The nucleotide sequence from the genome of Moraxella catarrhalis ATCC 43617 was annotated and used both to assess the metabolic capabilities and limitations of this bacterium and to design probes for a DNA microarray. An absence of gene products for utilization of exogenous carbohydrates was noteworthy and could be correlated with published phenotypic data. Gene products necessary for aerobic e...

Moraxella catarrhalis is an exclusively human pathogen that is an important cause of otitis media in children and lower respiratory tract infections in adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A vaccine to prevent M. catarrhalis infections would have an enormous global impact in reducing morbidity resulting from these infections. Substrate binding protein 2 (SBP2) of an ABC transporte...

BACKGROUND Neisseria lactamica as one of the main commensal in oropharynx during the childhood is related to the induction of a natural immunity against meningococcal meningitis. Also Moraxella catarrhalis in oropharynx of children is a predisposing factor for otitis media infection. OBJECTIVES The current study aimed to investigate the frequency of the N. lactamica, other nonpathogenic Neiss...

Moraxella IgD binding protein (MID) is a novel bacterial outer membrane protein with IgD-binding properties. MID was purified from the respiratory pathogen Moraxella catarrhalis and is here shown to have B cell stimulatory properties. Purified MID in the range of 0.01-0.1 microg/ml was optimal to induce a proliferative response in human PBL. MID coupled to Sepharose and formalin-fixed M. catarr...

BACKGROUND Neonates with airways colonized by Haemophilus influenzae, Streptococcus pneumoniae or Moraxella catarrhalis are at increased risk for recurrent wheeze which may resemble asthma early in life. It is not clear whether chronic colonization by these pathogens is causative for severe persistent wheeze in some preschool children and whether these children might benefit from antibiotic tre...

When 24 different aerobic organisms were grown in a shaken culture, all were found to first absorb gas from the headspace. In a rudimentary medium, such as tryptic soy broth, 16 of the 24 organisms did not produce gas following the initial gas absorption. We have developed a simple, noninvasive method for detecting both gas absorption and production in multiple culture vials. The time to positi...

The protein McaP was previously shown to be an adhesin expressed by the Moraxella catarrhalis strain O35E, which also displays esterase and phospholipase B activities (J. M. Timpe et al., Infect. Immun. 71:4341-4350, 2003). In the present study, sequence analysis suggests that McaP is a conventional autotransporter protein that contains a 12-stranded beta-barrel transporter module (amino acids ...

We report an aggressive case of polymicrobial bacteremia in a patient with renal pelvis carcinoma. A 76-year-old man developed watery diarrhea after undergoing chemotherapy. He became unconscious and went into shock. Laboratory data showed severe neutropenia, renal failure, and lactic acidosis. Chest radiography showed multiple opacities. He died despite aggressive fluid resuscitation, catechol...

A series of novel 2-substituted benzimidazole derivatives were synthesized and their antibacterial activity was assessed against selected Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The specific moiety at the 2-position of the benzimidazole was extensively modified with several fused heterocyclic functional groups containing nitrogen and sulfur heteroatoms. In addition, the influence of different...

Our study is the first to compare the nasopharyngeal microbiota of pediatric pneumonia patients and control children by 454 pyrosequencing. A distinct microbiota was associated with different pneumonia etiologies. Viral pneumonia was associated with a high abundance of the operational taxonomic unit (OTU) corresponding to Moraxella lacunata. Patients with nonviral pneumonia showed high abundanc...