Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Infect Immun, July 1998, p. 3198-3207, Vol. 66, No. 7
Division of Infection and Immunity, IBLS,
University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, Scotland
Received 5 December 1997/Returned for modification 4 February
1998/Accepted 21 April 1998
The uptake and persistence of Bordetella bronchiseptica
was characterized in murine phagocytes by using a novel
bioluminescence-based reporter system. A mini-Tn5 promoter
probe carrying the intact lux operon from the terrestrial
bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens which allowed
measurement of light output without the addition of exogenous substrate
was constructed. It was used to create a pool of bioluminescent fusion
strains of B. bronchiseptica. The internalization and
persistence in murine macrophages of a constitutive bioluminescent
strain of B. bronchiseptica was monitored by
luminometry and by fluorescence and electron microscopy. The number of
bacteria internalized, in a microfilament-dependent process, by a mouse
macrophage-like cell line after 2 h was approximately 1% of the
inoculum for several different multiplicities of infection (MOI). At an
MOI of <500:1 (bacteria to macrophages), viable numbers of
intracellular bacteria declined over a 4-day period. However, at an MOI
of
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Bioluminescence as a Reporter of Intracellular
Survival of Bordetella bronchiseptica in Murine
Phagocytes
500:1, long-term survival was enhanced, with viable bacteria
recovered up to 4 days postinfection with little decline in numbers,
indicating that a critical population size may have been essential for
intracellular persistence. No evidence of macrophage killing by
intracellular bacteria was detected over the 4-day period.
Intracellular bioluminescent B. bronchiseptica
organisms in mouse peritoneal cells were detected at 24 and 48 h
after intraperitoneal injection of mice. Bioluminescence is shown to
act as a convenient real-time technique for monitoring of intracellular
survival of B. bronchiseptica in vitro and may provide
a suitable means for examining the role of long-term intracellular
survival of the bacterium in the host.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division of
Infection and Immunity, Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences,
Joseph Black Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ,
Scotland. Phone: 0141 330 5845. Fax: 0141 330 4600. E-mail:
j.coote{at}bio.gla.ac.uk.
This article has been cited by other articles:
Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology. For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»