A rapid carbohydrate oxidation microtube system (Carr Microbiologicals, Wichita, Kans.), designed for detecting the saccharolytic activity of gram-negative, nonfermenting bacilli, was evaluated and compared with the conventional oxidation-fermentation method. The oxidation of glucose, maltose, lactose, and xylose was tested with 430 strains of Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Achromobacter, Alcalige...

Bordetella pertussis isolates that do not express pertactin (PRN) are increasing in regions where acellular pertussis vaccines have been used for >7 years. We analyzed data from France and compared clinical symptoms among infants <6 months old infected by PRN-positive or PRN-negative isolates. No major clinical differences were found between the 2 groups.

To investigate the role played by urease during the Bordetella bronchiseptica infection process, the ability to colonise and persist in the mouse respiratory tract of a urease-negative B. bronchiseptica BB7865 and a BB7865 derivative constitutively expressing urease was compared with that of the wild-type strain. The results obtained showed that neither constitutive expression nor abolishment o...

BACKGROUND The activator P14K is necessary for the activation of nitrile hydratase (NHase). However, it is hard to be expressed heterogeneously. Although an N-terminal strep tagged P14K could be successfully expressed from Pseudomonas putida, various strategies for the over-expression of P14K are needed to facilitate further application of NHase. RESULTS P14K was successfully expressed throug...

An internal control of amplification was constructed by recombinant PCR to detect PCR inhibitors. This exogenous DNA was included in the reaction mixture and coamplified with the target gene. This detection was successfully applied to the diagnosis of whooping cough by amplification of a fragment of Bordetella pertussis IS481.

In Bordetella species, the BvgAS sensory transduction system mediates an alteration between the Bvg+ phase, characterized by expression of adhesins and toxins, and the Bvg- phase, characterized by the expression of motility and coregulated phenotypes in Bordetella bronchiseptica and by the expression of vrg loci in Bordetella pertussis. Since there is no known environmental or animal reservoir ...

To date Bordetella petrii has infrequently been identified within the clinical setting likely due to the asaccharolytic nature of this organism. We present a case of B. petrii recovered on two separate events in a patient with adult cystic fibrosis experiencing chronic pansinusitis.

Multiple lines of evidence suggest that Bordetella species have a significant life stage outside of the mammalian respiratory tract that has yet to be defined. The Bordetella virulence gene (BvgAS) two-component system, a paradigm for a global virulence regulon, controls the expression of many "virulence factors" expressed in the Bvg positive (Bvg+) phase that are necessary for successful respi...

Bordetella pertussis is the causative agent of whooping cough, a highly contagious, acute respiratory illness that has seen resurgence despite the use of vaccines. We present the complete genome sequence of a clinical strain of B. pertussis, D420, which is representative of a currently circulating clade of this pathogen.

Four varieties of swabs held in plastic containers and three swab transport media kits, all obtainable in the United Kingdom, were tested to assess their effectiveness in the isolation of Bordetella pertussis. The highest isolation rates up to 48 hours were obtained with Dacron swabs held in plastic containers. Swab-transport media kits proved unsatisfactory. B pertussis may have a stronger aff...