmonary surfactant. | the ph 6 antigen (psa) of yersinia pestis consists of fimbriae with adhesive properties of potential importance for the pathogenesis of plague, including pneumonic plague. the psa fimbriae mediate bacterial binding to human alveolar epithelial cells. the psa fimbriae bound mostly to one component present in the total lipid extract from type ii alveolar epithelial cells of the cell line a549 separated by thin-layer chromatography (tlc). the psa receptor was identified as phosphatidylcholine (pc) ... | 2007 | 17178780 |
| infection in a dish: high-throughput analyses of bacterial pathogenesis. | diverse aspects of host-pathogen interactions have been studied using non-mammalian hosts such as dictyostelium discoideum, caenorhabditis elegans, drosophila melanogaster and danio rerio for more than 20 years. over the past two years, the use of these model hosts to dissect bacterial virulence mechanisms has been expanded to include the important human pathogens vibrio cholerae and yersinia pestis. innovative approaches using these alternative hosts have also been developed, enabling the isola ... | 2007 | 17178462 |
| dual role of the mgtc virulence factor in host and non-host environments. | mgtc is required for intramacrophage replication of intracellular pathogens and growth in low mg(2+) medium. a link between these two phenotypes has been proposed due to putative mg(2+) deprivation inside phagosome. mgtc is part of a family of proteins that share a conserved n-terminal transmembrane domain and a variable c-terminal domain. a combination of predictive and experimental approaches indicates that the salmonella mgtc c-terminal domain is cytoplasmic, adopts a fold also found in metal ... | 2007 | 17176255 |
| mutations, mutation rates, and evolution at the hypervariable vntr loci of yersinia pestis. | vntrs are able to discriminate among closely related isolates of recently emerged clonal pathogens, including yersinia pestis the etiologic agent of plague, because of their great diversity. diversity is driven largely by mutation but little is known about vntr mutation rates, factors affecting mutation rates, or the mutational mechanisms. the molecular epidemiological utility of vntrs will be greatly enhanced when this foundational knowledge is available. here, we measure mutation rates for 43 ... | 2007 | 17161849 |
| plague metapopulation dynamics in a natural reservoir: the burrow system as the unit of study. | the ecology of plague (yersinia pestis infection) in its ancient foci in central asia remains poorly understood. we present field data from two sites in kazakhstan where the great gerbil (rhombomys opimus) is the major natural host. family groups inhabit and defend burrow systems spaced throughout the landscape, such that the host population may be considered a metapopulation, with each occupied burrow system a subpopulation. we examine plague transmission within and between family groups and it ... | 2007 | 17156497 |
| isolation and characterization of autoagglutination factor of yersinia pestis hms- cells. | an approach for isolation of an autoagglutination factor (af) from hms(-) cells of the plague agent has been developed. purified af has been obtained and characterized in physicochemical properties. the af is found to be a complex of a 17.5-kd protein with a low molecular weight peptide component, which binds iron ions and shows siderophore activity. this low molecular weight component is responsible for hydrophobic properties and immunochemical activity of the af, as well as for its ability to ... | 2006 | 17140380 |
| plasmid: a centralized repository for plasmid clone information and distribution. | the plasmid information database (plasmid; http://plasmid.hms.harvard.edu) was developed as a community-based resource portal to facilitate search and request of plasmid clones shared with the dana-farber/harvard cancer center (df/hcc) dna resource core. plasmid serves as a central data repository and enables researchers to search the collection online using common gene names and identifiers, keywords, vector features, author names and pubmed ids. as of october 2006, the repository contains >46 ... | 2007 | 17132831 |
| amplification of sense-stranded prokaryotic rna. | microarray expression analysis has proven to be a valuable methodology. in eukaryotic systems where rna is limiting, established protocols for amplification of mrna, which rely on the poly(a) tails, are well established. in contrast, the difficulty in amplifying prokaryotic mrna has limited the application of microarrays to microbiology. here we present a method for the linear amplification of prokaryotic transcripts (lapt) that is efficient and unbiased. the overhang tailing activity of moloney ... | 2006 | 17132093 |
| expression profiling of yersinia pestis during mouse pulmonary infection. | yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, can be transmitted by infected flea bite or inhaled aerosol. both routes of infection have a high mortality rate, and pneumonic infections of y. pestis represent a significant concern as a tool of bioterrorism. understanding the transcriptional program of this pathogen during pulmonary infection should be valuable in understanding plague pathogenesis, as well as potentially offering insights into new vaccines and therapeutics. toward this goal we d ... | 2006 | 17132091 |
| surat plague of 1994 re-examined. | a plague episode in surat in 1994, and its spread to other cities in india, lasted only a little over 2 weeks, but it created an unprecedented panic that had global repercussions. at first, the surat hospital doctors could not diagnose the disease, but when they did, immediate intervention, in the form of preventation and treatment (administration of antibodies) prevented the disease from spreading beyond surat, delhi, calcutta, bombay and their vicinities. fewer than 1,200 people were diagnosed ... | 2006 | 17121302 |
| vaccination with live yersinia pestis primes cd4 and cd8 t cells that synergistically protect against lethal pulmonary y. pestis infection. | vaccination with live attenuated yersinia pestis confers protection against pneumonic plague but is not considered safe for general use. subunit plague vaccines containing the y. pestis f1 and lcrv proteins prime robust antibody responses but may not provide sufficient protection. to aid the development of a safe and effective plague vaccine, we are investigating roles for t cells during defense against y. pestis infection. here we demonstrate that vaccination of mice with live y. pestis primes ... | 2007 | 17118978 |
| demographic and spatio-temporal variation in human plague at a persistent focus in tanzania. | human plague in the western usambara mountains in tanzania has been a public health problem since the first outbreak in 1980. the wildlife reservoir is unknown and eradication measures that have proved effective elsewhere in tanzania appear to fail in this region. we use census data from 2002 and hospital records kept since 1986 to describe the temporal, spatial and demographic variation in human plague. a seasonal peak in cases occurs from december to february with the numbers of cases during t ... | 2006 | 17113555 |
| human cytolytic t cell recognition of yersinia pestis virulence proteins that target innate immune responses. | cell contact by the plague bacterium yersinia pestis initiates the injection of several virulence factors that target biochemical pathways critical for host clearance of bacteria. despite this impairment of innate immunity, it is unclear whether antigen recognition by t cells is equally affected. we present evidence that human cytolytic t cells respond to y. pestis virulence proteins presented by infected monocytes and dendritic cells. these t cell antigens consisted of a panel of proteins encod ... | 2006 | 17109349 |
| immunogenicity of the rf1+rv vaccine for plague with identification of potential immune correlates. | the rf1+rv candidate sub-unit vaccine for plague, formulated by adsorption to alhydrogel, has been demonstrated to be immunogenic in the cynomolgus macaque in a clinically relevant dose-range (5-40 microg of each sub-unit) and regimen. following two doses of vaccine, a specific igg titre developed in a dose-related manner with predominance of the igg1/igg2 isotypes. groups of macaques receiving only a single dose of vaccine at the 40 microg dose-level had a significantly reduced peak igg respons ... | 2007 | 17107769 |
| a biocompatible microdevice for core body temperature monitoring in the early diagnosis of infectious disease. | the early diagnosis of microbial infection is critical to the clinical instigation of effective post-exposure prophylaxis or therapy. however, diagnosis of infection is often attempted only when there are overt clinical signs, and for some of the serious human pathogens, this may jeopardize the efficacy of therapy. we have used a miniaturised sealed, implantable transponder incorporating a calibrated temperature sensor with an external receiver system, to monitor core body temperature (tc) remot ... | 2007 | 17106641 |
| delayed inflammatory response to primary pneumonic plague occurs in both outbred and inbred mice. | yersinia pestis is the causative agent of plague, a disease that can manifest as either bubonic or pneumonic plague. an interesting feature of plague is that it is a rapidly progressive disease, suggesting that y. pestis either evades and/or suppresses the innate immune response to infection. therefore, the early host response during the course of primary pneumonic plague was investigated in two mouse strains, the outbred strain cd1 and the inbred strain c57bl/6. a comparative analysis of the co ... | 2007 | 17101642 |
| kinetics of the immune response to the (f1+v) vaccine in models of bubonic and pneumonic plague. | protection against aerosol challenge with > 300 mld of yersinia pestis was observed 7 days after a single immunisation of mice with the f1+v vaccine. at day 60, mice were protected against injected challenge (10(7)mld) in a vaccine dose-related manner. recall responses to rv in splenocytes ex vivo at day 98 correlated significantly (p<0.001) with the immunising dose-level of v antigen; no memory response or anti-v serum igg was detected in killed whole cell vaccine (kwcv) recipients. this may ex ... | 2007 | 17101198 |
| plague as a mortality factor in canada lynx (lynx canadensis) reintroduced to colorado. | as part of a species recovery program, 129 canada lynx (lynx canadensis) originating from british columbia, the yukon, manitoba, and quebec, canada, and alaska, usa, were reintroduced to southwestern colorado, usa, from 1999 to 2003. of 52 lynx mortalities documented by october 2003, six lynx, including a female and her 5-mo-old kitten, had evidence of yersinia pestis infection as determined by fluorescent antibody test and/or culture. postmortem findings in these lynx were characterized by pneu ... | 2006 | 17092896 |