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Identification of hemolysin BL-producing Bacillus cereus isolates by a discontinuous hemolytic pattern in blood agar.

Bacillus cereus causes distinct exotoxin-mediated diarrheal and emetic food poisoning syndromes and a variety of nongastrointestinal infections. Evidence is accumulating that hemolysin BL is a major B. cereus virulence factor. We describe two methods for detection of hemolysin BL in crude samples and on primary culture media. In the first method, the highly unusual discontinuous hemolysis pattern that is characteristic of pure hemolysin BL was produced in sheep and calf blood agar around wells filled with crude culture supernatant from hemolysin BL-producing strains. In the second method, the pattern was formed surrounding colonies of hemolysin BL-producing strains grown on media consisting of nutrient agar, 0.15 M NaCl, 2% calf serum, and sheep or calf blood. Hemolysin BL production was detected with these methods in 41 of 62 (66%) previously identified B. cereus isolates and in 46 of 136 (34%) presumptive B. cereus isolates from soil. All nine isolates tested that were associated with diarrhea or nongastrointestinal illness were positive for hemolysin BL. The methods presented here are specific, simple, inexpensive, and applicable to the screening of large numbers of samples or isolates.

Agar↗

Production of the Kanagawa hemolysin by Vibrio parahaemolyticus in a synthetic medium.

A synthetic medium capable of supporting growth of Vibrio parahaemolyticus is described. Growth yields and generation times were comparable to growth in a complex medium, although Kanagawa hemolysin was undetectable in the synthetic medium. Upon the addition of single amino acids to this synthetic medium, only D-tryptophan induced production of the hemolysin. L-Tryptophan was found to inhibit the action of the D-stereoisomer. The response to D-tryptophan was pH dependent; the greatest hemolysin expression occurred at pH values below 6.5. The addition of 100 micrometers D-tryptophan to early-logarithmic-phase cultures caused an inhibition of growth and of substrate utilization, both of which lasted 7 h. During this time, hemolysin was produced only intracellularly. The hemolysin appeared in the supernatant only when growth recommenced. The hemolysins within the cell and in the supernatant were both inactivated by antiserum raised against the standard Kanagawa hemolysin.

Amino Acids↗

Expression of a cloned Staphylococcus aureus alpha-hemolysin determinant in Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus.

A DNA sequence encoding Staphylococcus aureus alpha-hemolysin, which had been previously cloned and mapped in Escherichia coli K-12, was introduced into Bacillus subtilis BD170 and several strains of S. aureus by using plasmid vectors, some of which could replicate in all three organisms. The determinant was cloned on a 3.3-kilobase pair DNA fragment into B. subtilis by using the vector plasmid pXZ105 to form the hybrid plasmid pXZ111. B. subtilis cells harboring pXZ111 produced large zones of alpha-hemolysis after 18 h of growth at 37 degrees C on rabbit blood agar plates, and alpha-hemolysin activity was detected in supernatants prepared from growing cultures of this strain. The alpha-hemolysin was apparently secreted across the B. subtilis cell envelope. Polypeptides of molecular weights 34,000 and 33,000 were precipitated with anti-alpha-hemolysin serum from lysates prepared from BD170 cells harboring pXZ111. A hybrid replicon which could replicate in both E. coli and S. aureus was constructed in E. coli by ligating a HindIII fragment encoding the replication functions and chloramphenicol resistance genes of S. aureus plasmid pCW59 to the pBR322 alpha-hemolysin hybrid plasmid pDU1150. The DNA of this plasmid, pDU1212, was prepared in E. coli and used to transform protoplasts prepared from a non-alpha-hemolytic, nonrestricting strain of S. aureus RN4220. Some of the transformants contained plasmids which had suffered extensive deletions. Some plasmids, however, were transformed intact into RN4220. Such plasmids were subsequently maintained in a stable manner. pDU1212 DNA was prepared from RN4220 and transformed into alpha-hemolytic S. aureus 8325-4 and two mutant derivatives defective in alpha-hemolysin synthesis. All three strains expressed alpha-hemolysin when harboring pDU1212.

Bacillus subtilis↗

Purification and some properties of Aeromonas hydrophila hemolysin.

A hemolysin produced by a strain of Aeromonas hydrophila isolated from a patient with diarrhea was purified by acid precipitation and quarternary aminoethyl-Sephadex chromatography. The molecular weight of the hemolysin was estimated at 50,000 by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and at 48,000 by Sephadex G-100 gel filtration. In polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis at pH 4.0 and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the hemolysin migrated as a single band, whereas electrophoresis at pH 9.4 and thin-layer isoelectric focusing demonstrated multiple bands. The results may indicate charge isomers of the hemolysin. The purified hemolysin had a hemolytic activity of 134 hemolytic units per microgram of protein on rabbit erythrocytes. It caused fluid accumulation in infant mouse intestines and rabbit ligated ileal loops. Purified hemolysin also elicited cytotoxicity to Vero cells and lethal toxicity to mice. All these biological activities were lost on heating for 5 min at 56 degrees C. These findings support the notion that A. hydrophila hemolysin is a cytotoxic enterotoxin.

Aeromonas↗

Nucleotide sequence of the hemolysin I gene from Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae.

The DNA sequence of the gene encoding the structural protein of hemolysin I (HlyI) of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serotype 1 strain 4074 was analyzed. The nucleotide sequence shows a 3,072-bp reading frame encoding a protein of 1,023 amino acids with a calculated molecular size of 110.1 kDa. This corresponds to the HlyI protein, which has an apparent molecular size on sodium dodecyl sulfate gels of 105 kDa. The structure of the protein derived from the DNA sequence shows three hydrophobic regions in the N-terminal part of the protein, 13 glycine-rich domains in the second half of the protein, and a hydrophilic C-terminal area, all of which are typical of the cytotoxins of the RTX (repeats in the structural toxin) toxin family. The derived amino acid sequence of HlyI shows 42% homology with the hemolysin of A. pleuropneumoniae serotype 5, 41% homology with the leukotoxin of Pasteurella haemolytica, and 56% homology with the Escherichia coli alpha-hemolysin. The 13 glycine-rich repeats and three hydrophobic areas of the HlyI sequence show more similarity to the E. coli alpha-hemolysin than to either the A. pleuropneumoniae serotype 5 hemolysin or the leukotoxin (while the last two are more similar to each other). Two types of RTX hemolysins therefore seem to be present in A. pleuropneumoniae, one (HlyI) resembling the alpha-hemolysin and a second more closely related to the leukotoxin. Ca(2+)-binding experiments using HlyI and recombinant A. pleuropneumoniae prohemolysin (HlyIA) that was produced in E. coli shows that HlyI binds 45Ca2+, probably because of the 13 glycine-rich repeated domains. Activation of the prohemolysin is not required for Ca2+ binding.

Actinobacillus↗

Effects of temperature, time, and toxin concentration on lesion formation by the Escherichia coli hemolysin.

We performed osmotic protection experiments to test the hypothesis that the Escherichia coli hemolysin forms a discrete-size pore in erythrocyte membranes. The effects of toxin concentration, assay time, temperature, and protectant concentrations were examined. The results we present here raise doubts about the existing model of pore formation by hemolysin. We demonstrate that osmotic protection by various sugars of different sizes is a function of hemolysin concentration and assay time. The data indicate that under various conditions, lesion sizes with a diameter ranging from < 0.6 to > 1.2 nm can be inferred. Quantification of hemolysin permitted the estimation of the number of HlyA structural protein molecules required per erythrocyte for lysis in the presence of each protectant. It appears that hemolysin induces heterogeneous erythrocyte lesions which increase in size over time. Influx experiments utilizing radioactive sugar markers indicated that time-dependent osmotic protection patterns are independent of the diffusion rates of individual protectants. We demonstrate that the rate of the putative growth in the size of hemolysin-mediated lesions is temperature dependent. The erythrocyte membrane lesions formed at 37 degrees C can be stabilized in size when shifted to 4 degrees C. On the basis of these data, new models for the nature of the hemolysin-mediated erythrocyte membrane lesions are presented.

Animals↗

Contribution of Escherichia coli alpha-hemolysin to bacterial virulence and to intraperitoneal alterations in peritonitis.

Alpha-hemolysin (Hly) is a common exotoxin produced by Escherichia coli that enhances virulence in a number of clinical infections. The addition of hemolysin production to laboratory bacterial strains is known to increase the lethality of E. coli peritonitis. However, the mechanisms involved have not been determined and the contribution of hemolysin to the alterations in the host intraperitoneal environment and the leukocyte response is not known. Utilizing a rat peritonitis model, we show that wild-type hemolytic E. coli strains have a significant competitive advantage over nonhemolytic strains within the peritoneum. To examine the specific contribution of Hly to E. coli-induced virulence and alterations within the peritoneum, a mixed peritonitis model of E. coli, Bacteroides fragilis, and sterile fecal adjuvant was used. Three transformed E. coli strains were utilized: one strongly secretes active hemolysin (WAF 270), a second secretes active hemolysin but a reduced amount (WAF 260), and the third does not produce hemolysin (WAF 108). After an equal inoculum of each of the three strains, WAF 270 produced a markedly increased lethality and an increased recovery of both E. coli and B. fragilis from the host relative to the other strains. Changes in the intraperitoneal pH, degree of erythrocyte lysis, and recruitment and viability of leukocytes within the peritoneum following the induction of peritonitis differed significantly between the strongly hemolytic and nonhemolytic strains. Induction of peritonitis with WAF 270 caused a pronounced decrease in intraperitoneal pH, lysis of most of the intraperitoneal erythrocytes, and a marked decrease in recoverable viable leukocytes compared to WAF 108. Thus, hemolysin production by E. coli within the peritoneum may alter not only the host's ability to control the hemolytic strain itself but also other organisms.

Animals↗

Superlytic hemolysin mutants of Serratia marcescens.

Hemolysis by Serratia marcescens is caused by two proteins, ShlA and ShlB. ShlA is the hemolysin proper, and ShlB transports ShlA through the outer membrane, whereby ShlA is converted into a hemolysin. Superhemolytic ShlA derivatives that displayed 7- to 20-fold higher activities than wild-type ShlA were isolated. ShlA80 carried the single amino acid replacement of G to D at position 326 (G326D), ShlA87 carried S386N, and ShlA80III carried G326D and N236D. Superhemolysis was attributed to the greater stability of the mutant ShlA derivatives because they aggregated less than the wild-type hemolysin, which lost activity within 3 min at 20 degrees C. In contrast to the highly hemolytic wild-type ShlA at 0 degrees C, the hyperlytic hemolysins were nonhemolytic at 0 degrees C, suggesting that the hyperlytic derivatives differed from wild-type ShlA in adsorption to and insertion into the erythrocyte membrane. However, the size of the pores formed at 20 degrees C by superhemolytic hemolysins could not be distinguished from that of wild-type ShlA. In addition to the N-terminal sequence up to residue 238, previously identified to be important for activation and secretion, sites 326 and 386 contribute to hemolysin activity since they are contained in regions that participate in hemolysin inactivation through aggregation.

Bacterial Proteins↗

Lack of functional complementation between Bordetella pertussis filamentous hemagglutinin and Proteus mirabilis HpmA hemolysin secretion machineries.

The gram-negative bacterium Bordetella pertussis has adapted specific secretion machineries for each of its major secretory proteins. In particular, the highly efficient secretion of filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA) is mediated by the accessory protein FhaC. FhaC belongs to a family of outer membrane proteins which are involved in the secretion of large adhesins or in the activation and secretion of Ca2+-independent hemolysins by several gram-negative bacteria. FHA shares with these hemolysins a 115-residue-long amino-proximal region essential for its secretion. To compare the secretory pathways of these hemolysins and FHA, we attempted functional transcomplementation between FhaC and the Proteus mirabilis hemolysin accessory protein HpmB. HpmB could not promote the secretion of FHA derivatives. Likewise, FhaC proved to be unable to mediate secretion and activation of HpmA, the cognate secretory partner of HpmB. In contrast, ShlB, the accessory protein of the closely related Serratia marcescens hemolysin, was able to activate and secrete HpmA. Two invariant asparagine residues lying in the region of homology shared by secretory proteins and shown to be essential for the secretion and activation of the hemolysins were replaced in FHA by site-directed mutagenesis. Replacements of these residues indicated that both are involved in, but only the first one is crucial to, FHA secretion. This slight discrepancy together with the lack of functional complementation demonstrates major differences between the hemolysins and FHA secretion machineries.

Adhesins, Bacterial↗

Indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of antibody to a 110,000-molecular-weight hemolysin of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae.

An indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed to detect swine antibody to a 110,000-molecular-weight hemolysin (110K hemolysin) of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae. Affinity-purified rabbit polyclonal or mouse monoclonal immunoglobulin G to the hemolysin of A. pleuropneumoniae serotype 5 strain J45, followed by hemolysin-rich concentrated culture supernatant, was used to bind swine antibody to hemolysin to microdilution plates. Sixty-nine serum samples from swine that were clinically normal, presented with clinical evidence of pleuropneumonia, were experimentally immunized or challenged, or were free of pleuropneumonia were tested, and their ELISA titers were compared with complement fixation (CF) titers. On the basis of serum samples from swine that were clinically normal and negative by CF, an ELISA titer of 1:320 or greater was considered positive. In comparison with CF, the sensitivity of the ELISA was 98.1% and the specificity was 90%. The two samples negative by CF and positive by indirect ELISA were, however, also positive for antibody to serotype 5 capsule by ELISA. Immunization of normal pigs with whole cells or purified hemolysin boosted titers 4- to 128-fold within 4 weeks. Immunoblotting demonstrated that the affinity-purified immunoglobulin G to hemolysin used for capture in the assay recognized only a 110K protein of A. pleuropneumoniae serotypes 1 to 7, although the reactivity was quantitatively variable between serotypes. Therefore, the indirect ELISA is capable of identifying animals infected with or exposed to most, if not all, serotypes of A. pleuropneumoniae. If an indirect ELISA titer of 1:320 or greater is considered positive, the assay can be a valuable diagnostic tool in both clinical and research laboratories.

Actinobacillus↗

Molecular weight determination and partial characterization of Klebsiella pneumoniae hemolysins.

Two thiol-activated Klebsiella pneumoniae hemolysins were purified from growth media by means of salt precipitation, gel filtration, ion-exchange chromatography, and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The hemolysins peaks coincided with the protein and glycoprotein peaks as determined by chromatography and electrophoresis. The molecular weights, estimated by gel filtration, were 8400 and 19,000; by sodium dodecyl sulfate--polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, the values were calculated as 15,500 and 27,000. The electrophoretic bands were best detected by the periodic acid--Schiff method. Reduction of the disulfide linkages did not cause the originally larger molecule to break into 8400 and 19,000 hemolysins. However, trypsin treatment cleaved the 19,000 hemolysin into an active moiety, with an electrophoretic migration similar to the 8400 hemolysin. A naturally occurring proteolytic activity was investigated using pepstatin and antipain. When the trypsin inhibitor was added to the system, the hemolytic activity was detected only in the 19,000 hemolysin and the smaller hemolysin was absent.

Animals↗

Lung vascular injury after administration of viable hemolysin-forming Escherichia coli in isolated rabbit lungs.

Escherichia coli hemolysin, a transmembrane pore-forming exotoxin, is considered an important virulence factor. In the present study, the possible significance of hemolysin production was investigated in a model of septic lung failure through infusion of viable bacteria in isolated rabbit lungs; 10(4) to 10(7) E. coli/ml perfusate caused a dose- and time-dependent appearance of hemolysin, accompanied by release of potassium, thromboxane A2, and PGI2 into the perfusate. Concomitantly, marked pulmonary hypertension developed. Inhibitor studies suggested that the pressor response was predominantly mediated by pulmonary thromboxane generation. Administration of hemolysin-forming E. coli additionally caused a protracted, dose-dependent increase in the lung capillary filtration coefficient, followed by severe edema formation. The permeability increase was independent of lung prostanoid generation. An E. coli strain that releases an inactive form of hemolysin completely failed to provoke the described biophysical and biochemical responses. Preapplication of 2 x 10(8) human granulocytes was without effect in the present experimental model. We conclude that the hemolysin produced by low numbers of E. coli organisms can provoke thromboxane-mediated pulmonary hypertension and severe vascular leakage. E. coli hemolysin and, possibly, other related cytolysins may thus contribute directly to the pathogenesis of acute respiratory failure under conditions of sepsis or pneumonia.

6-Ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha↗

Subcellular location and unique secretion of the hemolysin of Serratia marcescens.

It is shown that Serratia marcescens exports a hemolysin to the cell surface and secretes it to the extracellular space. Escherichia coli containing the cloned hemolysin genes shlA and shlB exported and secreted the S. marcescens hemolysin. A nonhemolytic secretion-incompetent precursor of the hemolysin, designated ShlA*, was synthesized in a shlB deletion mutant and accumulated in the periplasmic space of E. coli. Immunogold-labeled ultrathin sections revealed ShlA* bound to the outer face of the cytoplasmic membrane and to the inner face of the outer membrane. A number of mutants carrying 3' deletions in the shlA gene secreted truncated polypeptides, the smallest of which contained only 261 of the 1578 amino acids of the mature ShlA hemolysin, showing that the information for export to the cell surface of E. coli and secretion into the culture medium is located in the NH2-terminal segment of the hemolysin. We propose a secretion pathway in which ShlA and ShlB are exported across the cytoplasmic membrane via a signal sequence-dependent mechanism. ShlB is integrated into the outer membrane. ShlA is translocated across the outer membrane with the help of ShlB. During the latter export process or at the cell surface, ShlA acquires the hemolytically active conformation and is released to the extracellular space. The hemolysin secretion pathway appears to be different from any other secretion system hitherto reported and involves only a single specific export protein.

Escherichia coli↗

[Heat-stable hemolysin of Pseudomonas aeruginosa].

Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces at least two distinct hemolysins: heat-labile hemolysin, which is known as phospholipase C, and heat-stable hemolysin, which is considered to be a glycolipid but its true nature is not found yet. Cellophane agar plate method was applied to hasten and enhance the hemolysin production by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and the hemolysin obtained by this method was examined biochemically. This heat-stable hemolysin consisted of two major acidic glycolipids. One was considered to be the same glycolipid as that obtained by the same method of Jarvis and Johnson's from the peptone-glycerol culture filtrate of the same organism, which is composed of two moles of rhamnose and two moles of beta-hydroxy decanoic acid, and the other one being a glycolipid composed of one mole of rhamnose and two moles of beta-hydroxy decanoic acid. By this method, the rhamnolipid with one mole of rhamnose was produced more than the rhamnolipid with two moles of rhamnose, and they were produced in the same ratio from the first to fifth culture day. From the examinations of hemolytic activities of the hydrolyzed products of these glycolipids, the hemolysis producing moiety of the hemolysin was considered to be the dimer of beta-hydroxy decanoic acid contained in the glycolipid molecule. Hemolytic activities of these glycolipids are regarded as their detergent like effects. Since these activities are interfered by small amount of serum protein, their pathogenic role would not be important in vitro. However, their interaction with other toxic substances produced by this organism would be subject to be solved.

Bacteriological Techniques↗

Interaction of thermostable direct hemolysin of Vibrio parahaemolyticus with human erythrocytes.

The interaction between thermostable direct hemolysin produced by Vibrio parahaemolyticus WP-1 and human erythrocytes was studied. The lysis of human erythrocytes by the hemolysin was dependent of temperature and no hemolysis occurred at low temperature (0-4 C), but the hemolysin was adsorbed on human erythrocytes even at low temperature. No hemolysis was observed when antihemolysin antiserum was mixed with the hemolysin and human erythrocytes at zero time. On the other hand, lysis of the cells by hemolysin was not completely inhibited when the antiserum was added during the lag time and the inhibitory effect decreased with delay in the time of addition of antiserum. The inhibitory effect of the antiserum decreased with increase in the incubation temperature, increase in the concentration of divalent cations, and decrease in pH. These results suggest that lysis of human erythrocytes by the hemolysin is at least a two-step process consisting of adsorption of the hemolysin to human erythrocytes and the step(s) following adsorption.

Adsorption↗

Effects of tryptophan analogs, mitomycin C and acridine orange on the production of filtrable hemolysin by Escherichia coli.

Bacteriostatic doses of 5-methyltryptophan and of 7-azatryptophan exert a complete inhibition on the in vitro production of filtrable hemolysin by Escherichia coli. This inhibition is readily overcome by L-tryptophan, and does not seem to be specific but secondary to an interference with de novo protein synthesis and cell multiplication as is observed with chloramphenicol in sensitive strains. Although the influence of the two tryptophan analogs on hemolysin production and cell multiplication is similar, their mechanism of action at the molecular level appears to be different. The addition of 50 microg/ml 7-azatryptophan which causes an unbalanced growth characterized by an arrest of the cellular division and an increase of cell size, blocks the production of an active hemolysin. Exposure to 4 microg/ml 5-methyltryptophan also prevents cell multiplication and hemolysin production but no sign of unbalanced growth is evident. Mitomycin C in concentrations sufficient to prevent increase in the number of viable units provokes an extreme elongation of E. coli cells and, apparently, does not stop the synthesis of hemolysin. In blocking the production of hemolysin the three inhibitors of protein synthesis used in this study were more effective than mitomycin C an agent known to affect deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis and to induce extrachromosomic genetic factors. Results of conjugation experiments also described here support the finding of other workers that the genetic factor that controls the production of the filtrable hemolysin in E. coli can be transmitted by conjugation. Acridine orange eliminated the hemolytic property from a large proportion of the population of a hemolytic strain which did not carry the R factor, but was little effective in the strains which had received both the R factor and the hemolytic character by conjugation.

Acridines↗

Crystallization of truncated hemolysin A from Proteus mirabilis.

Proteus species are second only to Escherichia coli as the most common causative agent of Gram-negative bacteria-based urinary-tract infections and many harbor several virulence factors that provide inherent uropathogenicity. One virulence factor stems from a two-partner secretion pathway comprised of hemolysin A and hemolysin B; upon hemolysin B-dependent secretion, hemolysin A becomes activated. This system is distinct from the classic type I secretion pathway exemplified by the hemolysin system within Escherichia coli. In order to describe the mechanism by which hemolysin A is activated for pore formation, an amino-terminal truncated form capable of complementing the non-secreted full-length hemolysin A and thereby restoring hemolytic activity has been constructed, expressed and purified. A room-temperature data set has been collected to 2.5 A resolution. The crystal belongs to the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2, with unit-cell parameters a = 34.47, b = 58.40, c = 119.74 A. The asymmetric unit is expected to contain a single monomer, which equates to a Matthews coefficient of 1.72 A3 Da(-1) and a solvent content of 28.3%.

Cloning, Molecular↗

Biochemical and Immunological Effects of Listeria monocytogenes Hemolysin.

The biochemical and immunological effects of Listeria monocytogenes hemolysin in CD-1 mice were studied. Intraperitoneal injection of 256 complete hemolytic units (CHU) caused a twofold increase in plasma beta-glucuronidase levels but was not lethal. In contrast, 256 or more CHU caused 100% lethality in 4 to 5 min when administered intravenously. Intravenous administration of 50 CHU caused a 10- to 11-fold increase in plasma beta-glucuronidase levels and was lethal for a variable percentage of the animals. Carbon clearance experiments showed the phagocytic index to be depressed by relatively small amounts of intravenously administered hemolysin and suggested that hemolysin may function as a leucocidal agressin during listeric infection. Increased plasma levels of ornithine carbamyltransferase after intravenous injection of hemolysin indicated hepatocellular damage. Liver carbohydrate and blood glucose determinations on fasted mice showed a reduced gluconeogenic capability in hemolysin-treated animals. Mice immunized with purified hemolysin or live vaccine were more resistant to several of the toxic parameters studied. The data indicate that hemolysin is produced during listeric infection and is antigenic, but not necessarily a protective immunogen.

Journal Article↗