Sequences of pilin genes from four strains of serogroup B of the ovine pathogen Bacteroides nodosus have been determined. These sequences permit comparisons of amino acid sequence between pilins from different subtypes (B1, B2, B3, B4) of the B serogroup and assessment of intraserogroup variation. Pili of B. nodosus strains 234 (B1) and 183 (B2) were produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa harboring...

Thin pili of the closely related IncI1 plasmids ColIb-P9 and R64 are required only for liquid mating and belong to the type IV family of pili. They were sedimented by ultracentrifugation from culture medium in which Escherichia coli cells harboring ColIb-P9- or R64-derived plasmids had been grown, and then the pili were purified by CsCl density gradient centrifugation. In negatively stained thi...

Mapping of the microbial molecules underlying microbiota-host interactions is key to understand how microbiota preserve mucosal homeostasis. A pivotal family of such bacterial molecules are pili. Pili are proteinaceous cell wall appendages with a well-documented role in adhesion, whilst their role in immune interaction with the host is less established. Gram-positive pili are often posttranslat...

Many enterobacteria can cause agglutination of erythrocytes, but previous investigations have not proven which components of the bacteria are responsible. We used a strain of Escherichia coli K12 which causes mannose-sensitive hemagglutination (HA) of guinea pig cells. Common pili were purified from these bacteria by shearing them from the bacteria followed by selective precipitation in acid an...

PURPOSE: Pili (fimbriae) have frequently been found to be involved in the attachment of bacteria to mucosal epithelial cells, an important initial step in the disease process. The purpose of this study was to determine if BrunhameZZa catarrhalis expresses type 4 pili. MATERIALSANDMETHODS: Piliated B. caturrhalis phenotypic characteristics of colony morphology, agar corrosion, twitching motility...

Two major classes of chromosomally encoded Escherichia coli pili have been defined functionally by their receptor specificities. Common pili are termed "mannose-sensitive" (MS). They bind Tamm-Horsfal l uromucoid and their agglutination of guinea pig erythrocytes is inhibited by o-mannose. In contrast, mannose-resistant (MR) pili agglutinate human erythrocytes in the presence of D-mannose. Most...

The conductive pili of Geobacter species play an important role in electron transfer to Fe(III) oxides, in long-range electron transport through current-producing biofilms, and in direct interspecies electron transfer. Although multiple lines of evidence have indicated that the pili of Geobacter sulfurreducens have a metal-like conductivity, independent of the presence of c-type cytochromes, th...

cGVHD: chronic graft-vs-host disease HSCT: hematopoietic stem cell transplant INTRODUCTION Pili torti is a term that originates from Latin (pili meaning hair, torti meaning twisted) used to describe the irregularly flattened and twisted appearance of hair shafts on microscopic hair mount evaluation. Clinically, affected patients have fragile, coarse, and sparse hair. The 1808 rotation along the...

Type IV pili play an important role in bacterial adhesion, motility, and biofilm formation. Here we present high-resolution atomic force microscopy (AFM) images of type IV pili from Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria. An individual pilus ranges in length from 0.5 to 7 microm and has a diameter from 4 to 6 nm, although often, pili bundles in which the individual filaments differed in both length an...