This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Garduño, R A Articles by Kay, W W Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Garduño, R A Articles by Kay, W W

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infect Immun. 1992 November; 60(11): 4612-4620

Interaction of the fish pathogen Aeromonas salmonicida with rainbow trout macrophages.

Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

ABSTRACT

A procedure was developed to culture rainbow trout macrophages (M phi) on supported glass coverslips. Using this method and a variety of well-characterized Aeromonas salmonicida strains with normal or altered cell surfaces, we investigated the role of this unusual bacterial surface in the bacterium-M phi interaction. An intact crystalline protein array, the A-layer, mediated adherence of A. salmonicida cells to M phi even in the absence of opsonins. In contrast, unopsonized cells of an A-layer-negative (A-) mutant with a smooth lipopolysaccharide (LPS) layer were unable to interact with M phi. However, this ability was recovered when the A-layer was reconstituted onto the smooth LPS surface of these A- LPS+ cells. Two A. salmonicida mutants possessing the A-layer in different disorganized states had a reduced ability to interact with M phi. A+ cells grown under calcium limitation produced A-layers locked into an alternative conformation which mediated the highest levels of M phi association in the absence of opsonins or any other surface coating. Coating A+ cells with hemin greatly increased their levels of M phi association, and bacterial cells grown on trout blood agar plates also had a dramatic increase in their ability to interact with M phi. Only A+ A. salmonicida cells were highly cytotoxic to trout M phi, especially after being coated with hemin, presumably due to a more focused targeting of the bacterial cell onto the M phi surface and/or into the intracellular regions of the M phi.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Wang, B., Kraig, E., Kolodrubetz, D. (2000). Use of Defined Mutants To Assess the Role of the Campylobacter rectus S-Layer in Bacterium-Epithelial Cell Interactions. Infect. Immun. 68: 1465-1473 [Abstract] [Full Text]