Cochliobolus heterostrophus race T, causal agent of southern corn leaf blight, requires T-toxin (a family of C35 to C49 polyketides) for high virulence on T-cytoplasm maize. Production of T-toxin is controlled by two unlinked loci, Tox1A and Tox1B, carried on 1.2 Mb of DNA not found in race O, a mildly virulent form of the fungus that does not produce T-toxin, or in any other Cochliobolus spp. ...

Toxin-binding proteins of insect midgut epithelial cells are associated with insect resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Cry toxins. A 5378 nt cDNA encoding a 1717 amino acid putative midgut cadherin-like glycoprotein and candidate Cry1Ab toxin-binding protein was characterized from Ostrinia nubilalis. Intraspecific alignment of partial O. nubilalis cadherin gene sequences identified varia...

Diarrheal diseases caused by Vibrio cholerae and enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) lead to millions of deaths each year. The protein toxins produced by these bacteria are 80% identical and comprise a single toxic A-subunit associated with a pentamer of B-subunits. The B-pentamer enables the toxin to enter cells by first binding to the ganglioside GM1 glycolipid 1 (Figure 1a,b). Inhibitors of this ...

greenhouse-grown red pine seedling, Pinus resinosa, when cultured on malt agar or potato dextrose agar (PDA) showed inhibitory activity against selected test fungi. Sensitive fungi included Ceratocystis ulmi (BUISM.) C. MOREAU, Pythium spp., Rhizoctonia solani KUHN, Cylindrocarpon sp., Fusarium oxysporum SCHLECT., and Sirococcus strobilinus PREUSS. When grown on PDA, a colorless crystalline sol...

At low density, Bacillus cereus cells release a large variety of proteins into the extracellular medium when cultivated in pH-regulated, glucose-containing minimal medium, either in the presence or absence of oxygen. The majority of these exoproteins are putative virulence factors, including toxin-related proteins. Here, B. cereus exoproteome time courses were monitored by nanoLC-MS/MS under lo...

Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes colonize mucosal surfaces of the human body to cause disease. A group of virulence factors known as superantigens are produced by both of these organisms that allows them to cause serious diseases from the vaginal (staphylococci) or oral mucosa (streptococci) of the body. Superantigens interact with T cells and APCs to cause massive cytokine rele...

Clostridium perfringens type B causes enteritis and enterotoxemia in domestic animals. By definition, these bacteria must produce alpha toxin (CPA), beta toxin (CPB) and epsilon toxin (ETX) although most type B strains also produce perfringolysin O (PFO) and beta2 toxin (CPB2). A recently identified Agr-like quorum-sensing (QS) system in C. perfringens controls all toxin production by surveyed ...

BACKGROUND Although useful for probing bacterial pathogenesis and physiology, current random mutagenesis systems suffer limitations for studying the toxin-producing bacterium Clostridium perfringens. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS An EZ-Tn5-based random mutagenesis approach was developed for use in C. perfringens. This mutagenesis system identified a new regulatory locus controlling toxin pro...

BACKGROUND Bovine necrohemorrhagic enteritis is caused by Clostridium perfringens type A. Due to the rapid progress and fatal outcome of the disease, vaccination would be of high value. In this study, C. perfringens toxins, either as native toxins or after formaldehyde inactivation, were evaluated as possible vaccine antigens. We determined whether antisera raised in calves against these toxins...

BACKGROUND Bovine enterotoxemia is a major cause of mortality in veal calves. Predominantly veal calves of beef cattle breeds are affected and losses due to enterotoxemia may account for up to 20% of total mortality. Clostridium perfringens type A is considered to be the causative agent. Recently, alpha toxin and perfringolysin O have been proposed to play an essential role in the development o...