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At least 1,225 records · Page 68Linked to original sources
PubMed1971

Phenotypic reversion in some early blocked sporulation mutants of Bacillus subtilis: isolation and phenotype identification of partial revertants.

Single-step mutants of Bacillus subtilis blocked at stage zero of sporulation (spoO mutants) are pleiotropic. They are impaired in several traits, including increased sensitivity to polymyxin B, when compared to the wild type. Revertants for one or another of the traits associated in this pleiotropy have been isolated and classified according to their phenotypes. Attention was centered on partial revertants (spoO still), of which at least three classes could be recognized. Class I partial revertants recovered a high level of resistance to polymyxin and, in a constant order, a variable number of the other traits; some kind of hierarchy is thus revealed to exist among the traits affected in the original pleiotropy. Partial revertants in the other two classes are still hypersensitive to polymyxin. In class II revertants, ability to excrete exoenzymes and antibiotic(s) is recovered to various extents. Only inducibility of nitrate reductase by nitrate is recovered in class III mutants. The possible significance of these observations is discussed.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1972

Isolation and partial characterization of regulatory mutants of the pyrimidine pathway in Salmonella typhimurium.

Mutants of Salmonella typhimurium affected in the regulation of pyrimidine biosynthesis were isolated by two methods. The first involved screening for bacteria able to feed a pyrimidine-requiring indicator strain, and the second involved selection for bacteria simultaneously resistant to two pyrimidine analogues, 5-fluorouracil and 5-fluorouridine, in a S. typhimurium strain unable to degrade 5-fluorouridine. Among the mutants isolated by these methods are constitutive mutants, producing high levels of pyrimidine biosynthetic enzymes in the presence or absence of pyrimidines, and feedback modified mutants, in which aspartate transcarbamylase is partially desensitized to its inhibitor, cytidine triphosphate. No fully desensitized mutant has been found. The partially desensitized character cotransduces with the pyrB locus, that of aspartate transcarbamylase. The constitutive character has been determined in a few cases to be localized in the region of leu and pro on the Salmonella map.

Aspartic Acid↗
PubMed1998

Tuberculosis one century after R. Koch.

The molecular revolution is beginning to have an impact on all aspects of tuberculosis. Work in diagnostics is expected to progress in maximizing genetic testing of mycobacteria. Drug development will benefit from recently acquired knowledge on molecular mechanisms of drug action. The availability of the complete genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and better tools for genetic work with mycobacteria, will promote the development of vaccine candidates. Our work has contributed to the definition of the mechanisms of resistance to rifampin, fluoroquinolones, and ethambutol, and, using molecular analysis, to a better understanding of the epidemiology of mycobacterial infections. This overview of the direction of tuberculosis research today illustrates the impact of novel scientific approaches on the investigation of old problems.

Antitubercular Agents↗
PubMed1971

Nature of the penetration barrier in Escherichia coli K-12: effect of macromolecular inhibition of penetrability in strains containing the envA gene.

The envA mutation in Escherichia coli K-12, which maps at 1.5 min, was previously shown to mediate sensitivity to gentian violet as well as to several antibiotics. Moreover, strains containing the envA gene were recently found to be lysed by lysozyme in the absence of ethylenediaminetetraacetate. It is here reported that the envA mutation mediates an increased uptake of gentian violet. The uptake of the dye was markedly affected by growth with different antibiotics interfering with macromolecular synthesis. Amino acid starvation of a strain containing envA with a stringent control of ribonucleic acid (RNA) synthesis resulted in a decreased uptake of gentian violet. However, no decrease in dye uptake was found during starvation in an envA transductant with a relaxed control of RNA synthesis. Inhibition of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis by nalidixic acid decreased the uptake of gentian violet of envA cells and, in addition, rendered the cells insensitive to the lytic action of lysozyme. Chloramphenicol treatment increased penetrability in wild-type and starved envA cells. In most instances, this effect of chloramphenicol was prevented by selectively interfering with DNA or RNA synthesis. A coordinate regulation of nucleic acid synthesis and penetrability is suggested.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed2024

A trait-based ecological perspective on the soil microbial antibiotic-related genetic machinery.

Antibiotic resistance crisis dictates the need for resistance monitoring and the search for new antibiotics. The development of monitoring protocols is hindered by the great diversity of resistance factors, while the "streetlight effect" denies the possibility of discovering novel drugs based on existing databases. In this study, we address these challenges using high-throughput environmental screening viewed from a trait-based ecological perspective. Through an in-depth analysis of the metagenomes of 658 topsoil samples spanning Europe, we explored the distribution of 241 prokaryotic and fungal genes responsible for producing metabolites with antibiotic properties and 485 antibiotic resistance genes. We analyzed the diversity of these gene collections at different levels and modeled the distribution of each gene across environmental gradients. Our analyses revealed several nonparallel distribution patterns of the genes encoding sequential steps of enzymatic pathways synthesizing large antibiotic groups, pointing to gaps in existing databases and suggesting potential for discovering new analogues of known antibiotics. We show that agricultural activity caused a continental-scale homogenization of microbial antibiotic-related machinery, emphasizing the importance of maintaining indigenous ecosystems within the landscape mosaic. Based on the relationships between the proportion of the genes in the metagenomes with the main predictors (soil pH, land cover type, climate temperature and humidity), we illustrate how the properties of chemical structures dictate the distribution of the genes responsible for their synthesis across environments. With this understanding, we propose general principles to facilitate the discovery of antibiotics, including principally new ones, establish abundance baselines for antibiotic resistance genes, and predict their dissemination.

Soil Microbiology↗
PubMed1976

[Murine model for experimental studies on attenuated mutants of a Pasteurella multocida strain with pathogenicity for the calf. 1. Isolation and biological characterization of streptomycin-dependent mutants (Sm-d) and their examination for immunogenicity in comparison with thermally inactivated pathogens].

An experimental study was conducted into the immunisation of mice to a strain of Pasteurella multocida with pathogenicity for calf. Here are the results: (a) Stable Sm-d mutants were isolated. (b) The genetic stability of this mutant type was established by unsubstantiable reversion up to the magnitude of 10(-8) or - in cases in which 20 Sm-id revertants maximum occurred in 10(-8) Sm-d germs--by prolongation of the generation period of these suppressor mutants which can be defined also as minus mutants. (c) Stable attenuation of selected Sm-d mutants has been established in mice by intraperitoneal application of 108 germs. (d) Live germs with restricted reproduction exhibited more immunogenicity to thermally inactivated antigen.

Animals↗
PubMed1970

Plaque size heterogeneity: a genetic trait of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus.

All of the ten strains of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus assayed on BHK 21/13S cells showed various degrees of plaque size heterogeneity. The amount of virus released from these plaques was usually very small because of rapid photodynamic inactivation by neutral red. When virus from large and small plaques of a specific strain was plated, the same distribution of plaque size was obtained from each clone. Although it was shown that surface virus could possibly be randomly distributed at the time of addition of neutral red overlays, no virus could be isolated from nonplaque areas. Two different strains of virus (CA1371 and WE) with markedly different plaque size ranges were separated by plaque excision from plates infected with a mixture of both viruses.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Genetic improvement of processes yielding microbial products.

Although microorganisms are extremely good in presenting us with an amazing array of valuable products, they usually produce them only in amounts that they need for their own benefit; thus, they tend not to overproduce their metabolites. In strain improvement programs, a strain producing a high titer is usually the desired goal. Genetics has had a long history of contributing to the production of microbial products. The tremendous increases in fermentation productivity and the resulting decreases in costs have come about mainly by mutagenesis and screening/selection for higher producing microbial strains and the application of recombinant DNA technology.

Biological Factors↗
PubMed1972

Drug resistance in the Swedish/Norwegian BCG strain.

When a BCG strain is maintained by serial subcultures for several years, a change in its genetic properties may occur spontaneously. Such a change occurred in a strain maintained in the Norwegian State BCG Laboratory for 11 years. When received from Sweden in 1953, the strain was sensitive to the main tuberculostatics. However, in 1964, by mere chance, it was found to have become resistant to isoniazid. An examination of extant samples from the batches of freeze-dried vaccine produced during the period 1953-64 enabled the time and speed of the change to be determined. Although an alteration in drug sensitivity may not be harmful, it could cause a loss in the protective potency of a vaccine in man. It was to safeguard against this danger that the system of serial subcultures was discontinued and the seed lot system adopted, in accordance with WHO requirements.

BCG Vaccine↗
PubMed1998

Establishment of new genetic traits in a microbial biofilm community.

Conjugational transfer of the TOL plasmid (pWWO) was analyzed in a flow chamber biofilm community engaged in benzyl alcohol degradation. The community consisted of three species, Pseudomonas putida RI, Acinetobacter sp. strain C6, and an unidentified isolate, D8. Only P. putida RI could act as a recipient for the TOL plasmid. Cells carrying a chromosomally integrated lacIq gene and a lacp-gfp-tagged version of the TOL plasmid were introduced as donor strains in the biofilm community after its formation. The occurrence of plasmid-carrying cells was analyzed by viable-count-based enumeration of donors and transconjugants. Upon transfer of the plasmids to the recipient cells, expression of green fluorescence was activated as a result of zygotic induction of the gfp gene. This allowed a direct in situ identification of cells receiving the gfp-tagged version of the TOL plasmid. Our data suggest that the frequency of horizontal plasmid transfer was low, and growth (vertical transfer) of the recipient strain was the major cause of plasmid establishment in the biofilm community. Employment of scanning confocal laser microscopy on fixed biofilms, combined with simultaneous identification of P. putida cells and transconjugants by 16S rRNA hybridization and expression of green fluorescence, showed that transconjugants were always associated with noninfected P. putida RI recipient microcolonies. Pure colonies of transconjugants were never observed, indicating that proliferation of transconjugant cells preferentially took place on preexisting P. putida RI microcolonies in the biofilm.

Acinetobacter↗
PubMed1975

Methionine biosynthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. I. Genetical analysis of auxotrophic mutants.

In order to analyse how many structural genes are implicated in the specific steps of the biosynthesis of methionine in Sacch. cerevisiae, a hundred mutants were studied by complementation. 21 groups were defined named MET1 to MET25. Neither recombination between independent mutants of the same complementation group nor linkage between different groups was found. Preliminary to biochemical studies, mutants of each complementation group were tested for their capacity to utilize various precursors of methionine.

Genes↗