Photorhabdus temperata K122 is an entomopathogenic bacterium symbiotically associated with nematodes of the family Heterorhabditidae: Surface fimbriae are important for the colonization of many pathogenic bacteria, and here we report the nucleotide sequence and analysis of the expression of a 12-kbp fragment encoding the mannose-resistant fimbriae of P. temperata (mrf). The mrf gene cluster con...

Methylobacterium inhabits the phyllosphere of a large number of plants. We herein report the results of comparative metagenome analyses on methylobacterial communities of soybean plants grown in an experimental field in Tohoku University (Kashimadai, Miyagi, Japan). Methylobacterium was identified as the most dominant genus (33%) among bacteria inhabiting soybean stems. We classified plant-deri...

Escherichia coli is the most common cause of urinary tract infections, especially those strains with hair-like fimbriae that aid in adhesion to the urinary tract. Binding to the epithelial cells lining the urinary tract is the first step in such an infection. A class of compounds found in cranberries called proanthocyanidins has been shown to inhibit P-fimbriated E. coli from binding to uroepit...

Porphyromonas gingivalis, a gram-negative obligate anaerobic bacterium, is considered to be a key pathogen in periodontal disease. The bacterium expresses Mfa1 fimbriae, which are composed of polymers of Mfa1. The minor accessory components Mfa3, Mfa4, and Mfa5 are incorporated into these fimbriae. In this study, we characterized Mfa4 using genetically modified strains. Deficiency in the mfa4 g...

The effect of Escherichia coli strains isolated from blood and cerebrospinal fluid of septic infants on plasminogen activation was studied. These strains typically carry a filamentous surface protein, S fimbria, that has formerly been shown to bind to endothelial cells and interact with plasminogen. The. bacteria effectively promoted plasminogen activation by tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA)...

Type 1 fimbriae of Escherichia coli are surface organelles which mediate binding to D-mannose-containing structures. By direct binding of FimH to D-mannose attached to a carrier protein, we demonstrated that this protein was uniquely responsible for the receptor specificity. Furthermore, we show by receptor immunoelectron microscopy that the FimH protein is located laterally in the structure of...

Escherichia coli 469-3 synthesizes fibrillar fimbriae at 37 degrees C, but not at 18 degrees C, which promote its adherence to human colonocytes. RNA homologous with a cloned fragment of the strain 469-3 chromosome necessary for normal expression of fimbriae was virtually undetectable in bacteria grown at 18 degrees C, indicating that environmental temperature affects expression by regulating t...

The morphology of cells and the hemagglutinogens isolated from cultures of Bordetella pertussis, Bordetella bronchiseptica, and Bordetella parapertussis were studied by electron microscopy with the negative-staining technique. Cells of all three species had long, thin (3 nm thick), peritrichously arranged fimbriae on the cell surface. Similar structures were found in purified hemagglutinogen pr...

Shigella spp. are responsible for bacillary dysentery in humans. The acquisition or the modification of the virulence plasmid encoding factors promoting entry of bacteria into and dissemination within epithelial cells was a critical step in the evolution of these bacteria from their Escherichia coli ancestor(s). Incorporation of genomic islands (GI) and gene inactivation also shaped interaction...

The surface of a gram-negative bacterium is made up of the lipopolysaccharide (l.p.s.) and protein components of the outer leaflet of its outer membrane, and of capsular polysaccharide, flagella and fimbriae if pre­ sent. In Salmonella all the special genes needed for synthesis of the O-specific oligosaccharide repeat unit (different in each O group) of the l.p.s. sidechains are found in the rf...