IAI FigSearch
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Arvidson, C. G.
Right arrow Articles by So, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Arvidson, C. G.
Right arrow Articles by So, M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, February 1999, p. 643-652, Vol. 67, No. 2
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Neisseria gonorrhoeae Mutants Altered in Toxicity to Human Fallopian Tubes and Molecular Characterization of the Genetic Locus Involved

Cindy Grove Arvidson,1,* Risa Kirkpatrick,2 Manon T. Witkamp,1 Jason A. Larson,1 Christel A. Schipper,1 Lillian S. Waldbeser,1,dagger Peadar O'Gaora,1,Dagger Morris Cooper,2 and Magdalene So1

Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon 97201,1 and Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois 627942

Received 15 September 1998/Returned for modification 13 October 1998/Accepted 3 November 1998

In an effort to identify potential cytotoxins expressed by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, we have identified a locus that, when mutated in the gonococcus, results in a significant increase in toxicity of the strain to human fallopian tube organ cultures (HFTOC). This locus, gly1, contains two open reading frames (ORFs) which are likely cotranscribed. ORF1 encodes a polypeptide of 17.8 kDa with a signal sequence that is recognized and processed in Escherichia coli and N. gonorrhoeae. The 15.6-kDa processed polypeptide has been observed in membrane fractions and filtered spent media from cultures of E. coli expressing gly1 and in outer membrane preparations of wild-type N. gonorrhoeae. The gly1 locus is not essential for bacterial survival, and it does not play a detectable role in epithelial cell adhesion, invasion, or intracellular survival. However, a gly1 null mutant causes much more damage to fallopian tube tissues than its isogenic wild-type parent. A strain complemented in trans for the gly1 mutation showed a level of toxicity to HFTOC similar to the level elicited by the wild-type parent. Taken together, these results indicate an involvement of the gly1 locus in the toxicity of N. gonorrhoeae to human fallopian tubes.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Oregon Health Sciences University, L220, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd., Portland, OR 97201. Phone: (503) 494-6840. Fax: (503) 494-6862. E-mail: arvidson{at}ohsu.edu.

dagger Present address: Department of Physical and Life Sciences, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX.

Dagger Present address: Department of Medical Microbiology, St. Mary's Hospital Medical School, London, W2 1 PG, United Kingdom.

Infection and Immunity, February 1999, p. 643-652, Vol. 67, No. 2
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. J. Virol. Eukaryot. Cell
Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. Clin. Vaccine Immunol. All ASM Journals

Copyright © 1999 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.