Biofilm formation is closely related to the pathogenetic processes of Klebsiella pneumoniae, which frequently causes infections in immunocompromised individuals. The immune system of astronauts is compromised in spaceflight. Accordingly, K. pneumoniae, which used to be isolated from orbiting spacecraft and astronauts, poses potential threats to the health of astronauts and mission security. Mic...

Display of peptides on the surface of bacteria offers many new and exciting applications in biotechnology. Fimbriae is a good candidate for epitope display on the surface of bacteria. The potential of CS3 fimbriae of enterotoxigenic E. coli as a display system has been investigated. A novel cell surface display system with metal binding property was developed by using CS3 fimbriae. Short metal ...

Type-1 fimbriae are associated with most Salmonella enterica serovars and are an essential factor for host colonization. Mannanoligosaccharides (MOS), a prebiotic that is agglutinated by type-1 fimbriae, are proposed for the control of enterobacteria colonization and may be an alternative to Salmonella control in pigs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the capability of porcine Salmonella s...

The aim of the study was to determine the occurrence of virulence genes expressing fimbriae, production of hemolysin, colicin and aerobactin among a hundred Escherichia coli isolates obtained from in-and outpatients of a tertiary-care teaching hospital, between July and August 2000, showing clinical and laboratory signs of urinary tract infection (UTI). The presence of genes (pap, afa, sfa) for...

Marginal periodontitis is not a homogeneous disease but is rather influenced by an intricate set of host susceptibility differences as well as diversities in virulence among the harbored organisms. It is likely that clonal heterogeneity of subpopulations with both high and low levels of pathogenicity exists among organisms harbored by individuals with negligible, slight, or even severe periodon...

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) of sequence type 131 (ST131) are a pandemic multidrug resistant clone associated with urinary tract and bloodstream infections. Type 1 fimbriae, a major UPEC virulence factor, are essential for ST131 bladder colonization. The globally dominant sub-lineage of ST131 strains, clade C/H30-R, possess an ISEc55 insertion in the fimB gene that controls phase-varia...

The chaplin proteins ChpA-H enable the filamentous bacterium Streptomyces coelicolor to form reproductive aerial structures by assembling into surface-active amyloid-like fibrils. We here demonstrate that chaplins also mediate attachment of S. coelicolor to surfaces. Attachment coincides with the formation of fimbriae, which are connected to the cell surface via spike-shaped protrusions. Mass s...

Among 75 urosepsis isolates of Escherichia coli, 29 virulence factor (VF) genes were detected by use of a novel polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. Compared with probe hybridization, the PCR assay's specificity was 100% and sensitivity 97.1%. fyuA (yersiniabactin: overall prevalence, 93%), traT (serum resistance, 68%), and a pathogenicity-associated island marker (71%) occurred in most strai...

Urinary tract infections primarily caused by uropathogenic strains of Escherichia coli (E. coli) remain a significant public health problem in both developed and developing countries. An important virulence determinant in uropathogenesis is biofilm formation which requires expression of fimbriae, flagella, and other surface components such as lipopolysaccharides. In this study, we explored the ...

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common bacterial infections in humans, causing cystitis, pyelonephritis, and renal failure. Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is the leading cause of UTIs. Accurate and rapid discrimination of UPEC lineages is useful for epidemiological surveillance. Fimbriae are necessary for the adherence of UPEC strains to host uroepithelia, and seem to...