Publications
| Title | Abstract | Year Filter | PMID(sorted descending) Filter |
|---|
| factors associated with pathogen seroprevalence and infection in rocky mountain cougars. | serological and genetic material collected over 15 years (1990-2004) from 207 cougars (puma concolor) in four populations in the rocky mountains were examined for evidence of current or prior exposure to feline immunodeficiency virus (fiv), feline parvovirus (fpv), feline coronavirus (fcov), feline calicivirus (fcv), canine distemper virus (cdv), feline herpesvirus (fhv), and yersinia pestis. serologic data were analyzed for annual variation in seroconversions to assess whether these pathogens a ... | 2006 | 17092891 |
| experimental model to evaluate the human body louse as a vector of plague. | yersinia pestis has been found in human body lice during plague outbreaks. to evaluate the role that the human body louse plays as a vector of plague, we allowed lice to feed on rabbits made bacteremic by intravenous inoculation of 10(9) colony-forming units of 3 strains of y. pestis. high mortality rates were observed in all lice 2 and 3 days after infection. the lice remained infected with the strains for their life span and excreted viable organisms in their feces from day 1, although they we ... | 2006 | 17083045 |
| biomarker candidate identification in yersinia pestis using organism-wide semiquantitative proteomics. | the accurate mass and time tag mass spectrometry method and clustering analysis were used to compare the abundance change of 992 yersinia pestis proteins under four contrasting growth conditions (26 and 37 degrees c, with or without ca2+) that mimicked growth states in either a flea vector or mammalian host. eighty-nine proteins were observed to have similar abundance change profiles to 29 known virulence associated proteins, providing identification of additional biomarker candidates. eighty-se ... | 2006 | 17081052 |
| identification of critical amino acid residues in the plague biofilm hms proteins. | yersinia pestis biofilm formation causes massive adsorption of haemin or congo red in vitro as well as colonization and eventual blockage of the flea proventriculus in vivo. this blockage allows effective transmission of plague from some fleas, like the oriental rat flea, to mammals. four hms proteins, hmsh, hmsf, hmsr and hmss, are essential for biofilm formation, with hmst and hmsp acting as positive and negative regulators, respectively. hmsh has a beta-barrel structure with a large periplasm ... | 2006 | 17074909 |
| oligonucleotide fingerprint identification for microarray-based pathogen diagnostic assays. | advances in dna microarray technology and computational methods have unlocked new opportunities to identify 'dna fingerprints', i.e. oligonucleotide sequences that uniquely identify a specific genome. we present an integrated approach for the computational identification of dna fingerprints for design of microarray-based pathogen diagnostic assays. we provide a quantifiable definition of a dna fingerprint stated both from a computational as well as an experimental point of view, and the analytic ... | 2007 | 17068088 |
| secretion of biologically active human epidermal growth factor from escherichia coli using yersinia pestis caf1 signal peptide. | the caf1 secretion pathway of yersinia pestis is one of the most well-characterized export machineries. to facilitate the secretion of human epidermal growth factor (hegf) in escherichia coli, a dna fragment containing the synthetic gene for hegf was joined to a sequence encoding the signal peptide of yersinia pestis caf1 protein. | 2006 | 17066197 |
| enteroaggregative escherichia coli an emergent pathogen with different virulence properties. | enteroaggregative escherichia coli (eaec) is an emergent bacterial pathogen. the first studies in developing countries with eaec strains, showed that this bacterium was associated with persistent diarrhea. however, new studies showed that eaec may be associated also with acute diarrhea, with both nosocomial and community outbreaks worldwide, and as an important pathogen of diarrheal disease in human immunodeficiency virus-infected adults. eaec strains are recognized by their characteristic aggre ... | 2005 | 17061538 |
| observations on the endemicity of plague in karatu and ngorongoro, northern tanzania. | commensal and field rodents and wild small carnivores were live-trapped in five villages of karatu district and one settlement in the ngorongoro conservation area in ngorongoro district in tanzania. blood samples were taken and serologically tested for plague, using the blocking elisa technique. some domestic dogs and cats in the karatu villages were aseptically bled and similarly tested for plague. fleas were collected from the examined animals and from randomly selected residential houses. a t ... | 2006 | 17058792 |
| a two stage click-based library of protein tyrosine phosphatase inhibitors. | protein tyrosine phosphatases (ptps) are important regulators of signal transduction pathways. potent and selective ptp inhibitors are useful for probing these pathways and also may serve as drugs for the treatment of a variety of diseases including type 2 diabetes and infection by the bacterium yersinia pestis. in this report cu(i)-catalyzed 'click' cycloaddition reactions between azides and alkynes were employed to generate two sequential libraries of ptp inhibitors. in the first round library ... | 2007 | 17046267 |
| protective immunity against respiratory tract challenge with yersinia pestis in mice immunized with an adenovirus-based vaccine vector expressing v antigen. | the aerosol form of the bacterium yersinia pestis causes the pneumonic plague, a rapidly fatal disease. at present, no plague vaccines are available for use in the united states. one candidate for the development of a subunit vaccine is the y. pestis virulence (v) antigen, a protein that mediates the function of the yersinia outer protein virulence factors and suppresses inflammatory responses in the host. on the basis of the knowledge that adenovirus (ad) gene-transfer vectors act as adjuvants ... | 2006 | 17041851 |
| protein array staining methods for undefined protein content, manufacturing quality control, and performance validation. | methods to assess the quality and performance of protein microarrays fabricated from undefined protein content are required to elucidate slide-to-slide variability and interpolate resulting signal intensity values after an interaction assay. we therefore developed several simple total- and posttranslational modification-specific, on-chip staining methods to quantitatively assess the quality of gel element protein arrays manufactured with whole-cell lysate in vitro protein fractions derived from ... | 2006 | 17034751 |
| knowledge, attitudes and public health response towards plague in petauke, zambia. | in 2001, two plague outbreaks were reported in zambia, one of which occurred in petauke, eastern province, resulting in high morbidity and mortality. of the community respondents, 43.4% did not know the aetiology of plague. although rats and fleas were frequently mentioned, many respondents did not know how these were related to plague. local belief that the plague outbreak was the result of witchcraft was prevalent. use of rodenticides was not preferred as these were reports of they being used ... | 2006 | 17034698 |
| early-phase transmission of yersinia pestis by unblocked fleas as a mechanism explaining rapidly spreading plague epizootics. | plague is a highly virulent disease believed to have killed millions during three historic human pandemics. worldwide, it remains a threat to humans and is a potential agent of bioterrorism. dissemination of yersinia pestis, the etiological agent of plague, by blocked fleas has been the accepted paradigm for flea-borne transmission. however, this mechanism, which requires a lengthy extrinsic incubation period before a short infectious window often followed by death of the flea, cannot sufficient ... | 2006 | 17032761 |
| treatment of plague: promising alternatives to antibiotics. | plague still poses a significant threat to human health, and interest has been renewed recently in the possible use of yersinia pestis as a biological weapon by terrorists. the septicaemic and pneumonic forms are always lethal if untreated. attempts to treat this deadly disease date back to the era of global pandemics, when various methods were explored. the successful isolation of the plague pathogen led to the beginning of more scientific approaches to the treatment and cure of plague. this su ... | 2006 | 17030904 |
| [isepamycin in prophylaxis and treatment of experimental plague due to fi+ and fi- variants of plague microbe]. | the efficacy of isepamycin vs. other aminoglycosides was studied in vitro and on albino mice with experimental plague due to natural antigen valuable strains of the plague microbe and the pathogen variants deprived of the ability to produce the capsular antigen fraction i (fi- phenotype). the mics of isepamycin for the strains of the plague microbe (20 fi+ and 20fi-) were 1.0-4.0 mg\l, that did not differ from those of streptomycin, kanamycin, amikacin and tobramycin. the ed50 of isepamycin in t ... | 2005 | 17016907 |
| magnetic biosensor for the detection of yersinia pestis. | a novel type of magnetic-beads based magnetic biosensor is described for the detection of yersinia pestis. experiments were performed with the antigen fraction f1 of these bacteria. the magnetic sensor platform offers easy and reliable detection of y. pestis by the use of magnetic beads for labelling and quantification in a single step due to their paramagnetic features. the system uses antiypf1 antibodies as capture element on abicap columns as core element of the magnetic sensor. several immob ... | 2007 | 17011649 |
| resistance of yersinia pestis to antimicrobial agents. | 2006 | 17005799 | |
| quorum sensing affects virulence-associated proteins f1, lcrv, katy and ph6 etc. of yersinia pestis as revealed by protein microarray-based antibody profiling. | protein microarray that consists of virulence-associated proteins of yersinia pestis is used to compare antibody profiles elicited by the wild-type and quorum sensing (qs) mutant strain of this bacterium to define the immunogens that are impacted by qs. the results will lead the way for future functional proteomics studies. the antibody profile that was induced by the qs mutant differed from that of the parent strain. detailed comparison of the antibody profiles, according to the proteins' funct ... | 2006 | 16997598 |
| seroprevalence rates and transmission of plague (yersinia pestis) in mammalian carnivores. | exposure to plague (yersinia pestis) by flea-bites or consumption of infected rodents is common in mammalian carnivores in north america. most carnivore species exhibit seroprevalence rates ranging from 3% to 100% in areas where plague occurs. seroprevalence is highest in mustelids, intermediate in ursids, felids, and canids, and lowest in procyonids, probably reflecting variation in exposure rates as a function of dietary habits. although conventional wisdom suggests that carnivores may only be ... | 2006 | 16989561 |
| measurement of effector protein injection by type iii and type iv secretion systems by using a 13-residue phosphorylatable glycogen synthase kinase tag. | numerous bacterial pathogens use type iii secretion systems (t3sss) or t4sss to inject or translocate virulence proteins into eukaryotic cells. several different reporter systems have been developed to measure the translocation of these proteins. in this study, a peptide tag-based reporter system was developed and used to monitor the injection of t3s and t4s substrates. the glycogen synthase kinase (gsk) tag is a 13-residue phosphorylatable peptide tag derived from the human gsk-3beta kinase. tr ... | 2006 | 16988240 |
| effects of psa and f1 on the adhesive and invasive interactions of yersinia pestis with human respiratory tract epithelial cells. | yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, expresses the psa fimbriae (ph 6 antigen) in vitro and in vivo. to evaluate the potential virulence properties of psa for pneumonic plague, an escherichia coli strain expressing psa was engineered and shown to adhere to three types of human respiratory tract epithelial cells. psa binding specificity was confirmed with psa-coated polystyrene beads and by inhibition assays. individual y. pestis cells were found to be able to express the capsular anti ... | 2006 | 16988239 |
| current trends in plague research: from genomics to virulence. | yersinia pestis is the causative agent of plague, which diverged from yersinia pseudotuberculosis within the past 20,000 years. although these two species share a high degree of homology at the dna level (>90%), they differ radically in their pathogenicity and transmission. in this review, we briefly outline the known virulence factors that differentiate these two species and emphasize genetic studies that have been conducted comparing y. pestis and y. pseudotuberculosis. these comparisons have ... | 2006 | 16988099 |
| deadly plague versus mild-mannered tlr4. | 2006 | 16985495 | |
| immunogenicity of a yersinia pestis vaccine antigen monomerized by circular permutation. | caf1, a chaperone-usher protein from yersinia pestis, is a major protective antigen in the development of subunit vaccines against plague. however, recombinant caf1 forms polymers of indeterminate size. we report the conversion of caf1 from a polymer to a monomer by circular permutation of the gene. biophysical evaluation confirmed that the engineered caf1 was a folded monomer. we compared the immunogenicity of the engineered monomer with polymeric caf1 in antigen presentation assays to cd4 t-ce ... | 2006 | 16982834 |
| [study on the genotyping and microevolution of yersinia pestis in the qinghai-tibet plateau]. | to study the distribution of genomovars and microevolution of yersinia pestis in the qinghai-tibet plateau. | 2006 | 16981338 |
| virulence factors of yersinia pestis are overcome by a strong lipopolysaccharide response. | at mammalian body temperature, the plague bacillus yersinia pestis synthesizes lipopolysaccharide (lps)-lipid a with poor toll-like receptor 4 (tlr4)-stimulating activity. to address the effect of weak tlr4 stimulation on virulence, we modified y. pestis to produce a potent tlr4-stimulating lps. modified y. pestis was completely avirulent after subcutaneous infection even at high challenge doses. resistance to disease required tlr4, the adaptor protein myd88 and coreceptor md-2 and was considera ... | 2006 | 16980981 |
| [yersinia pestis pathogenesis and diagnostics]. | plague is an acute bacterial infection caused by gram negative organism yersinia pestis. this bacteria is subdivided into three classical biotypes: orientalis, medievalis and antiqua. plague is transmitted via flea vectors from rodents to humans and by respiratory droplets from animals to humans or humans to humans. this agent is on the top of the cdc list of "critical biological agents"--category a. it appears to be a good candidate agent for a bioterrorist attack. type iii secretion (tts) is a ... | 2006 | 16964684 |
| genetic differences between blight-causing erwinia species with differing host specificities, identified by suppression subtractive hybridization. | pcr-based subtractive hybridization was used to isolate sequences from erwinia amylovora strain ea110, which is pathogenic on apples and pears, that were not present in three closely related strains with differing host specificities: e. amylovora mr1, which is pathogenic only on rubus spp.; erwinia pyrifoliae ep1/96, the causal agent of shoot blight of asian pears; and erwinia sp. strain ejp556, the causal agent of bacterial shoot blight of pear in japan. in total, six subtractive libraries were ... | 2006 | 16963554 |
| genome-wide transcriptional response of yersinia pestis to stressful conditions simulating phagolysosomal environments. | yersinia pestis is a gram-negative coccobacillus causing the dangerous disease, plague. survival of y. pestis within host macrophages is important in the initial stages of infection. in our present work, dna microarray was used to determine the expression profiles of y. pestis strain 201 in response to in vitro simulating conditions of mg(2+) limitation, polymyxin treatment and oxidative stress that could be found in phagolysosomal environment. it was demonstrated that y. pestis made appropriate ... | 2006 | 16962807 |
| an optimized vaccine vector based on recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus gives high-level, long-term protection against yersinia pestis challenge. | we have developed recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (vsv) vectors expressing the yersinia pestis lcrv gene. these vectors, given intranasally to mice, induced high antibody titers to the lcrv protein and protected against intranasal (pulmonary) challenge with y. pestis. high-level protection was dependent on using an optimized vsv vector that expressed high levels of the lcrv protein from an lcrv gene placed in the first position in the vsv genome, followed by a single boost. this vsv-based ... | 2007 | 16959385 |
| microarray expression profiling of yersinia pestis in response to chloramphenicol. | plague is a deadly disease caused by yersinia pestis. human plague can be effectively controlled by timely antibiotic administration, chloramphenicol being a drug of choice. in this study, a dna microarray was used to investigate the gene expression profile of y. pestis in response to chloramphenicol. seven hundred and fifty-five genes were differentially expressed on chloramphenicol treatment: 364 genes were up-regulated and 391 were down-regulated. in addition to a large number of genes encodi ... | 2006 | 16958847 |
| [maybe thomas butler was judged by the circumstances]. | 2006 | 16955584 | |
| hierarchy of iron uptake systems: yfu and yiu are functional in yersinia pestis. | in addition to the yersiniabactin (ybt) siderophore-dependent system, two inorganic iron abc transport systems of yersinia pestis, yfe and yfu, have been characterized. here we show that the yfu system functions in y. pestis: a ybt- yfe- yfu- mutant exhibited a greater growth defect under iron-deficient conditions than its ybt- yfe- parental strain. we also demonstrate that another putative y. pestis iron uptake system, yiu, which potentially encodes an outer membrane receptor, yiur, and an abc ... | 2006 | 16954402 |
| mice naturally resistant to yersinia pestis delta pgm strains commonly used in pathogenicity studies. | we report that females of some substrains of inbred mouse strain 129 are resistant to systemic plague due to conditionally virulent deltapgm strains of yersinia pestis; however, fully virulent y. pestis is not attenuated in these mice. therefore, these mice offer a powerful system in which to map in parallel host resistance traits and opposing bacterial virulence properties for plague. | 2006 | 16954401 |
| development and evaluation of a 4-target multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction assay for the detection and characterization of yersinia pestis. | a multiplexed, 4-target real-time polymerase chain reaction (pcr) assay for the detection and characterization of yersinia pestis was designed and optimized for respiratory and environmental samples. the target sequences include the entf3 gene of the chromosome, pla (plasminogen activator) on the ppcp1 virulence plasmid, caf1 (f1 capsule antigen) on the pmt1 virulence plasmid, and a region located on the pcd1 plasmid. the sensitivity of this assay was determined to be less than 85 cfu per reacti ... | 2006 | 16949784 |
| human plague--four states, 2006. | plague is a zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium yersinia pestis. in 2006, a total of 13 human plague cases have been reported among residents of four states: new mexico (seven cases), colorado (three cases), california (two cases), and texas (one case). this is the largest number of cases reported in a single year in the united states since 1994. dates of illness onset ranged from february 16 to august 14; two (15%) cases were fatal. the median age of patients was 43 years (range: 13-79 yea ... | 2006 | 16943764 |
| mara-like regulator of multidrug resistance in yersinia pestis. | mara47(yp) from yersinia pestis, showing 47% identity to escherichia coli mara in its n terminus, caused resistance to antibiotics and to organic solvents when expressed in both e. coli and y. pestis. resistance was linked to increased expression of the acrab multidrug efflux pump. in four of five spontaneous multidrug-resistant mutants of y. pestis independently selected by growth on tetracycline, the mara47(yp) gene was overexpressed. the findings suggest that mara47(yp) is a mara ortholog in ... | 2006 | 16940090 |
| rova, a global regulator of yersinia pestis, specifically required for bubonic plague. | the pathogenic species of yersinia contain the transcriptional regulator rova. in yersinia pseudotuberculosis and yersinia enterocolitica, rova regulates expression of the invasion factor invasin (inv), which mediates translocation across the intestinal epithelium. a y. enterocolitica rova mutant has a significant decrease in virulence by ld(50) analysis and an altered rate of dissemination compared with either wild type or an inv mutant, suggesting that rova regulates multiple virulence factors ... | 2006 | 16938880 |
| plague: a review of its history and potential as a biological weapon. | the increased threat of terrorism has revealed the importance of various diseases as potential weapons of destruction. among the diseases that have been identified by the centers for disease control and prevention as being caused by category a organisms is plague. an ancient disease, it has played a role in both natural disasters and war and has been used as a weapon since at least medieval times. this article provides a brief historical overview of the disease in its natural occurrence and in i ... | 2006 | 16934711 |
| yersinia pestis yopj suppresses tumor necrosis factor alpha induction and contributes to apoptosis of immune cells in the lymph node but is not required for virulence in a rat model of bubonic plague. | the virulence of the pathogenic yersinia species depends on a plasmid-encoded type iii secretion system that transfers six yop effector proteins into host cells. one of these proteins, yopj, has been shown to disrupt host cell signaling pathways involved in proinflammatory cytokine production and to induce macrophage apoptosis in vitro. yopj-dependent apoptosis in mesenteric lymph nodes has also been demonstrated in a mouse model of yersinia pseudotuberculosis infection. these results suggest th ... | 2006 | 16926404 |
| [examining the possibilities of designing a plague diagnosticum for coagglutination reaction on the basis of immunoglobulins for the fraction v antigen and for elucidating its diagnostic value]. | 2006 | 16925068 | |
| plague dynamics are driven by climate variation. | the bacterium yersinia pestis causes bubonic plague. in central asia, where human plague is still reported regularly, the bacterium is common in natural populations of great gerbils. by using field data from 1949-1995 and previously undescribed statistical techniques, we show that y. pestis prevalence in gerbils increases with warmer springs and wetter summers: a 1 degrees c increase in spring is predicted to lead to a >50% increase in prevalence. climatic conditions favoring plague apparently e ... | 2006 | 16924109 |
| discordance in the effects of yersinia pestis on the dendritic cell functions manifested by induction of maturation and paralysis of migration. | the encounter between invading microorganisms and dendritic cells (dc) triggers a series of events which include uptake and degradation of the microorganism, induction of a maturation process, and enhancement of dc migration to the draining lymph nodes. various pathogens have developed strategies to counteract these events as a measure to evade the host defense. in the present study we found that interaction of the yersinia pestis ev76 strain with dc has no effect on cell viability and is charac ... | 2006 | 16923789 |
| adhesive properties of the purified plasminogen activator pla of yersinia pestis. | the beta-barrel outer membrane protease pla from yersinia pestis is an important virulence factor in plague and enables initiation of the bubonic plague. pla is a multifunctional protease whose expression also enhances bacterial adherence to extracellular matrix. it has remained uncertain whether the increase in cellular adhesiveness results from modification of the bacterial surface by pla, or whether the pla molecule is an adhesin. pla was purified as a his6-fusion protein from escherichia col ... | 2006 | 16923070 |
| mechanisms of major histocompatibility complex class ii-restricted processing and presentation of the v antigen of yersinia pestis. | we mapped mouse cd4 t-cell epitopes located in three structurally distinct regions of the v antigen of yersinia pestis. t-cell hybridomas specific for epitopes from each region were generated to study the mechanisms of processing and presentation of v antigen by bone-marrow-derived macrophages. all three epitopes required uptake and/or processing from v antigen as well as presentation to t cells by newly synthesized major histocompatibility complex (mhc) class ii molecules over a time period of ... | 2006 | 16919002 |
| heat-shock transcription factor (hsf)-1 pathway required for caenorhabditis elegans immunity. | innate immunity comprises physical barriers, pattern-recognition receptors, antimicrobial substances, phagocytosis, and fever. here we report that increased temperature results in the activation of a conserved pathway involving the heat-shock (hs) transcription factor (hsf)-1 that enhances immunity in the invertebrate caenorhabditis elegans. the hsf-1 defense response is independent of the p38 mapk/pmk-1 pathway and requires a system of chaperones including small and 90-kda inducible hs proteins ... | 2006 | 16916933 |
| [the formation of proventriculus block, alimentary activity and mortality of flea amphipsylla primaris primaris infected with yersinia pestis]. | the results of experiments held in 1982-1983 in tuva plague natural focus with flea amphipsylla primaris primaris (jordan et rothschild, 1915) from natural populations, whish were inflected and fed on specific host--flat-headed vole (alticola strelzovi), are analyzed. the initial infectivity of the insects in autumn was higher than in spring: 90 and 50 % respectively. accumulation of the agent in aggregated form in the organism of a. p. primaris, estimated by the quantity of fleas with <<lumps>> ... | 2006 | 16913294 |
| structure of the class iv adenylyl cyclase reveals a novel fold. | the crystal structure of the class iv adenylyl cyclase (ac) from yersinia pestis (yp) is reported at 1.9 a resolution. the class iv ac fold is distinct from the previously described folds for class ii and class iii acs. the dimeric ac-iv folds into an antiparallel eight-stranded barrel whose connectivity has been seen in only three previous structures: yeast rna triphosphatase and two proteins of unknown function from pyrococcus furiosus and vibrio parahaemolyticus. eight highly conserved ionic ... | 2006 | 16905149 |
| combimatrix oligonucleotide arrays: genotyping and gene expression assays employing electrochemical detection. | electrochemical detection has been developed and assay performances studied for the combimatrix oligonucleotide microarray platform that contains 12,544 individually addressable microelectrodes (features) in a semiconductor matrix. the approach is based on the detection of redox active chemistries (such as horseradish peroxidase (hrp) and the associated substrate tmb) proximal to specific microarray electrodes. first, microarray probes are hybridized to biotin-labeled targets, second, the hrp-st ... | 2007 | 16891109 |
| [a molecular epidemiological study on human plague fulminant epidemic in qinghai, 2004]. | to study the epidemiology of genotyping yersinia pestis isolated in the fulminant epidemics of human plague in qinghai province in 2004. | 2006 | 16875535 |
| possible vector dissemination by swift foxes following a plague epizootic in black-tailed prairie dogs in northwestern texas. | to determine whether swift foxes (vulpes velox) could facilitate transmission of yersinia pestis to uninfected black-tailed prairie dog (cynomys ludovicianus) colonies by acquiring infected fleas, ectoparasite and serologic samples were collected from swift foxes living adjacent to prairie dog towns during a 2004 plague epizootic in northwestern texas, usa. a previous study (1999-2001) indicated that these swift foxes were infested almost exclusively with the flea pulex irritans. black-tailed pr ... | 2006 | 16870868 |
| adaptive response of yersinia pestis to extracellular effectors of innate immunity during bubonic plague. | yersinia pestis causes bubonic plague, characterized by an enlarged, painful lymph node, termed a bubo, that develops after bacterial dissemination from a fleabite site. in susceptible animals, the bacteria rapidly escape containment in the lymph node, spread systemically through the blood, and produce fatal sepsis. the fulminant progression of disease has been largely ascribed to the ability of y. pestis to avoid phagocytosis and exposure to antimicrobial effectors of innate immunity. in vivo m ... | 2006 | 16864791 |
| immunogenicity and protective immunity against bubonic plague and pneumonic plague by immunization of mice with the recombinant v10 antigen, a variant of lcrv. | in contrast to yersinia pestis lcrv, the recombinant v10 (rv10) variant (lacking residues 271 to 300) does not suppress the release of proinflammatory cytokines by immune cells. immunization with rv10 generates robust antibody responses that protect mice against bubonic plague and pneumonic plague, suggesting that rv10 may serve as an improved plague vaccine. | 2006 | 16861680 |
| identification of outer membrane proteins of yersinia pestis through biotinylation. | the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria contains proteins that might be good targets for vaccines, antimicrobials or detection systems. the identification of surface located proteins using traditional methods is often difficult. yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, was labelled with biotin. tagged proteins were visualised through streptavidin probing of western blots. seven biotinylated proteins of y. pestis were identified including two porins and the putative virulence factor c ... | 2007 | 16857281 |
| sequential proteolytic processing of the capsular caf1 antigen of yersinia pestis for major histocompatibility complex class ii-restricted presentation to t lymphocytes. | we studied the mechanisms of antigen presentation of cd4 t cell epitopes of the capsular caf1 antigen of yersinia pestis using murine bone marrow macrophages as antigen presenting cells and t cell hybridomas specific for major histocompatibility complex (mhc) class ii-restricted epitopes distributed throughout the caf1 sequence. the data revealed diversity in the pathways used and the degrees of antigen processing required depending on the structural context of epitopes within the caf1 molecule. ... | 2006 | 16840777 |
| genome evolution and functional divergence in yersinia. | the steadily increasing number of prokaryotic genomes has accelerated the study of genome evolution; in particular, the availability of sets of genomes from closely related bacteria has made exploration of questions surrounding the evolution of pathogenesis tractable. here we present the results of a detailed comparison of the genomes of yersinia pseudotuberculosis ip32593 and three strains of yersinia pestis (co92, kim10, and 91001). there appear to be between 241 and 275 multigene families in ... | 2007 | 16838303 |
| surveillance of egyptian fleas for agents of public health significance: anaplasma, bartonella, coxiella, ehrlichia, rickettsia, and yersinia pestis. | serologic surveys in egypt have documented human and animal exposure to vector-borne bacterial pathogens, but the presence and distribution of these agents in arthropods has not been determined. between july 2002 and july 2003, fleas were collected from 221 mammals trapped in 17 cities throughout egypt. a total of 987 fleas were collected, representing four species (ctenocephalides felis, echidnophaga gallinacea, leptopsylla segnis, and xenopsylla cheopis); 899 of these fleas were x. cheopis fro ... | 2006 | 16837707 |
| genomic comparison of yersinia pestis and yersinia pseudotuberculosis by combination of suppression subtractive hybridization and dna microarray. | in order to further figure out the genetic differences between yersinia pestis and yersinia pseudotuberculosis, and to provide novel insights into the evolution of y. pestis, we compared the genomes of y. pseudotuberculosis serogroup i strain atcc29833 and y. pestis antiqua strain 49006 using a combination of suppression subtractive hybridization (ssh) and comparative genomic hybridization with dnas from a diverse panel of y. pestis and y. pseudotuberculosis strains. ssh followed by blast analys ... | 2006 | 16832628 |
| empiric physiology in epidemiologic doctrines of the 18th century, hungarian general norm of health in 1770. | according to standard textbooks, the last episode of european new age plague pandemic died out by 1720 in marseilles. despite this allegation, the pandemic continued in well-documented new outbreaks, which attacked and devastated central and eastern europe throughout the first half of the 18th century. at the beginning, military campaigns spread the infection out of the ottoman empire. later on commercial goods took over this role via land or sea from asia or out of the eastern mediterranean reg ... | 2006 | 16830690 |
| [biological activity of the components of f1-antigen of yersinia pestis]. | components of the capsule antigen (baker), described early as f17, f18, f43, flp, which positively reacts with commercial poly- and monoclonal antifractions plague diagnosticums were studied. differences and their impacts on vaccine bacteria survival within peritoneal macrophages, guinea pigs and protection of white mice after immunization and fast protection against plague were shown. hemolytic, cytolytic and hemo- and cytoagglutinations activities of lipoprotein (flp) and capacity of glycoprot ... | 2006 | 16830596 |
| molecular cloning and characterization of a large subunit of salmonella typhimurium glutamate synthase (gogat) gene in escherichia coli. | two pathways of ammonium assimilation and glutamate biosynthesis have been identified in microorganisms. one pathway involves the nadp-linked glutamate dehydrogenase, which catalyzes the amination of 2-oxoglutarate to form glutamate. an alternative pathway involves the combined activities of glutamine synthetase, which aminates glutamate to form glutamine, and glutamate synthase, which transfers the amide group of glutamine to 2-oxoglutarate to yield two molecules of glutamate. we have cloned th ... | 2006 | 16820760 |
| yersinia pestis yrbh is a multifunctional protein required for both 3-deoxy-d-manno-oct-2-ulosonic acid biosynthesis and biofilm formation. | bubonic plague is transmitted by fleas whose feeding is blocked by a yersinia pestis biofilm in the digestive tract. y. pestis also block feeding of caenorhabditis elegans by forming a biofilm on the nematode head, making the nematode an experimentally tractable surrogate for fleas to study plague transmission. arabinose 5-phosphate isomerase (api), encoded by y. pestis yrbh, catalyses the conversion of ribulose 5-phosphate into arabinose 5-phosphate (a5p), the first committed step in the 3-deox ... | 2006 | 16817907 |
| crystal structure of ferric-yersiniabactin, a virulence factor of yersinia pestis. | yersiniabactin (ybt), the siderophore produced by yersinia pestis, has been crystallized successfully in the ferric complex form and the crystal structure has been determined. the crystals are orthorhombic with a space group of p2(1)2(1)2(1) and four distinct molecules per unit cell with cell dimensions of a=11.3271(+/-0.0003)a, b=22.3556(+/-0.0006)a, and c=39.8991(+/-0.0011)a. the crystal structure of ferric ybt shows that the ferric ion is coordinated as a 1:1 complex by three nitrogen electro ... | 2006 | 16806483 |
| identification of the lipopolysaccharide modifications controlled by the salmonella pmra/pmrb system mediating resistance to fe(iii) and al(iii). | iron is an essential metal but can be toxic in excess. while several homeostatic mechanisms prevent oxygen-dependent killing promoted by fe(ii), little is known about how cells cope with fe(iii), which kills by oxygen-independent means. several gram-negative bacterial species harbour a regulatory system - termed pmra/pmrb - that is activated by and required for resistance to fe(iii). we now report the identification of the pmra-regulated determinants mediating resistance to fe(iii) and al(iii) i ... | 2006 | 16803591 |
| [development of an immunochromayography assay method for the detection of yersinia pestis]. | to develop a method of immunochromatography assay (ica) with sensitive, specific, rapid, simple and suitable for the detection of yersinia pestis antigen at the local laboratories. | 2006 | 16792900 |
| transmission potential of primary pneumonic plague: time inhomogeneous evaluation based on historical documents of the transmission network. | the transmission potential of primary pneumonic plague, caused by yersinia pestis, is one of the key epidemiological determinants of a potential biological weapon, and requires clarification and time dependent interpretation. method: this study estimated the reproduction number and its time dependent change through investigations of outbreaks in mukden, china (1946), and madagascar (1957). reconstruction of an epidemic tree, which shows who infected whom, from the observed dates of onset was per ... | 2006 | 16790838 |
| characterization of phagosome trafficking and identification of phop-regulated genes important for survival of yersinia pestis in macrophages. | the transcriptional activator phop is important for survival of yersinia pestis in macrophage phagosomes. however, the phagosomes inhabited by y. pestis have not been well characterized, and the mechanism by which phop promotes bacterial survival in these vacuoles is not fully understood. lysosomal tracers, as well as antibodies to late endosomal or lysosomal proteins, were used in conjunction with confocal or electron microscopy to study the trafficking of phagosomes containing phop(+) or phop ... | 2006 | 16790745 |
| bioterror and "bioart"--a plague o' both your houses. | 2006 | 16790708 | |
| the enhancin-like metalloprotease from the bacillus cereus group is regulated by the pleiotropic transcriptional activator plcr but is not essential for larvicidal activity. | bacillus cereus group bacteria produce virulence factors. many of these are regulated by the pleiotropic transcriptional activator plcr, which is implicated in insect virulence. in silico analysis of the b. cereus strain atcc14579 genome showed an enhancin-like gene preceded by a typical plcr binding sequence. the gene is predicted to encode a polypeptide showing 23-25% identity with enhancins from several baculoviruses and 31% with that of yersinia pestis. viral enhancin acts after oral infecti ... | 2006 | 16790012 |
| pasteurella bacteriophage sex specific in escherichia coli. | phage h, thought to be specific for pasteurella pestis, was shown to plate efficiently on f(-) strains of escherichia coli but not on f(+), f', or hfr strains. the phage was adsorbed rapidly to f(-) strains but was not adsorbed to strains carrying f. comparison with seven other reported female-specific phages showed that, although phage h was similar to the other phages in some characteristics, the exceptionally low efficiency of plating (<10(-9)) on f-containing cells makes phage h a particular ... | 1969 | 16789123 |
| update on dr. thomas butler. | 2006 | 16779755 | |
| the yersinia pestis gcvb gene encodes two small regulatory rna molecules. | in recent years it has become clear that small non-coding rnas function as regulatory elements in bacterial virulence and bacterial stress responses. we tested for the presence of the small non-coding gcvb rnas in y. pestis as possible regulators of gene expression in this organism. | 2006 | 16768793 |
| [construction of variants of yersinia pestis ev76 (rieg line) vaccine strain differing in antibiotic resistance spectra with stage-by-stage transduction of r-transposons]. | mono- and polyresistant variants of the plague vaccinal strain yersinia pestis ev76 (rieg line) were constructed with stage-by-stage transduction of transposons tn5, t, tn10 and tn9 located in the phage vectors. methods for stage-by-stage selection of the transductants that preserved intact determinants of surviving, antiphagocytic activity and immunogenic properties were designed for their further testing as model vaccinal strains in combined specific and emergent medicamentous prophylaxis of p ... | 2005 | 16768208 |
| plague: disease, management, and recognition of act of terrorism. | 2006 | 16762739 | |
| impact of plague on human history. | 2006 | 16762738 | |
| enhanced immune response by amphotericin b following ns1 protein prime-oral recombinant salmonella vaccine boost vaccination protects mice from dengue virus challenge. | a recombinant vaccine strain sl3261/plt105 of attenuated aroa salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium sl3261 strain expressing a secreted dengue virus type 2 non-structural ns1 and yersinia pestis f1 (caf1) fusion protein, rns1:caf1, was generated. immunological evaluation was performed by prime-boost vaccine regimen. oral immunization of mice with 1 x 10(9)cfu of sl3261/plt105 only induced low levels of ns1-specific antibody response and protective immunity following dengue virus challenge. the ... | 2006 | 16759760 |
| [the population variability of yersinia pestis in soil samples from the natural focus of plague]. | three y. pestis strains were found to exist in the experimental soil ecosystem at a temperature of 4 degrees - 8 degrees c for a longer period (10 months, the term of observation) than at room temperature (3.5 months). y. pestis population structure was characterized by relative stability in strains of the subspecies altaica and heterogeneity in the strain of the main subspecies, manifested by the loss of the pgm locus by vegetative cells and the preservation of pgm+ variants in the latent (uncu ... | 2006 | 16758890 |
| efficient tracing of global isolates of yersinia pestis by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis using three insertion sequences as probes. | yersinia pestis is the etiologic agent of plague, a disease that is transmitted from rodent to rodent and from rodent to humans by fleabites. multiple copies of three insertion sequences (is100, is285, and is1541) are scattered over the y. pestis genome. the genomic instability generated by these insertion sequences (is) creates a polymorphism of the hybridizing restriction fragments (restriction fragment length polymorphism [rflp]) which can be used to subtype this relatively clonal species. th ... | 2006 | 16757602 |
| [development of an experimental immunoglobulin test system based on anti-idiotypic immunoglobulins for the determination of specific plague antibodies in serum of patients inoculated with the live plague vaccine ev niieg]. | a new rapid, inexpensive, strictly specific, highly sensitive, and safe experimental elisa test system based on rabbit anti-idiotypic immunoglobulins (anti-id-ab) against yersinia pestis lipopolysaccharide (lps) was developed. its efficiency was demonstrated, by using a panel of xenogenic antisera of biomodels immunized with the lps extracted according to the galanos procedure or the live plague vaccine ev niieg. in all cases, the similar proportions of positive reactions to the antigen itself o ... | 2006 | 16756169 |
| [identification of the autoagglutination factor of hms- cells of the plague agent]. | a search for cellular components responsible for autoagglutination (aa) in broth and salt solutions of hms- cells of the plague agent yersinia pestis was performed. the aa- mutants were obtained using vaccine strain y. pestis ev76 derivative containing one species-specific plasmid pyp. the mutants were shown to differ from the parent strain by the decreased surface hydrophobicity, insensitivity to plague diagnostic l-413c bacteriophage and negative haemagglutination reaction with antibodies to f ... | 2006 | 16755999 |
| [a comparative analysis of molecular-genetic peculiarities of the genomes of cholera, plague and anthrax agents and their evolutional transformations]. | cholera, plague, and anthrax, the diseases that have accounted for millions of human victims, still endanger the entire mankind by possible development of epidemic outbreaks due to their spread or application as bioterrorist agents. generalized results of research into the genomic features of the vibrio cholerae, yersinia pestis, and bacillus anthracis are discussed. despite different frequencies of evolutional transformations occurring in their genomes, that are likely to be associated with div ... | 2006 | 16755997 |
| independent acquisition of site-specific recombination factors by asn trna gene-targeting genomic islands. | two genomic islands, namely the high-pathogenicity island (hpi) and ecoc54n target the same asn trna genes to integrate into the bacterial chromosome. the hpi encodes the siderophore yersiniabactin in the highly pathogenic yersinia group (yersinia pestis, yersinia pseudotuberculosis and yersinia enterocolitica 1b) whilst the ecoc54n island possibly encodes a polyketide synthase with an unknown function in the uropathogenic escherichia coli cft073 strain. hpi encodes the recombinase that promotes ... | 2006 | 16753337 |
| yersiniabactin production by pseudomonas syringae and escherichia coli, and description of a second yersiniabactin locus evolutionary group. | the siderophore and virulence factor yersiniabactin is produced by pseudomonas syringae. yersiniabactin was originally detected by high-pressure liquid chromatography (hplc); commonly used pcr tests proved ineffective. yersiniabactin production in p. syringae correlated with the possession of irp1 located in a predicted yersiniabactin locus. three similarly divergent yersiniabactin locus groups were determined: the yersinia pestis group, the p. syringae group, and the photorhabdus luminescens gr ... | 2006 | 16751485 |
| yersinia enterocolitica type iii secretion chaperone sycd: recombinant expression, purification and characterization of a homodimer. | yersinia species pathogenic to human benefit from a protein transport machinery, a type three secretion system (t3ss), which enables the bacteria to inject effector proteins into host cells. several of the transport substrates of the yersinia t3ss, called yops (yersinia outer proteins), are assisted by specific chaperones (syc for specific yop chaperone) prior to transport. yersinia enterocolitica sycd (lcrh in yersinia pestis and yersinia pseudotuberculosis) is a chaperone dedicated to the assi ... | 2006 | 16750393 |
| [improvement of principles and methods of laboratory food control for contamination with pathogenic biological agents]. | 2006 | 16749493 | |
| complete genome sequence of yersinia pestis strains antiqua and nepal516: evidence of gene reduction in an emerging pathogen. | yersinia pestis, the causative agent of bubonic and pneumonic plagues, has undergone detailed study at the molecular level. to further investigate the genomic diversity among this group and to help characterize lineages of the plague organism that have no sequenced members, we present here the genomes of two isolates of the "classical" antiqua biovar, strains antiqua and nepal516. the genomes of antiqua and nepal516 are 4.7 mb and 4.5 mb and encode 4,138 and 3,956 open reading frames, respective ... | 2006 | 16740952 |
| ecological characteristics of flea species relate to their suitability as plague vectors. | the ability of vector-borne diseases to persist and spread is closely linked to the ecological characteristics of the vector species they use. yet there have been no investigations of how species used as vectors by pathogens such as the plague bacterium differ from closely related species that are not used as vectors. the plague bacterium uses mammals as reservoir hosts and fleas as vectors. the ability of different fleas to serve as vectors is assumed to depend on how likely they are to experie ... | 2006 | 16736184 |
| [synergistic action of some antibacterial agents in studies on albino mice with experimental plague caused by fr- phenotype strain of the plague microbe]. | possible use of ciprofloxacin combinations with some other antibiotics such as rifampicin, ampicillin, cefotaxime, doxycycline and amikacin was studied on albino mice with experimental plague caused by the pathogen strain (approximately 1000 ld50) deprived of the ability to produce the capsular antigen, fraction i (fra- phenotype). the combination of ciprofloxacin with ampicillin or doxycycline had no effect on the increase of the survival rate (t<2) evident of inexpediency of its use in the inf ... | 2006 | 16734358 |
| microbiology. bacteria seize control by acetylating host proteins. | 2006 | 16731519 | |
| u.s. courts. 'disappointed' butler exhausts appeals. | 2006 | 16728604 | |
| the abc transporter protein oppa provides protection against experimental yersinia pestis infection. | the identification of yersinia pestis as a potential bioterrorism agent and the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains have highlighted the need for improved vaccines and treatments for plague. the aim of this study was to evaluate the potential for atp-binding cassette (abc) transporter proteins to be exploited as novel vaccines against plague. western blotting of abc transporter proteins using sera from rabbits immunized with killed whole y. pestis cells or human convalescent-phase sera ide ... | 2006 | 16714605 |
| gamma interferon, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and nitric oxide synthase 2, key elements of cellular immunity, perform critical protective functions during humoral defense against lethal pulmonary yersinia pestis infection. | pulmonary infection by yersinia pestis causes pneumonic plague, a rapidly progressing and often fatal disease. to aid the development of safe and effective pneumonic plague vaccines, we are deciphering mechanisms used by the immune system to protect against lethal pulmonary y. pestis infection. in murine pneumonic plague models, passive transfer of convalescent-phase sera confers protection, as does active vaccination with live y. pestis. here, we demonstrate that protection by either protocol r ... | 2006 | 16714568 |
| interaction of yersinia pestis with macrophages: limitations in yopj-dependent apoptosis. | the enteropathogenic yersinia strains are known to downregulate signaling pathways in macrophages by effectors of the type iii secretion system, in which yopj/yopp plays a crucial role. the adverse effects of yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, were examined by infecting j774a.1 cells, raw264.7 cells, and primary murine macrophages with the ev76 strain and with the fully virulent kimberley53 strain. y. pestis exerts yopj-dependent suppression of tumor necrosis factor alpha secretion ... | 2006 | 16714551 |
| pneumonic plague cluster, uganda, 2004. | the public and clinicians have long-held beliefs that pneumonic plague is highly contagious; inappropriate alarm and panic have occurred during outbreaks. we investigated communicability in a naturally occurring pneumonic plague cluster. we defined a probable pneumonic plague case as an acute-onset respiratory illness with bloody sputum during december 2004 in kango subcounty, uganda. a definite case was a probable case with laboratory evidence of yersinia pestis infection. the cluster (1 defini ... | 2006 | 16704785 |
| no evidence of persistent yersina pestis infection at prairie dog colonies in north-central montana. | sylvatic plague is a flea-borne zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium yersinia pestis, which can cause extensive mortality among prairie dogs (cynomys) in western north america. it is unclear whether the plague organism persists locally among resistant host species or elsewhere following epizootics. from june to august 2002 and 2003 we collected blood and flea samples from small mammals at prairie dog colonies with a history of plague, at prairie dog colonies with no history of plague, and fr ... | 2006 | 16699160 |
| a plague epizootic in the black-tailed prairie dog (cynomys ludovicianus). | plague is the primary cause for the rangewide decline in prairie dog (cynomys spp.) distribution and abundance, yet our knowledge of plague dynamics in prairie dog populations is limited. our understanding of the effects of plague on the most widespread species, the black-tailed prairie dog (c. ludovicianus), is particularly weak. during a study on the population biology of black-tailed prairie dogs in wyoming, usa, plague was detected in a colony under intensive monitoring, providing a unique o ... | 2006 | 16699150 |
| environmental survey for four pathogenic bacteria and closely related species using phylogenetic and functional genes. | bacterial species with high dna sequence similarity to pathogens could affect the specificity of assays designed to detect biological threat agents in environmental samples. the natural presence of four pathogenic bacteria, bacillus anthracis, clostridium perfringens, francisella tularensis, and yersinia pestis and their closely related species, was determined for a large collection of soil and aerosol samples. polymerase chain reaction (pcr) and gene sequencing were used using group-specific 16 ... | 2006 | 16696701 |
| epidemiology of a primary pneumonic plague in kantoshu, manchuria, from 1910 to 1911: statistical analysis of individual records collected by the japanese empire. | among the potential uses of yersinia pestis, intentional release of its aerosolized form, causing person-to-person transmission, is thought to be the most threatening. with the current rarity of pneumonic plague epidemics, our epidemiological knowledge remains insufficient for detailed characterization of effective control measures. | 2006 | 16684896 |
| asymptomatic yersinia pestis infection, china. | 2005 | 16673521 | |
| global analysis of iron assimilation and fur regulation in yersinia pestis. | using dna microarray analysis, mrna levels from wild-type yersinia pestis cells treated with the iron chelator 2,2'-dipyridyl were compared with those supplemented with excessive iron, and subsequent to this, gene expression in the fur mutant was compared with that in the wild-type strain under iron rich conditions. the microarray analysis revealed many iron transport or storage systems that had been induced in response to the iron starvation, which is mediated by the fur protein, using the iron ... | 2006 | 16630248 |