Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D J Brenner.
A Legionella-like organism was isolated from an open-lung biopsy of a patient with fatal pneumonia. The isolate was shown by growth, physiologic, serologic, and genetic characteristics to belong to the species Legionella jordanis, which had previously been isolated only from the environment.
Brazilian purpuric fever (BPF) is a recently recognized fulminant pediatric disease characterized by fever, with rapid progression to purpura, hypotensive shock, and death. BPF is usually preceded by purulent conjunctivitis that has resolved before the onset of fever. Both the conjunctivitis and BPF are caused by Haemophilus influenzae biogroup aegyptius (formerly called H. aegyptius). Isolates from 15 BPF cases, mainly from blood or hemorrhagic cerebrospinal fluid, case-associated isolates from 42 persons in towns where BPF cases occurred, and control strains from 32 persons in towns without BPF cases were characterized biochemically, genetically, and epidemiologically. Results indicated that a single clone was responsible for all BPF cases identified in six Brazilian towns from 1984 through 1986. All of 15 (100%) case strains were the same clone as was 1 of 32 (3%) control strains (P = less than 10(-8). Isolates of the clone were preferentially intrarelated by DNA hybridization (99% relatedness, hydroxyapatite method at 60 and 75 degrees C) and were separable from other H. influenzae biogroup aegyptius strains (approximately 90% relatedness at 60 degrees C and 82% relatedness at 75 degrees C). All isolates of the BPF clone and no other strains contained a 24-megadalton plasmid of restriction endonuclease type 3031, were of a single multilocus enzyme mobility type, were of a single sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis type, and were in one of two ribosomal DNA restriction patterns. All BPF clone isolates reacted with monoclonal antibodies produced from a case strain; only 3 of 62 (5%) other strains reacted with this monoclonal antibody. Ninety percent of BPF clone strains and 27% of other strains were relatively resistant to sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim.
In 1983 the vernacular name Enteric Group 501 was coined for a group of strains that had been referred to our laboratory as "possible Vibrio damsela that does not require NaCl for growth." By DNA-DNA hybridization (hydroxyapatite method, 32P, 60 and 75 degrees C), six strains of Enteric Group 501 were closely related to the labeled strain 2446-81 (70 to 95% at 60 degrees C and 71 to 93% at 75 degrees C; 0 to 1% divergence). Type strains of all Aeromonas species and reference strains of six other Aeromonas DNA hybridization groups were 26 to 42% related (60 degrees C) to strain 2446-81, but type strains of 27 Vibrio and Photobacterium species, including V. damsela, were 0 to 1% (75 degrees C) related. We propose the name Aeromonas schubertii for the highly related group of seven strains formerly known as Enteric Group 501. The type strain is designated as ATCC 43700 (CDC 2446-81). Strains of A. schubertii grew well at 36 degrees C and had positive reactions at this temperature for methyl red, Voges-Proskauer (1% NaCl, Coblentz method), lysine decarboxylase, arginine dihydrolase, motility, lipase, DNase, nitrate reduction to nitrite, oxidase, and growth in nutrient broth with 0 and 1% NaCl. There was no growth in 6% NaCl or on thiosulfate-citrate-bile salts-sucrose agar. The following sugars were fermented: D-glucose, D-galactose, maltose, D-mannose, and trehalose. The following sugars were not fermented: adonitol, L-arabinose, D-arabitol, cellobiose, dulcitol, erythritol, myo-inositol, lactose, D-mannitol, melibiose, alpha-CH3-D-glucoside, raffinose, L-rhamnose, salicin, D-sorbitol, sucrose, and D-xylose. Esculin was not hydrolyzed, and the string test was negative. The mannitol-negative reaction differtiates A. schubertii from other Aeromonas species. The antibiogram of this organism is typical of other Aeromonas strains (resistance to ampicillin and carbenicillin and susceptibility to most other agents). A. schubertii strains have been isolated from abscesses (two strains), wound (one), skin (one), pleural fluid (one), and blood (two). The two blood isolates suggest clinical significance typical of other Aeromonas species , but further information is needed on this group.
Previous DNA relatedness and enzyme electrophoretic mobility studies indicated heterogeneity among strains of Legionella pneumophila serogroups 1, 4, 5, and Lansing 3 (a new, as yet unnumbered serogroup). In this study 60 L. pneumophila strains were studied by DNA hybridization (hydroxyapatite method) to assess their genomic relatedness. These strains were also studied biochemically and serologically to determine whether they formed one or more phenotypic groups. DNA relatedness studies identified three groups. DNA group 1 contained the type strain Philadelphia 1 and strains from serogroups 1 through 14 of L. pneumophila. The average relatedness of DNA group 1 strains was 88% at 60 degrees C with 1.1% divergence in related sequences and 85% at 75 degrees C. DNA group 2 contained strain Los Angeles 1, the reference strain of serogroup 4, and strains of serogroups 1, 4, 5, and Lansing 3, an unnumbered serogroup. Average relatedness of DNA group 2 strains was 84% at 60 degrees C with 0.7% divergence and 87% at 75 degrees C. Reciprocal relatedness of DNA groups 1 and 2 was approximately 67% at 60 degrees C with 6.0% divergence and 48% at 75 degrees C. DNA group 3 strains were in serogroup 5. They were 98% related at 60 degrees C with 0.5% divergence and 97% related at 75 degrees C. Reciprocal relatedness of DNA group 3 and DNA group 1 was approximately 74% at 60 degrees C with 5.3% divergence and 43% at 75 degrees C, and reciprocal relatedness of DNA groups 3 and 2 was 66% at 60 degrees C with 5.7% divergence and 55% at 75 degrees C. The DNA groups could not be separated biochemically or serologically or by cell wall fatty acid and isoprenoid quinone composition. Three subspecies of L. pneumophila are proposed to accommodate the three DNA groups: L. pneumophila subsp. pneumophila subsp. nov. for DNA group 1, L. pneumophila subsp. fraseri subsp. nov. for DNA group 2, and pneumophila subsp. pascullei subsp. nov. for DNA group 3.
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Oncogenic transformation was assayed after C3H 10T1/2 cells were irradiated with monoenergetic neutrons; cells were exposed to 0.23-, 0.35-, 0.45-, 5.9-, and 13.7-MeV neutrons given singly or in five equal fractions over 8 h. At the biologically effective neutron energy of 0.45 MeV, enhancement of transformation was evident with some small fractionated doses (below 1 Gy). When transformation was examined as a function of neutron energy at 0.5 Gy, enhancement was seen for cells exposed to three of the five energies (0.35, 0.45, and 5.9 MeV). Enhancement was greatest for cells irradiated with 5.9-MeV neutrons. Of the neutron energies examined, 5.9-MeV neutrons had the lowest dose-averaged lineal energy and linear energy transfer. This suggests that enhancement of transformation by fractionated low doses of neutrons may be radiation-quality dependent.
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A Legionella-like organism, strain 1407-AL-H, was isolated from a transbronchial lung biopsy specimen from a cardiac transplant recipient undergoing immunosuppressive therapy. The strain grew on buffered charcoal-yeast extract agar (BCYE) but not on BCYE in the absence of cysteine, and it showed gas-liquid chromatographic fatty acid profiles that were predominantly branch chained. Strain 1407-AL-H was antigenically distinct in slide agglutination tests from the 23 Legionella species and 39 serogroups previously described. DNA hybridization studies placed it in a new Legionella species, Legionella birminghamensis (ATCC 43702).
A Legionella-like organism (strain 570-CO-H [= ATCC 43290]) isolated from the lung tissue of a patient with pneumonia was shown by growth, as well as physiological, serological, and genetic characteristics, to belong to a new Legionella pneumophila serogroup, serogroup 12. Two additional strains were detected with antiserum specific for strain 570-CO-H. These strains were isolated from environmental sources.
Campylobacter hyointestinalis was isolated from stool specimens of four persons, all of whom were experiencing nonbloody, watery diarrhea. The youngest (8 months of age) and the oldest (79 years of age) individuals were females, and the other two were homosexual men. C. hyointestinalis was the only clinically significant pathogen isolated from stool specimens for three of the individuals. In case 3 (involving a 37-year-old homosexual man), Entamoeba histolytica and Shigella sonnei were also present in the stool. The identification of all C. hyointestinalis strains was made biochemically and confirmed by DNA hybridization. This study documented the isolation of C. hyointestinalis from four patients with diarrhea, and our findings suggest that the clinical significance of Campylobacter species must be expanded to include C. hyointestinalis as a potential cause of human gastrointestinal disease.
In 1983, the vernacular name Enteric Group 77 was coined for a group of strains that had been referred to our laboratory as "possible Vibrio cholerae except for gas production." By DNA-DNA hybridization (hydroxyapatite, 32P), 8 of 10 strains of Enteric Group 77 were very highly related to the labeled strain 1169-83 (74 to 100% at 60 degrees C and 75 to 100% at 75 degrees C; percent divergence, 0.0 to 2.5). Type strains of six other Aeromonas species were 45 to 66% related (60 degrees C) to strain 1169-83, but type strains of 27 Vibrio species were only 2 to 6% related. The name Aeromonas veronii is proposed for the highly related group of nine strains formerly known as Enteric Group 77. The type strain is designated as ATCC 35604 (CDC 1169-83). Strains of A. veronii grew well at 36 degrees C and had positive reactions at this temperature for indole, methyl red, Voges-Proskauer, citrate, lysine and ornithine decarboxylases, DNase, lipase, and motility; the strains had negative reactions for arginine decarboxylase, H2S, urea, and malonate. The following sugars were fermented: D-glucose (acid and gas), cellobiose (seven of nine strains), D-galactose, maltose, D-mannitol, D-mannose, alpha-methyl-D-glucoside (eight of nine strains), salicin, sucrose, and trehalose. The following sugars were not fermented: adonitol, L-arabinose, D-arabitol, dulcitol, erythritol, myo-inositol, lactose, raffinose, L-rhamnose, D-sorbitol, and D-xylose. The positive ornithine decarboxylase reaction differentiates A. veronii from other Aeromonas species. The antibiogram of A. veronii is typical of other Aeromonas strains (resistance to ampicillin and carbenicillin and susceptibility to most other agents). A. veronii strains were isolated from three clinical sources: respiratory secretions of four victims of drowning or near drowning in fresh water (probably not clinically significant); infected wounds of two patients previously exposed to fresh water (unknown clinical significance); and stools from three patients with diarrhea (probably clinically significant).
A total of 593 strains of thermophilic Campylobacter species were isolated either from humans with diarrhea or from poultry in King County, Washington. Of these strains, 98 (52 hippurate-positive strains and all 46 of the hippurate-negative strains) were selected for further phenotypic characterization and genetic classification. Hippurate hydrolysis, the test typically used to differentiate Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli, did not always correlate with the genetic classification. All hippurate-positive strains were classified as C. jejuni. Of the hippurate-negative strains, 20% were C. jejuni, 78% were C. coli, and 2% were C. laridis. Assuming that the remaining hippurate-positive strains were all C. jejuni, then hippurate-negative C. jejuni represented a small percentage (9 of 556 or 1.6%) of C. jejuni strains but a significant percentage (9 of 46 or 20%) of hippurate-negative strains. This finding suggests that hippurate hydrolysis should not be used as the sole criterion for differentiating thermophilic Campylobacter species, particularly when describing the disease states associated with these organisms.
This article reviews the classification and identification of the 23 described species, the 11 unnamed species, and the 49 serogroups presently known in the family Legionellaceae and the genus Legionella. The events leading to the isolation and classification of the first species, Legionella pneumophila, are summarized; these include the outbreak of legionnaires' disease at the 1976 American Legion Convention in Philadelphia, the five outbreaks preceding the Philadelphia outbreak, and the isolation of three Legionella species before 1976. The phenotypic characteristics of legionellae are described, including growth requirements, isolation media, biochemical tests, cellular fatty acids, quinones, and the guanine-plus-cytosine (G + C) content of DNA. Identification of legionellae by serology, monoclonal antibodies, and gene probes is described. Each species is listed with an explanation of its name, the source, location of its isolation, its involvement, if any, in human disease, its type strain, and the person who isolated it. The basis of taxonomy by DNA hybridization at the species level and evidence consistent with all species in a single genus and family are described. Problems with identification of legionellae at the species level and with their classification, especially at the genus level, are discussed.
Results for inactivation of hydroxyurea-synchronized V-79 cells by ultrasoft aluminum characteristic X rays of energy 1.5 keV are presented. Limiting RBEs at low doses, relative to 137Cs gamma rays, of 1.8 and 6.4 are, respectively, found for cells at the G1/S and late S stages of the cell cycle. The late-S data are analyzed in the light of previous experiments carried out under similar conditions, also designed to probe the effects of energy deposition in nanometer-sized sites, in which cells were irradiated with correlated pairs of ions. Within the framework of the theory of dual radiation action, the results for ultrasoft X rays and gamma rays can be deduced solely from track simulations and the results of the high-LET molecular ion experiment.
The question of whether cellular radiation sensitivity is independent or related to plating efficiency (PE) is addressed. Three different cell lines, one human and mortal (AG 1522), one rodent and immortal (CHO AA8), and one rodent and mortal (C3H 10T1/2), were investigated. The first two showed a strong correlation between radiation sensitivity and PE, even when, for the mortal cells, the effect of passage number was factored out.
Raw milk is identified with increasing numbers of outbreaks of gastroenteritis and is an important vehicle for transmission of Campylobacter infection. Unlike Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter fetus subsp fetus has not been associated with common-source outbreaks of gastroenteritis. This report describes an outbreak of gastroenteritis involving C jejuni and a thermotolerant strain of C fetus subsp fetus associated with raw milk. Fifteen (39%) of 38 persons who attended a banquet in Wisconsin in June 1982 developed acute gastroenteritis. Stool specimens were obtained from nine ill guests; four yielded C jejuni and three yielded C fetus subsp fetus. The C fetus subsp fetus isolates were identified fortuitously, in part because of unusual thermotolerance (growth at 42 degrees C), permitting isolation at temperature appropriate for C jejuni. Survey results implicated raw milk as the source of the outbreak. Findings provide evidence of a potentially emergent milkborne pathogen contributing to the risk of raw milk consumption and suggest that current diagnostic laboratory techniques may fail to identify significant foodborne agents.
Eight hundred and sixty-seven strains of gram-negative rods obtained from fecal specimens of 90 wild European birds were isolated on selective media. Eighteen of these were identified as Serratia fonticola both biochemically and by DNA hybridization. The biochemical characteristics of the new strains are compared with published results.