Murein biosynthesis and O-acetylation of N-acetylmuramic acid during the cell-division cycle of Proteus mirabilis.
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The cell wall composition, the configuration of lactic acid produced from glucose under anaerobic conditions, the occurrence of fructose-1,6-diphosphate (FDP) activated L-lactate dehydrogenase (L-LDH), and the esterase pattern were determined from more than 80 strains of coagulase-positive staphylococci isolated from man and animal. Strains isolated from man, swine, bovines and hares form a rather homogeneous group. They exhibit a similar cell wall composition, produce predominantly D,L-lactate and have a characteristic and simple esterase pattern. Coagulase-positive staphylococci isolated from dogs, horses, minks and pigeons are quite distinct from typical Staphylococcus aureus strains. They exhibit a different cell wall composition, produce only L-lactate, possess an L-LDH which is specifically activated by FDP, and have a quite complex esterase pattern.
Purified murein from Thiobacillus neapolitanus was poorly digested by lysozyme. It's sensitivity to the enzyme greatly increased after N-acetylation. The murein was found to contain 30 to 35% glucosamine residues lacking N-acetyl groups. It also contained phosphomuramic acid. Further modifications included amidation of diaminopimelic acid in the peptide side chains and a low alanine content. None of these modifications were found in the murein of another sulphur bacterium, Thiobacillus versutus.
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We report here that wild-type Escherichia coli grows on N-acetylmuramic acid (MurNAc) as the sole source of carbon and energy. Analysis of mutants defective in N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) catabolism revealed that the catabolic pathway for MurNAc merges into the GlcNAc pathway on the level of GlcNAc 6-phosphate. Furthermore, analysis of mutants defective in components of the phosphotransferase system (PTS) revealed that a PTS is essential for growth on MurNAc. However, neither the glucose-, mannose/glucosamine-, nor GlcNAc-specific PTS (PtsG, ManXYZ, and NagE, respectively) was found to be necessary. Instead, we identified a gene at 55 min on the E. coli chromosome that is responsible for MurNAc uptake and growth. It encodes a single polypeptide consisting of the EIIB and C domains of a so-far-uncharacterized PTS that was named murP. MurP lacks an EIIA domain and was found to require the activity of the crr-encoded enzyme IIA-glucose (EIIA(Glc)), a component of the major glucose transport system for growth on MurNAc. murP deletion mutants were unable to grow on MurNAc as the sole source of carbon; however, growth was rescued by providing murP in trans expressed from an isopropylthiogalactopyranoside-inducible plasmid. A functional His(6) fusion of MurP was constructed, isolated from membranes, and identified as a polypeptide with an apparent molecular mass of 37 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blot analysis. Close homologs of MurP were identified in the genome of several bacteria, and we believe that these organisms might also be able to utilize MurNAc.
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Cadaverine links covalently to the D-glutamic acid residue of the peptidoglycan in Selenomonas ruminantium, a strictly anaerobic Gram-negative bacterium (Kamio, Y., Itoh, Y., and Terawaki, Y. (1981) J. Bacteriol. 146, 49-53). This report clarifies a physiological function of cadaverine in this organism by using DL-alpha-difluoromethyllysine, which had previously been shown to be a selective irreversible inhibitor of lysine decarboxylase of Mycoplasma dispar (Pösö, H., MaCann, P.P., Tanskanen, R., Bey, P., and Sjoerdsma, A. (1984) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 125, 205-210). DL-alpha-Difluoromethyllysine is now shown to be a potent and irreversible inhibitor of lysine decarboxylase of S. ruminantium in vitro; however, it did not inhibit the transfer of cadaverine to the alpha-carboxyl group of the D-glutamic acid residue of the peptidoglycan. DL-alpha-Difluoromethyllysine at 5 mM markedly inhibited the growth of the bacterium and caused rapid cell lysis. Immediately before the cell lysis, almost all cells became swollen, and such cells showed a loosened envelope structure when studied by electron microscopy. The peptidoglycan prepared from the DL-alpha-difluoromethyllysine-treated cells did not have covalently linked cadaverine. The growth inhibition by DL-alpha-difluoromethyllysine was completely reversed by adding cadaverine (1 mM) to the medium. Furthermore, the exogenous cadaverine was exclusively incorporated into the peptidoglycan in the presence of DL-alpha-difluoromethyllysine (5 mM), and a normal peptidoglycan was synthesized. The cell lysis and the formation of an abnormal cell structure were completely prevented by cadaverine added to the medium. We conclude that cadaverine covalently linked to the peptidoglycan in S. ruminantium is an essential constituent of the peptidoglycan and is required for cell surface integrity and the normal growth of S. ruminantium.
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Bacteroides forsythus is the first wild-type or mutant bacterium found to require exogenous N-acetylmuramic acid for proliferation and maintenance of cell shape. This implies so far unknown pathways for peptidoglycan synthesis and a strict dependence of B. forsythus on other bacteria in its oral habitat. Addition of N-acetylmuramic acid to conventional bacteriological media allows routine cultivation of this fastidious organism.
The presence of N-acetylmuramic acid in glycoconjugates in various mollusc tissues was investigated by histochemical and immunocytochemical techniques. The tissues studied included foot, mantle, digestive gland, ganglia and haemocytes of Helix aspersa, Planorbarius corneus, Murex brandaris and Trunculariposis trunculus. Sialic acid residues were found to be absent. The possibility that N-acetylmuramic acid replaces sialic acid in acid glycoconjugates of gastropods with similar properties is discussed.
The central thesis of this essay is that the cytokine network in brain is a key element in the humoral regulation of sleep responses to infection and in the physiological regulation of sleep. We hypothesize that many cytokines, their cellular receptors, soluble receptors, and endogenous antagonists are involved in physiological sleep regulation. The expressions of some cytokines are greatly amplified by microbial challenge. This excess cytokine production during infection induces sleep responses. The excessive sleep and wakefulness that occur at different times during the course of the infectious process results from dynamic changes in various cytokines that occur during the host's response to infectious challenge. Removal of any one somnogenic cytokine inhibits normal sleep, alters the cytokine network by changing the cytokine mix, but does not completely disrupt sleep due to the redundant nature of the cytokine network. The cytokine network operates in a paracrine/autocrine fashion and is responsive to neuronal use. Finally, cytokines elicit their somnogenic actions via endocrine and neurotransmitter systems as well as having direct effects neurons and glia. Evidence in support of these postulates is reviewed in this essay.
Shigella strains are human pathogens and normally identified based on their O antigens. The chemical structure and gene cluster of Shigella boydii type 17 O antigen were studied. As judged by sugar and methylation analyses along with NMR spectroscopy data, the O antigen of S. boydii type 17 has a linear trisaccharide O unit, which consists of two residues of N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) and a 4-O-[(R)-1-carboxyethyl]-d-glucose (glucolactilic acid). The O antigen gene cluster of S. boydii type 17 was sequenced and genes encoding UDP-N-acetylglucosamine C4 epimerase for GalNAc synthesis, O unit flippase, O antigen polymerase, and glycosyltransferases were putatively identified based on sequence similarities and the presence of conserved motifs. Two genes, whose functions could not be clearly indicated by homology search, were confirmed to be involved in the synthesis of glucolactilic acid by mutation and structural verification of the O antigens from the mutants. To our knowledge, this is the first time that genes involved in the synthesis of glucolactilic acid have been reported. Two genes specific to S. boydii type 17 were also identified.
Clones containing the pbpB gene which encodes penicillin-binding protein (PBP) 3 of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were detected by hybridization by PCR amplification with primers based on the conserved sequences of high-molecular-weight PBPs. The translated amino acid sequence demonstrated 45% identity and had a total of 66% conserved amino acids relative to the Escherichia coli PBP3. The pbpB gene was located upstream of a gene homologous to the E. coli murE gene, which encodes uridine diphosphate-N-acetyl muramic acid-tripeptide synthetase. The overexpressed pbpB gene product reacted with 3H-penicillin G and had an apparent molecular weight of 60,000.
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