Improvement of poult performance following Bordetella avium challenge by administration of a novel oxy-halogen formulation.

The ability of a novel oxy-halogen formulation (OHF) to alter the development of bordetellosis (turkey coryza) in large white turkey poults was assessed. Bordetella avium (BA)-infected (1-day-of-age) and noninfected control poults received 0, 0.008%, or 0.016% of an OHF continuously in the drinking water. At 4, 7, 10, 14, and 17 days of age, reisolation of BA from infected poults was attempted. Infected poults receiving 0.016% OHF exhibited significantly lower cumulative BA reisolation rates (90%) when compared with infected poults receiving 0 (96.7%) or 0.008% OHF (100%). At 7, 14, and 17 days of age, infected poults in the OHF-treated groups were significantly heavier than those BA-challenged poults receiving control water. Feed utilization was significantly improved from hatch to 7 days of age in BA-infected poults receiving OHF when compared with infected poults receiving control water. Clinical symptoms were severe only in untreated, infected poults and were mild or absent in all others. Damage to the tracheal epithelium, as measured by scanning electron microscopy, paralleled the clinical signs. Tracheal epithelial damage was virtually eliminated by OHF administration in infected poults. These results suggest that OHF treatment ameliorates many of the symptoms frequently associated with bordetellosis in young turkeys.

Conjugative plasmids in Bordetella avium.

Three of five antibiotic-resistant plasmids isolated from virulent strains of Bordetella avium were found to be conjugative. A physical and genetic map of one of these plasmids, the 51.5-kb plasmid p4093, revealed that the area of p4093 responsible for streptomycin and tetracycline resistance was located in a region consisting of a cluster of restriction enzyme recognition sites, whereas the remainder of p4093 contained relatively few restriction sites. Additionally, the genes involved in the conjugative ability of p4093 were clustered in at least two widely separated regions of the plasmid.

Characterization of sulfonamide resistance determinants and relatedness of Bordetella avium R plasmids.

Five plasmids, varying in size from 16 to 51.5 kb, were isolated from virulent strains of Bordetella avium and compared by restriction endonuclease digestion and DNA-DNA hybridization. These plasmids confer resistance to streptomycin and sulfonamides, and three of the five also confer resistance to tetracycline, but they are not closely related. Four of the plasmids, pRL100, p4093, pCW, and pWAM, carried determinants related to the heat-labile type I plasmid-mediated dihydropteroate synthase of the plasmid R388, while one plasmid, p4168, carried a determinant related to the heat-stable type II dihydropteroate synthase of pGS05.

Turkey coryza: lack of correlation between plasmids and pathogenicity of Bordetella avium.

Plasmids were removed from pathogenic Bordetella avium using a variety of treatments. The plasmid-cure rates depended on the treatment and isolate. Pathogenicity of B. avium in turkey poults was not altered by removal of plasmids.

Plasmid DNA of virulent Alcaligenes faecalis.

Alcaligenes faecalis strains originating from chickens and from epizootics of coryza in turkeys were screened for antibiotic susceptibility and for the presence of plasmid DNA. Seven of 35 strains contained plasmid DNA ranging in size from 10.5 to approximately 32 megadaltons. All of the strains isolated from turkeys were virulent in turkey poults, but only the plasmid-containing strains were resistant to sulfonamides and streptomycin. Four of the plasmid-containing strains were also resistant to tetracycline. Five different plasmids representing at least 2 different incompatibility groups were identified in the 7 plasmid-bearing A faecalis strain.

Identification of an iron-regulated 37,000-dalton protein in the cell envelope of Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

We examined the outer membrane proteins which appear during the growth of Neisseria gonorrhoeae F62 in complex medium supplemented with 25 microM Desferal mesylate, a potent iron chelator. Outer membranes were prepared by Sarkosyl extraction and analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Several higher-molecular-weight (74,000 to greater than 94,000) proteins increased under iron-limiting conditions. In addition we observed the appearance of an iron-regulated protein with an apparent molecular weight of 37,000. This protein comigrated with the gonococcal protein I under normal Laemmli gel conditions. By increasing the ionic strength of the lower gel buffer, separation of protein I and the 37,000-dalton iron-regulated protein occurred. The 37,000-dalton protein stained poorly with Coomassie blue. However, when a silver stain was used, the protein appeared as a major component of the gonococcal outer membrane. Production of this 37,000-dalton protein was suppressed by the addition of iron to the medium. An iron-regulated protein with a similar molecular weight was observed in four clinical isolates and in an additional laboratory strain. Peptide mapping indicated that the 37,000-dalton protein was distinct from protein I and was identical between strains of the WI and WII serogroups.

Evidence for plasmid DNA in Alcaligenes faecalis.

A 10.6 megadalton plasmid was isolated from a virulent strain (NC-D) of Alcaligenes faecalis. Virulence and antibiotic sensitivity of this strain were compared with those characteristics of a mutant plasmid-free derivative, strain NC-D1. Strain NC-D1 was avirulent and lacked the streptomycin and sulfonamide resistances of the parent strain.

Ontogeny of delayed hypersensitivity in young turkeys.

Hypersensitivity to phytohemagglutinin (PHA-P) and Freund's adjuvant containing Mycobacterium tuberculosis was investigated in turkey poults. The kinetics, as indicated by dosage and response time after sensitization, were similar to responses in other birds and laboratory mammals. Newly hatched poults demonstrated delayed hypersensitivity responses, and 2 week old poults exhibited responses of greater magnitude than 8 week old poults. The turkey is proposed as another acceptable species for study of cell-mediated immunity (CMI).

Histamine-sensitizing factor of Alcaligenes faecalis.

Alcaligenes faecalis produced a histamine-sensitizing factor (HSF) in turkey poults and mice, which was detected in poults by an infraorbital sinus test and passive cutaneous anaphylaxis test and in mice by a rectal-temperature differential test. The A. faecalis HSF appeared to be similar to that produced by the genus Bordetella and may be partly responsible for the clinical signs of alcaligenes rhinotracheitis in young poults.

Acute exposure of laboratory mice to manganese oxide.

An acute inhalation exposure of laboratory mice to respirable Mn3O4 aerosols is described. The generation system consisted of a Wright dust generator which produced 1.40 micrometer aerosols. A non-linear loss of deposited manganese from mouse lungs over the inital 24-hour post-exposure period was observed. Systemic distribution of the manganese was observed in various tissues following exposure.

Biochemical changes in pulmonary cells following manganese oxide inhalation.

Inhalation of manganese oxide (Mn dose, 879.0 micrograms/m3) for 2 h reduced the total number of alveolar macrophages obtained by endotracheal lavage in pulmonary cell populations, slightly reduced cellular viability, and reduced both phagocytic capability and total protein in sonicated pulmonary cells. Increases in intracellular adenosine triphosphate and acid phosphatase specific activity were also exhibited by the pulmonary cells, but sonicated cells obtained from the exposed mice showed no change in lactic acid dehydrogenase specific activity. A slight increase in extracellular protein in the fluid phase of the lavage suspension was observed after manganese oxide exposure.

Simplified media for the growth of Haemophilus influenzae from clinical and normal flora sources.

The nutritional requirements of 43 strains of Haemophilus influenzae isolated from clinical and normal flora sources were investigated. Two defined minimal media were developed by modifying the medium of Herriott et al. (1970):74% of the strains could grow on the minimal media and Herriott's medium; the remaining strains could not grow on any of these media.

Ampicillin-induced morphological alterations of Haemophilus influenzae type b.

Inhibitory levels of ampicillin induced filamentation of growing Haemophilus influenzae ATCC 19418 within 30 min. Filaments became swollen and interrupted by regular periodic saccular outpouchings along the major axis. The degree of filamentation was dependent upon ampicillin concentration and time.

The subunit structure of alpha-acetohydroxyacid isomeroreductase from Salmonella typhimurium.

Alpha-Acetohydroxyacid isomeroreductase from Salmonella typhimurium has a native molecular weight of 220,000. The constituent polypeptide chains exhibit anomalous but unimodal electrophoretic migration on sodium dodecyl sulfate-urea polyacrylamide gels. The subunit molecular weight, determined by sedimentation equilibrium in 6 M guanidine hydrochloride, is 57,000. The apparent tetrameric nature of the native enzyme was confirmed by determining the types of oligomers formed upon cross-linking with dimethylsebacimidate. Analysis of tryptic peptides suggests that the polypeptide chains have an identical amino acid sequence. Carbohydrate analysis, ultraviolet absorption spectrum, and atomic absorption spectrum are consistent with the lack of cobalamine and cobalt. The Michaelis constants are as follows: alpha-acetolactate, 2.9 x 10-4 M; alpha-aceto-alpha-hydroxybutyrate, 7.8 x 10-4 M; NADPH, 1.5 x 10-5 M; Mg2+, 7.7 x 10-4 M. The catalytic constants (molecules of substrate catalyzed per min per molecules of enzyme) for alpha-acetolactate and alpha-aceto-alpha-hydroxybutyrate are 1,100 and 4,700, respectively. Comparative tryptic peptide analysis and immunological analysis show that alpha-acetohydroxyacid isomero-reductase and biosynthetic L-threonine deaminase bear no structural relationship and therefore rule out a "shared structure" hypothesis for the putative involvement of L-threonine deaminase in the synthesis of alpha-acetohydroxyacid isomeroreductase.

Biodegradative L-threonine deaminase of Salmonella typhimurium.

The threonine deaminase formed under anaerobic conditions by Salmonella typhimurium is induced by l-serine and l-threonine, is catabolite repressible, requires cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate for its synthesis and adenylic acid for optimal activity, and is immunologically different from biosynthetic threonine deaminase.