Eleven clinically significant isolates of Branhamella catarrhalis grew well on modified Thayer-Martin medium and produced beta-lactamase, but did not grow on nutrient agar at 22 degrees C. Minimum inhibitory concentrations of vancomycin, colistin, and trimethoprim were found to be higher than the concentrations of these antibiotics in modified Thayer-Martin medium. The criteria necessary for la...

We evaluated the superoxol (catalase) test as a means of differentiating gonococci from related species of organisms which were cultured from a variety of anatomical sites. An isolate was almost certainly not a gonococcus if it gave a negative superoxol test result, as all but one of 596 available gonococci gave positive test results. However, a proportion of the non-gonococcal neisseriae and i...

Oligosaccharide structures derived from the lipooligosaccharide of M. catarrhalis show that the highly branched glucose-rich inner core of the oligosaccharide has an altered conformation compared to the most truncated tetra-glucose-Kdo lgt1/4Δ oligosaccharide structure. Addition of one residue each to the (1-4) and (1-6) chains to give the lgt2Δ oligosaccharide is the minimum requirement for th...

Standard and experimental tests were used by a reference diagnostic laboratory to determine the identity of 182 "suspected" Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates submitted by state health departments because of inconclusive laboratory results. More than 97% of these cultures were subsequently identified by a rapid microcarbohydrate test in conjunction with confirmatory immunological procedures. The ex...

Moraxella catarrhalis causes significant health problems, including 15-20% of otitis media cases in children and ~10% of respiratory infections in adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The lack of an efficacious vaccine, the rapid emergence of antibiotic resistance in clinical isolates, and high carriage rates reported in children are cause for concern. In addition, the effectivene...

Moraxella catarrhalis is a mucosal pathogen that causes childhood otitis media and exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in adults. During the course of infection, M. catarrhalis needs to adhere to epithelial cells of different host niches such as the nasopharynx and lungs, and consequently, efficient adhesion to epithelial cells is considered an important virulence trait of M....

Moraxella catarrhalis IgD-binding protein MID is a 200 kDa autotransporter protein that exists as a oligomer and is governed at the transcriptional level. The majority of M. catarrhalis clinical isolates expresses MID. Two functional domains have been attributed to MID; MID764-913 functions as an adhesin and promotes the bacteria to attach to epithelial cells, whereas the IgD-binding domain is ...

Although Moraxella catarrhalis continues to be a significant cause of disease in both children and adults, the steps involved in pathogenesis remain poorly understood. We have identified three open reading frames in the M. catarrhalis genome that encode homologues of the two-partner secretion system (TPS). The sequenced M. catarrhalis hemagglutinin-like locus of strain 7169 has a unique gene or...

Moraxella catarrhalis causes respiratory tract infections in children and in adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It is often isolated as a copathogen with Haemophilus influenzae. The underlying mechanism for this cohabitation is unclear. Here, in clinical specimens from a patient with M. catarrhalis infection, we document that outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) carrying ubiquitous su...

Moraxella catarrhalis IgD-binding protein MID is a 200 kDa autotransporter protein that exists as a oligomer and is governed at the transcriptional level. The majority of M. catarrhalis clinical isolates expresses MID. Two functional domains have been attributed to MID; MID764-913 functions as an adhesin and promotes the bacteria to attach to epithelial cells, whereas the IgD-binding domain is ...