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Biomedical subjects

J G Tully

Publications and source records attributed to J G Tully.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Isolation and characterization of Mycoplasma genitalium strains from the human respiratory tract.

Mycoplasma genitalium, an organism first isolated from the urethras of two men with nongonococcal urethritis, has been found in throat specimens from military recruits participating in an inactivated Mycoplasma pneumoniae vaccine field trial in 1974-1975. Four of 16 preserved throat isolates, previously identified as strains of M. pneumoniae, have now been shown to be mixtures of M. pneumoniae and M. genitalium. Purification of these mixed mycoplasmas by selection of single colonies confirmed the presence of M. genitalium. Identification of M. genitalium was based upon the occurrence of a species-specific 140-kilodalton protein adhesin in these isolates and their serologic reactivity to an M. genitalium antiserum. The frequent occurrence of both M. pneumoniae and M. genitalium in a number of these throat specimens, in combination with their shared antigenic cross-reactivities, suggests the likelihood that M. genitalium strains are easily missed in the usual laboratory identification procedures. What role M. genitalium may play in human respiratory disease remains to be determined.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1988

Isolation and identification of mycoplasmas from the nasal cavity of sheep.

Mycoplasmas isolated from the nasal cavity of sheep in a ram test station were examined to determine their identity and prevalence. Specimens were obtained for mycoplasmal culture in 1980, 1982, and 1983 from 558 sheep, and mycoplasmas were isolated from 630 specimens from 320 sheep (57.3%). The isolates were characterized and differentiated into groups on the basis of sensitivity to digitonin, fermentation of glucose, and hydrolysis of arginine. Isolates in some groups were further characterized by use of additional diagnostic media, and their identity was confirmed by agglutination or growth inhibition with antiserum prepared from reference mycoplasmas. Of the 320 sheep with mycoplasmas, 293 had Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae, 12 had M arginini, and 1 had M capricolum. Two sheep had Acholeplasma spp, and 3 sheep had unidentified Mycoplasma spp. The remaining 9 sheep had M ovipneumoniae in combination with Acholeplasma spp (n = 3), M arginini (n = 3), M capricolum (n = 2), and an unidentified Mycoplasma spp (n = 1). The biochemical reactions of the M ovipneumoniae from the 293 sheep were similar, but varied in the degree of growth and fermentation in the basal medium containing glucose. The high prevalence of M ovipneumoniae indicated that it may be commensal in the upper respiratory tract of healthy sheep.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Short, interspersed, and repetitive DNA sequences in Spiroplasma species.

Small fragments of DNA from an 8-kbp plasmid, pRA1, from a plant pathogenic strain of Spiroplasma citri were shown previously to be present in the chromosomal DNA of at least two species of Spiroplasma. We describe here the shot-gun cloning of chromosomal DNA from S. citri Maroc and the identification of two distinct sequences exhibiting homology to pRA1. Further subcloning experiments provided specific molecular probes for the identification of these two sequences in chromosomal DNA from three distinct plant pathogenic species of Spiroplasma. The results of Southern blot hybridization indicated that each of the pRA1-associated sequences is present as multiple copies in short, dispersed, and repetitive sequences in the chromosomes of these three strains. None of the sequences was detectable in chromosomal DNA from an additional nine Spiroplasma strains examined.

Chromosome Mapping↗
PubMed1987

Molecular characterization of Mycoplasma genitalium species-specific and cross-reactive determinants: identification of an immunodominant protein of M. genitalium.

Species-specific proteins of Mycoplasma genitalium as well as proteins cross-reactive with M. pneumoniae have been identified using monoclonal antibodies generated against these mycoplasmas in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and Western blot analyses. Specificity of the antibodies was examined using M. hominis, M. orale M. salivarium and Acholeplasma laidlawii. A 140-kDa (kilodalton) protein of M. genitalium that appeared to be immunodominant in mice was also shown by radioimmunoprecipitation to be immunodominant in experimentally infected chimpanzees.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

New spiroplasmas from insects and flowers: isolation, ecology, and host association.

Eight spiroplasma strains from insects and one from spring flowers failed to react with antisera specific for any of the 11 described spiroplasma groups, with sera directed against spiroplasma Group I subgroups, or with sera directed against two unnumbered groups previously reported to occur in tabanid flies. Strains, all from Maryland, were isolated from the hemolymph of the spotted cucumber beetle Diabrotica undecimpunctata and the lampyrid beetle Ellychnia corrusca, and the guts of the cantharid beetles Cantharis bilineatus and C. carolinus. Other strains were obtained from a tabanid fly, Tabanus gladiator and from the firefly Photuris pennsylvanica in Maryland and from the mosquito Culex tritaeniorhynchus in Taiwan. An isolate from pooled Cicadulina bipunctella leafhoppers in Syria apparently represented a unique group. A single isolate from spring flowers in Oklahoma also appeared to be unrelated to existing groups or subgroups. One-way deformation tests using sera prepared against known beetle and tabanid spiroplasmas showed each of the above strains to be unique. Although these results strongly indicate that the nine strains studied are representatives of unique new spiroplasma groups, the formal designation of new groups awaits fulfillment of recently proposed criteria.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Further characterization of an unusual plant Mollicutes species of uncertain taxonomic status.

PPAV is a type of Mollicutes that was isolated in SP4 medium from seeds of apples affected by proliferation, a disease in which mycoplasma-like organisms (MLOs) are involved. However, PPAV is probably not the etiological MLO agent for at least two reasons: 1) optimal temperature growth is 43 C, and 2) in spite of numerous isolation attempts over several years, no second PPAV culture could be obtained. PPAV is surrounded by a single cytoplasmic membrane and forms typical fried egg-shaped colonies on solid medium. The organism grows in simplified mycoplasma media, such as BSR. In growth inhibition, it shows no serological relationships with any other mycoplasmas or acholeplasmas, including those cultured from the surfaces of plants. The absence of relatedness of PPAV to other Mollicutes was confirmed by DNA hybridization studies. The genome of PPAV is close to 10(9) daltons and contains 25.2 mol % G + C. Its genome size is similar to that of Acholeplasma spp. and Spiroplasma spp. It has, however, a clearcut sterol requirement and therefore cannot be an acholeplasma. Neither is it a spiroplasma since, though filamentous in BSR medium, it has never shown signs of helicity. Hence, PPAV is a taxonomical paradox.

Acholeplasma↗
PubMed1987

Animal models of Mycoplasma genitalium urogenital infection.

Male and female animals were inoculated urogenitally with Mycoplasma genitalium, recovered originally from men with nongonococcal urethritis. Mice, hamsters and male rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) were resistant. Male cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) were not as sensitive as male chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): 9 of 11 developed an obvious genital tract infection, some shedding organisms for more than 18 weeks. M. genitalium was recovered from the blood of two of them when large numbers of organisms were in the urethra. Most of the chimpanzees colonized with the organisms had increased numbers of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in the genital tract and developed a fourfold or greater antibody response. Female squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) and female tamarins (Saguinus mystar) exhibited low-level genital tract infections following intravaginal inoculation, whereas marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) and chimpanzees developed prolonged infections after similar inoculation; thus, female chimpanzees shed organisms for 12 to 15 weeks. Marmosets and grivet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) developed salpingitis with antibody responses after intraoviduct inoculation, and baboons (Papio anubis) developed parametritis after intracervical inoculation. The results offer substantial evidence for the pathogenicity of M. genitalium for the urogenital tract of subhuman primates, and suggest that the microorganism may have a role in human genital tract infections.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Characterization of some new insect-derived acholeplasmas.

Further analysis of three sterol-nonrequiring Mollicutes (strains PS-1, TAC, and YJS) isolated from gut fluids of insects confirms their similarity to Acholeplasma. They are serologically distinct from acholeplasmas of vertebrates and several other sterol nonrequiring Mollicutes isolated from plant surfaces. The PS-1 strain had a DNA G + C content of 31 mol % and a genome size of 1,030 megadaltons (MDa). Optimum temperature is in the range of 23 to 30 C. Thirty-two new nonhelical Mollicutes isolated from a much wider range of insect hosts were examined for acholeplasmas. Twenty-five of the insect isolates were grown consistently in serum-free broth, with or without Tween 80 supplements. Two of the acholeplasmas were serologically related to Acholeplasma florum, 13 strains were serologically identical to the TAC isolate reported earlier, and 10 of the putative acholeplasmas could not be identified with current reference antisera. Seven of the new nonhelical insect isolates appeared to be sterol-requiring Mollicutes. One sterol-requiring isolate (ELCN-1) was recovered from the hemolymph of a firefly, and is the first report of nonhelical Mollicutes in the insect hemocoel. Two of the seven sterol-requiring Mollicutes, which were nonhelical in earlier passages in broth, later reverted to typically helical spiroplasmas. Confirmation of sterol-requiring, nonhelical Mollicutes in insects would provide an important ecological finding that insects constitute an important reservoir for both acholeplasmas and mycoplasmas.

Acholeplasma↗
PubMed1986

Urogenital challenge of primate species with Mycoplasma genitalium and characteristics of infection induced in chimpanzees.

Eighteen male and eight female primates, representing five subhuman species, were inoculated urogenitally with Mycoplasma genitalium, a microorganism recovered from men with nongonococcal urethritis. Male rhesus (Macaca mulatta) and cynomolgus (Macaca fascicularis) monkeys apparently were resistant. Female squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) and female tamarins (Saguinus mystax) exhibited low-level, genital-tract infections. Male chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) developed an obvious genital-tract infection, with some shedding organisms for 21 weeks. M. genitalium was recovered from the blood of two of the male chimpanzees, usually when large numbers of organisms were in the urethra. Female chimpanzees generally shed organisms for 12-15 weeks. Most chimpanzees colonized with the organism exhibited increased numbers of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in the genital tract and developed a significant antibody response. The results offer substantial evidence for the pathogenicity of M. genitalium for the urogenital tract of higher primates and suggest the microorganism may have a role in human genital-tract infections.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Urethral infection in male chimpanzees produced experimentally by Mycoplasma genitalium.

Four young male chimpanzees were inoculated intra-urethrally with a strain (G37) of Mycoplasma genitalium which had been isolated from the urethra of a patient with non-gonococcal urethritis. Two of the chimpanzees became infected as indicated by persistent recovery of the organisms from the urethra for 13 weeks and by an antibody response measured by both metabolism inhibition and micro-immunofluorescence techniques. The numbers of organisms isolated from both animals increased about 4 weeks after inoculation and antibody development was first detected 1 week later. The infected animals developed a minimal and inconsistently detected urethral polymorphonuclear leucocyte response which was not seen in those that were uninfected, nor in a chimpanzee that had been given medium only. The organisms were not isolated and the cellular response was not observed after treatment of the infected chimpanzees with oxytetracycline. One of the animals that had been infected was re-inoculated with strain G37 six months after successful treatment, but although the titre of serum antibody had diminished to its original level urethral recolonization did not occur. The organisms in the inoculum were not attenuated, however, because they infected another chimpanzee that had not had previous experience of M. genitalium. The results are discussed in relation to the potential of this mycoplasma to produce urethritis in man.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Absence of Mycoplasma pneumoniae cytadsorption protein P1 in Mycoplasma genitalium and Mycoplasma gallisepticum.

Polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies to Mycoplasma pneumoniae protein P1 were nonreactive with whole-cell or soluble preparations of M. genitalium and M. gallisepticum. However, radioimmunoprecipitation performed with hyperimmune rabbit sera raised against each mycoplasma species indicated antigenic cross-reactivity between M. pneumoniae and M. genitalium.

Adhesins, Bacterial↗
PubMed1984

Neuropathology of spiroplasma infection in the rat brain.

This study was designed to demonstrate the neuropathology of persistent spiroplasma infection in the rat brain. GT-48 spiroplasmas were inoculated intracranially into a series of suckling Sprague-Dawley rats. Their brains were evaluated at specific time intervals by microbiologic assay and by morphologic studies including histology, electron microscopy, and immunocytochemistry. The spiroplasmas were observed in the tissues by electron microscopy at peak infection 14 days after intracranial inoculation. At that time they were seen in vacuoles and neuronal processes within the neuropil as filamentous or bleb-like forms. A single tight spiral was identified that closely resembled the spiroplasma-like inclusions previously reported in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The spiroplasmas were shown to spread rapidly throughout the brain tissues presumably by intraneuronal transport. In specimens examined at 25 days after intracranial inoculation and beyond, organisms were localized to gray matter without inflammatory response. The spiroplasmas could not be identified by electron microscopy in the rat brain tissue at late stages of infection. This study has shown an unusual adaptation of spiroplasma infection to the mammalian host brain tissues.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Spiroplasmas in the Tabanidae.

Spiroplasmas were observed in seven species of the family Tabanidae (horse flies and deer flies). This is the fifth family of the order Diptera now known to harbor spiroplasmas. Noncultivable spiroplasmas were seen in the hemolymph of three species of the genus Tabanus, and cultivable forms were isolated from the guts of six species in three genera. Isolates from T. calens and T. sulcifrons were serologically similar and closely related to a spiroplasma in the lampyrid beetle, Ellychnia corrusca. These three isolates represent a new serogroup. Isolates from Hybomitra lasiophthalma were related to Group IV strains, while those from T. nigrovittatus and Chrysops sp. both represented new serogroups. At least some tabanids probably acquire spiroplasmas from contaminated flower surfaces. The possibility of vertebrate reservoirs for some tabanid spiroplasmas remains an open question.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Discovery of a new plant-pathogenic spiroplasma.

To study natural transmission of Spiroplasma citri in the Mediterranean area, periwinkles (Vinca rosea L.) were exposed to natural infection in several locations during the summer of 1983. Detection of S. citri in the periwinkles was assayed by ELISA and culture of the organisms. Some of the periwinkles developed yellows disease symptoms; they contained helical organisms in their sieve tubes, as determined by electron microscopy. A spiroplasma could be cultured from them, but their ELISA reaction for S. citri detection was negative. These results suggested that a spiroplasma different from S. citri had been discovered. The apparently new spiroplasma (P40) was examined for serological relationships with other spiroplasmas by metabolism inhibition and deformation tests. Spiroplasma P40 was found to have relatedness only to Group I spiroplasmas. Healthy periwinkles graft inoculated with shoots of the initial symptomatic periwinkle showed yellows symptoms 3 months after inoculation. Extracts of the initial and the graft-inoculated periwinkles gave positive ELISA reactions with anti-P40 IgG.

Base Composition↗
PubMed1983

Host discrimination of Mycoplasma pneumoniae proteinaceous immunogens.

The immune response of experimentally infected hamsters and human patients to Mycoplasma pneumoniae was examined by radioimmunoprecipation in conjunction with gel electrophoresis and fluorography. Both intrinsically and extrinsically labeled mycoplasma proteins were coincubated with acute and convalescent sera in a radioimmunoprecipitation assay. Two M. pneumoniae proteins were selectively precipitated by convalescent sera. These predominant immunogens were trypsin-sensitive, antibody-accessible surface proteins that co-migrate on polyacrylamide gels with proteins P1 and P2, which were previously implicated by us as mediators of cytadsorption. Anti-M. pneumoniae antiserum did not precipitate radiolabeled antigens derived from Mycoplasma orale or Mycoplasma salivarium. These data indicate that M. pneumoniae infection stimulates a specific and highly targeted host antibody response to key proteinaceous immunogens.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1983

Intraspecies genetic relatedness among strains of Acholeplasma laidlawii and of Acholeplasma axanthum by nucleic acid hybridization.

This study compares the intraspecies genetic relatedness among strains of two established species of Acholeplasma. Radiolabelled DNA probes were prepared from three strains of Acholeplasma laidlawii and two strains of Acholeplasma axanthum, by using the nick translation method. The labelled DNA probes of these two strains were hybridized to an excess of unlabelled DNA from 12 strains of Acholeplasma laidlawii and from six strains of Acholeplasma axanthum, respectively. Nucleic acid hybridization analyses showed a wide variation among strains within each of the two established species, ranging from 48 to 100% homology. The results demonstrate that strains isolated from diverse hosts and habitats within a given species of Acholeplasma exhibit extensive genotypic variations.

Acholeplasma↗
PubMed1983

DNA cleavage patterns as indicators of genotypic heterogeneity among strains of Acholeplasma and Mycoplasma species.

Electrophoretic patterns of digestion products of Acholeplasma and Mycoplasma DNA by restriction endonucleases were compared. The patterns of Acholeplasma axanthum strains isolated from a variety of hosts and habitats differed markedly from each other, indicating considerable genotypic heterogeneity among strains included in this species. Heterogeneity was less marked among the Acholeplasma oculi strains tested, and was minimal among strains of the avian pathogen Mycoplasma gallisepticum. Strains of Mycoplasma genitalium isolated from the urethra of patients with non-gonococcal urethritis and from the urethra of an experimentally infected chimpanzee yielded identical cleavage patterns, indicating a high degree of genetic homogeneity of these strains. The data support the notion that mycoplasma species of strict host and tissue specificity exhibit marked genetic homogeneity. The advantages and deficiencies of the use of DNA cleavage patterns for classification purposes are discussed.

Acholeplasma↗