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Candida dubliniensis is an uncommon cause of bloodstream infection. We describe the first reported case of endocarditis caused by C. dubliniensis and the use of a rapid and novel real-time PCR assay based on the internal transcribed spacer 2 variable region of the rRNA operon that was used to identify this organism.
The increasing incidence of opportunistic fungal infections necessitates rapid and accurate identification of the associated fungi to facilitate optimal patient treatment. Traditional phenotype-based identification methods utilized in clinical laboratories rely on the production and recognition of reproductive structures, making identification difficult or impossible when these structures are not observed. We hypothesized that DNA sequence analysis of multiple loci is useful for rapidly identifying medically important molds. Our study included the analysis of the D1/D2 hypervariable region of the 28S ribosomal gene and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions 1 and 2 of the rRNA operon. Two hundred one strains, including 143 clinical isolates and 58 reference and type strains, representing 43 recognized species and one possible new species, were examined. We generated a phenotypically validated database of 118 diagnostic alleles. DNA length polymorphisms detected among ITS1 and ITS2 PCR products can differentiate 20 of 33 species of molds tested, and ITS DNA sequence analysis permits identification of all species tested. For 42 of 44 species tested, conspecific strains displayed >99% sequence identity at ITS1 and ITS2; sequevars were detected in two species. For all 44 species, identifications by genotypic and traditional phenotypic methods were 100% concordant. Because dendrograms based on ITS sequence analysis are similar in topology to 28S-based trees, we conclude that ITS sequences provide phylogenetically valid information and can be utilized to identify clinically important molds. Additionally, this phenotypically validated database of ITS sequences will be useful for identifying new species of pathogenic molds.
RNA editing occurs in two higher-plant organelles, chloroplasts and mitochondria. Because chloroplasts and mitochondria exhibit some similarity in editing site selection, we investigated whether mitochondrial RNA sequences could be edited in chloroplasts. We produced transgenic tobacco plants that contained chimeric genes in which the second exon of a Petunia hybrida mitochondrial coxII gene was under the control of chloroplast gene regulatory sequences. coxII transcripts accumulated to low or high levels in transgenic chloroplasts containing chimeric genes with the plastid ribosomal protein gene rps16 or the rRNA operon promoter, respectively. Exon 2 of coxII was chosen because it carries seven editing sites and is edited in petunia mitochondria even when located in an abnormal context in an aberrant recombined gene. When editing of the coxII transcripts in transgenic chloroplasts was examined, no RNA editing at any of the usual sites was detected, nor was there any novel editing at any other sites. These results indicate that the RNA editing mechanisms of chloroplasts and mitochondria are not identical but must have at least some organelle-specific components.
The control of rRNA synthesis in response to both extra- and intracellular signals has been a subject of interest to microbial physiologists for nearly four decades, beginning with the observations that Salmonella typhimurium cells grown on rich medium are larger and contain more RNA than those grown on poor medium. This was followed shortly by the discovery of the stringent response in Escherichia coli, which has continued to be the organism of choice for the study of rRNA synthesis. In this review, we summarize four general areas of E. coli rRNA transcription control: stringent control, growth rate regulation, upstream activation, and anti-termination. We also cite similar mechanisms in other bacteria and eukaryotes. The separation of growth rate-dependent control of rRNA synthesis from stringent control continues to be a subject of controversy. One model holds that the nucleotide ppGpp is the key effector for both mechanisms, while another school holds that it is unlikely that ppGpp or any other single effector is solely responsible for growth rate-dependent control. Recent studies on activation of rRNA synthesis by cis-acting upstream sequences has led to the discovery of a new class of promoters that make contact with RNA polymerase at a third position, called the UP element, in addition to the well-known -10 and -35 regions. Lastly, clues as to the role of antitermination in rRNA operons have begun to appear. Transcription complexes modified at the antiterminator site appear to elongate faster and are resistant to the inhibitory effects of ppGpp during the stringent response.
Three abundant ubiquitous DNA-binding protein factors appear to play a major role in the control of ribosome biosynthesis in yeast. Two of these factors mediate the regulation of transcription of ribosomal protein genes (rp-genes) in yeasts. Most yeast rp-genes are under transcriptional control of Rap1p (repressor-activator protein), while a small subset of rp-genes is activated through Abf1p (ARS binding factor). The third protein, designated Reb1p (rRNA enhancer binding protein), which binds strongly to two sites located upstream of the enhancer and the promoter of the rRNA operon, respectively, appears to play a crucial role in the efficient transcription of the chromosomal rDNA. All three proteins, however, have many target sites on the yeast genome, in particular, in the upstream regions of several Pol II transcribed genes, suggesting that they play a much more general role than solely in the regulation of ribosome biosynthesis. Furthermore, some evidence has been obtained suggesting that these factors influence the chromatin structure and creat a nucleosome-free region surrounding their binding sites. Recent studies indicate that the proteins can functionally replace each other in various cases and that they act synergistically with adjacent additional DNA sequences. These data suggest that Abf1p, Rap1p, and Reb1p are primary DNA-binding proteins that serve to render adjacent cis-acting elements accessible to specific trans-acting factors.
BACKGROUND: Bacillus licheniformis is a Gram-positive, spore-forming soil bacterium that is used in the biotechnology industry to manufacture enzymes, antibiotics, biochemicals and consumer products. This species is closely related to the well studied model organism Bacillus subtilis, and produces an assortment of extracellular enzymes that may contribute to nutrient cycling in nature. RESULTS: We determined the complete nucleotide sequence of the B. licheniformis ATCC 14580 genome which comprises a circular chromosome of 4,222,336 base-pairs (bp) containing 4,208 predicted protein-coding genes with an average size of 873 bp, seven rRNA operons, and 72 tRNA genes. The B. licheniformis chromosome contains large regions that are colinear with the genomes of B. subtilis and Bacillus halodurans, and approximately 80% of the predicted B. licheniformis coding sequences have B. subtilis orthologs. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the unmistakable organizational similarities between the B. licheniformis and B. subtilis genomes, there are notable differences in the numbers and locations of prophages, transposable elements and a number of extracellular enzymes and secondary metabolic pathway operons that distinguish these species. Differences include a region of more than 80 kilobases (kb) that comprises a cluster of polyketide synthase genes and a second operon of 38 kb encoding plipastatin synthase enzymes that are absent in the B. licheniformis genome. The availability of a completed genome sequence for B. licheniformis should facilitate the design and construction of improved industrial strains and allow for comparative genomics and evolutionary studies within this group of Bacillaceae.
Finishing is rate limiting for genome projects, and improvements in the efficiency of complete genome-sequence compilation will require improved protocols for gap closure. Here we report a novel approach for extending shotgun contigs and closing gaps that we termed PCR-assisted contig extension (PACE). PACE depends on the capture of rare mismatched interactions that occur between arbitrary primers and template DNA of unknown sequence, even under highly stringent conditions, by means of elevated PCR-cycle repetition and the use of specific anchoring primers corresponding to adjacent regions of known sequence. Using PACE, we have generated extensions with an average of 1 kb from all contigs generated from the shotgun sequencing of a 5-Mb genome, which closed the majority of gaps with a single round of experimentation. This included the generation of multiple extensions for contigs that terminated in one of the eight copies of the rRNA operon. We calculate that the switch from shotgun sequencing to PACE should occur between 5- and 8-fold genome coverage for maximum benefit and minimum overall cost. PACE is a robust and straightforward strategy that should simplify the finishing phase of bacterial genome projects.
A nucleic acid-based method was evaluated in the course of a study of microbial community structure in the cricket hindgut. Genomic DNA was extracted from the hindgut microbial community of Acheta domesticus and used as a template in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method, using primers that align to well conserved regions of the 16S rRNA gene. The rDNA-PCR product was used as a community probe to generate restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) of hindgut bacterial isolates and gut microbial communities of insects fed different diets. Fingerprints of the bacterial isolates consisted of several bands suggesting multiple rRNA operons. In contrast with soil communities, hindgut community RFLP contained distinguishable band patterns. However, community rDNA fingerprints were complex and varied among insects fed similar diets, suggesting considerable intrinsic variability in the hindgut microbial community structure between crickets regardless of dietary regime. These results suggest that community RFLP methods using broad-specific phylogenetic probes do not have the resolution or specificity required to ascertain the effect of diet on the cricket hindgut microbial community structure.
Reported strains of Piscirickettsia salmonis, a pathogen of salmonid fishes, were analyzed by amplifying part of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) operon followed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of the amplicons. All amplified fragments differing in sequence were distinguished by migration during DGGE. A simpler format, constant denaturant gel electrophoresis (CDGE), allowed the same diagnostic distinctions among strains. Sampling during 1997 and 1998 of salmonids from 5 different sites on and near Chiloé Island in southern Chile displaying piscirickettsiosis revealed only P. salmonis resembling LF-89, the type strain first isolated in 1989. These observations are encouraging for control strategies, which might otherwise be compromised by unpredictable shifts of P. salmonis types in salmon farms. A competitive PCR assay offered insight about the power of PCR for quantification and about specific tissue invasiveness by this intracellular pathogen. This approach revealed that the PCR could amplify approximately 1 to 10 P. salmonis genome equivalents against a background of > 99.9% salmonid DNA. It also raised the possibility that the salmonid brain is an important site for P. salmonis survival, with its bacterial load in 1 individual having been about 100 times the loads observed in liver and kidney. Pathogen detection by competitive PCR in a surface seawater sample from a netpen in use indicated a density of about 3000 to 4000 P. salmonis cells (or their DNA remnants) 1(-1). Such quantitative estimates should aid decisions about disease prevention and management as, for example, choice of netpen sites following fallow periods and certification of ova, which are known conduits of infection.
An Australian (New South Wales) isolate of Bonamia was characterised at the molecular level by sequencing the 18S-ITS-1 region of the small subunit rRNA operon obtained from flat oysters Ostrea angasi shown to be infected by histological examination. Sequence data alignment with homologous genes from 2 other isolates of Bonamia (New Zealand and France) revealed high levels of nucleotide identity with both isolates. However, the Australian Bonamia is shown to be more closely related to the New Zealand isolate, suggesting the existence of an oceanic subgroup of Bonamia.
The subtyping and identification of bacterial pathogens throughout food processing and production chains is useful to the new hazard analysis critical control point-based food safety plans. Traditional manual serotyping remains the primary means of subtyping Salmonella isolates. Molecular biology techniques, however, offer the promise of more rapid and sensitive subtyping of Salmonella. This study evaluates the potential of restriction enzyme PvuII, followed by probing with the rRNA operon from Escherichia coli, to generate serotype-specific DNA fingerprints. A total of 32 identified serotypes were found with an overall agreement in 208 of the 259 (80%) isolates tested between U.S. Department of Agriculture serotype identification and riboprint serotype identification. Many of the isolates that did not correlate were serotype identified as Salmonella Montevideo, which indicates that for this serotype, there are multiple ribotypes. When Salmonella Montevideo isolates were not included, the ribotype identification agreed with serotyping in 207 of the 231 (90%) isolates. The primary outcome of any ribotyping procedure is to give distinct ribotype patterns. This extensive poultry epidemiological study demonstrates that, in addition to ribotype patterns, the identification of isolates to known serotypes provides the investigator with additional information that can be more useful than traditional epidemiology and isolate identification studies.
During amino acid starvation the synthesis of rRNA and tRNA is specifically inhibited (stringently controlled) in wild type Escherichia coli but not in relaxed strains carrying the relA mutation. We have found that the in vivo transcription of a hybrid rrnB rRNA operon, in which the normal promoter region has been replaced by the lambda PL promoter, is under stringent control even though this promoter lacks the "stringent discriminator" sequence postulated to be required for stringent control. Furthermore, we have found that transcription of the rrnB operon from a phage T7 promoter, as well as T7 genes in general, by phage T7 RNA polymerase is also subject to stringent control in vivo. These results are consistent with the idea that stringent control acts in a relatively nonspecific manner to inhibit some step(s) in transcription that are often rate-limiting for very active transcription. The relative simplicity of transcription by phage T7 RNA polymerase should offer a good system to study the molecular mechanisms of stringent control.
In South Africa from early 1989 onward, strains of Haemophilus paragallinarum not requiring nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) have been isolated from commercial chickens suffering from infectious coryza. Fifteen of these field isolates were characterized by biochemical typing, serotyping, restriction endonuclease analysis (REA), and ribotyping. The chosen isolates represented diversity in geographic location, time of disease outbreak, and type of flock. All were typical of the species in biochemical properties, except that they were NAD-independent, and all were Page serovar A. REA was performed with three enzymes: HindIII, HpaII, and SspI. All isolates gave identical REA profiles with all three enzymes. Ribotyping was performed using a probe that consisted of the plasmid pUC19 into which the 16S rRNA operon of H. paragallinarum had been inserted. All 15 isolates gave the same ribotyping profile using each of the three enzymes. As a group, the NAD-independent strains gave REA profiles and ribotypes that were very different from a range of classic South African strains isolated before 1989. Our results strongly suggest that the NAD-independent isolates are clonal in nature.
Repeated nucleotide sequences fitting the motif TGTTTGAAAAACTGA have been found in the Mycoplasma bovis genome. The tetradecamer sequences are also in spacer regions of rRNA operons of some species of Mollicutes. The sequences look like the DNA sites recognized by topoisomerase I from Tetrahymena pyriformis. Imperfect copies of the sequences are known to be in genomes of viruses, lower and higher eukaryotes.
The relationship between toxigenicity and phylogeny within the cyanobacterial genus Microcystis is unclear. To investigate this issue, we have designed PCR primers for the N-methyltransferase (NMT) domain of the microcystin synthetase gene mcyA and have probed 37 Microcystis sp. cultures as well as several field samples. The NMT region was present in all 18 laboratory strains that gave positive reactions in the protein phosphatase inhibition assay for microcystin but was absent in 17 nontoxic strains. Two other nontoxic strains, one of which had previously been reported to produce microcystin, possessed the NMT region. Detection of NMT-specific DNA in field samples corresponded to periods of toxicity as assessed by protein phosphatase inhibition. The Microcystis strains formed a monophyletic cluster based on 16S rRNA gene sequences but comprised two groups with respect to phycocyanin intergenic spacer (PC-IGS) sequences. Toxic and nontoxic strains appeared to be erratically distributed within the PC-IGS and 16S rRNA trees. Sequence analysis of the NMT domain revealed two coherent groups. The genomic region immediately downstream of the mcyABC cluster in all 20 NMT-positive strains contained an open reading frame of unknown function (uma1) at a conserved distance from mcyC. All nontoxic strains also contained uma1, which is not cotranscribed with mcyABC. The consistent linkage of mcyC to uma1 suggests that mcyC has not been frequently transferred into nontoxic strains via any mechanism involving insertion at random chromosomal locations. These results are discussed with respect to various mechanisms that could explain the patchy distribution of toxigenicity among the various Microcystis clades.
The synthesis of 5S rRNA and 4.5S RNA in E. coli HB 101 cells harbouring plasmids pKK 5-1 and pKK 247-2 was studied. The plasmids were derived from pBK 322 and contained genes coding for 5S rRNA and 4.5S RNA with regulatory elements of an rRNA transcription operon rrn B. When the cells were grown on enriched or minimal media (2 and 0.3 duplications per hour), the synthesis of both 5S rRNA and 4.5S RNA was proportional to the gene dosage and was greater in the plasmid than in the host strain. Such RNA accumulation did not change the cell growth parameters and was thus not toxic for the cells. At high growth rates, the RNA synthesis in the cells became excessive, and the processing system was upset with the accumulation of RNA precursors. The fact confirms the hypothesis, according to which the whole rRNA operon is essential for its own feedback regulation.
When the number of rRNA (rrn) operons in an Escherichia coli cells is increased by adding an rrn operon on a multicopy plasmid, the rate of rRNA expression per operon is reduced to maintain a constant concentration of rRNA in the cell. We have used electron microscopy to examine rRNA transcription in cells containing a multicopy plasmid carrying rrnB. We found that there were fewer RNA polymerase molecules transcribing the rrn genes, as predicted from previous gene dosage studies. Furthermore, RNA polymerase molecules were arranged in irregularly spaced groups along the operon. No apparent pause or transcription termination sites that would account for the irregular spacing of the groups of polymerase molecules were observed. We also found that the overall transcription elongation rate was unchanged when the rrn gene dosage was increased. Our data suggest that when rrn gene dosage is increased, initiation events, or promoter-proximal elongation events, are interrupted at irregular time intervals.
A derivative of Mycobacterium smegmatis, which carries only one functional rRNA (rrn) operon, was used to isolate mutants resistant to the ribosome-targeted antibiotic linezolid. Isolation and characterization of linezolid-resistant clones revealed two classes of mutants. Ribosomes from class I mutants are resistant to oxazolidinones in an in vitro peptidyl transferase assay, indicating that resistance maps to the ribosome component. In contrast, ribosomes from class II mutants show wild-type susceptibility to a linezolid derivative in vitro, pointing to a non-ribosomal mechanism of resistance. Introduction of a wild-type ribosomal RNA operon into linezolid-resistant strains restored linezolid sensitivity in class I mutants, indicating that resistance (i) maps to the rRNA and (ii) is recessive. Sequencing of the entire rrn operon identified a single nucleotide alteration in 23S rRNA of class I mutant strains, 2447G --> T (Escherichia coli numbering). Introduction of mutant rrl2447T into M. smegmatis rrn- resulted in a linezolid-resistant phenotype, demonstrating a cause-effect relationship of the 2447G --> T alteration. The 2447G --> T mutation, which renders M. smegmatis linezolid resistant, confers lethality in E. coli. This finding is strong evidence of structural and pos-sibly functional differences between the ribosomes of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. In agreement with the results of the in vitro assay, class II mutants show a wild-type sequence of the complete rRNA operon. The lack of cross-resistance of the class II mutants to other antibiotics suggests a resistance mechanism other than activation of a broad-spectrum multidrug transporter.