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 Daniel, A. K.
Right arrow Articles by Small, P. L. C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Daniel, A. K.
Right arrow Articles by Small, P. L. C.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, January 2004, p. 123-132, Vol. 72, No. 1
0019-9567/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.72.1.123-132.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Analysis of Mycobacterium Species for the Presence of a Macrolide Toxin, Mycolactone

Alexa K. Daniel,1 Richard E. Lee,2 Francoise Portaels,3 and P. L. C. Small1*

Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996,1 Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee 38163,2 Department of Microbiology, Institute of Tropical Medicine, B-2000 Antwerp, Belgium3

Received 6 June 2003/ Returned for modification 5 September 2003/ Accepted 12 October 2003

Mycobacterium ulcerans is an environmental organism which is responsible for the disease Buruli ulcer, a necrotizing skin disease emerging in west Africa. M. ulcerans produces the polyketide-derived macrolide mycolactone, which is required for the immunosuppression and tissue damage which characterizes Buruli ulcer. We have extracted lipids from the cell envelope and culture filtrate from 52 isolates of Mycobacterium species, analyzed them with thin-layer chromatography, and tested them in a murine fibroblast cell line (L929) cytotoxicity assay to investigate whether these mycobacterial species produce mycolactone. For these studies chloroform-methanol (2:1, vol/vol) extracts were prepared from representative fast- and slow-growing mycobacterial species. Isolates tested included 16 uncharacterized, slow-growing, environmental mycobacterial species isolated from areas in which M. ulcerans infection is endemic. Although several strains of mycobacteria studied produced cytopathic lipids, none of these produced a phenotype on cultured cells consistent with that produced by mycolactone. Two mycobacterial species, M. scrofulaceum and M. kansasii, and eight of the environmental mycobacterial isolates contained cell-associated lipids cytopathic to fibroblasts at concentrations of 33 to 1,000 µg/ml. In contrast, mycolactone produces cytotoxicity at less than 2 ng/ml. Analysis of 16S rRNA sequences from the eight environmental isolates suggests that these are novel mycobacterial species. Results from these studies suggest that, although production of cytopathic lipids is relatively common among mycobacterial species, the production of mycolactone as a cell-associated or secreted molecule appears so far to be restricted to M. ulcerans.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee College of Arts and Sciences and College of Veterinary Medicine, Knoxville, TN 37996. Phone: (865) 974-4042. Fax: (865) 974-4007. E-mail: psmall{at}utk.edu.

Editor: J. T. Barbieri

Infection and Immunity, January 2004, p. 123-132, Vol. 72, No. 1
0019-9567/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.72.1.123-132.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Thrasher, J. D, Crawley, S. (2009). The biocontaminants and complexity of damp indoor spaces: more than what meets the eyes. Toxicol Ind Health 25: 583-615 [Abstract]  
  • Castro-Garza, J., Barrios-Garcia, H. B., Cruz-Vega, D. E., Said-Fernandez, S., Carranza-Rosales, P., Molina-Torres, C. A., Vera-Cabrera, L. (2007). Use of a colorimetric assay to measure differences in cytotoxicity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains. J Med Microbiol 56: 733-737 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Goto, M., Nakanaga, K., Aung, T., Hamada, T., Yamada, N., Nomoto, M., Kitajima, S., Ishii, N., Yonezawa, S., Saito, H. (2006). Nerve Damage in Mycobacterium ulcerans-Infected Mice: Probable Cause of Painlessness in Buruli Ulcer. Am. J. Pathol. 168: 805-811 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»