Serological survey and risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii in domestic ducks and geese in Lower Saxony, Germany.

To obtain estimates for the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in ducks and geese in Germany, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were established based on affinity-purified T. gondii tachyzoite surface antigen 1 (TgSAG1) and used to examine duck and goose sera for T. gondii-specific antibodies. The results of 186 sera from 60 non-infected ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) and 101 sera from 36 non-infected geese (Anser anser) as well as 72 sera from 11 ducks and 89 sera from 12 geese inoculated experimentally with T. gondii tachyzoites (intravenously) or oocysts (orally) and positive in a T. gondii immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT) were used to select a cut-off value for the TgSAG1-ELISA. Sera obtained by serial bleeding of experimentally inoculated ducks and geese were tested to analyze the time course of anti-TgSAG1 antibodies after inoculation and to assess the sensitivity of the assays in comparison with IFAT. In ducks, IFAT titres and ELISA indices peaked 2 and 5 weeks p.i with tachyzoites, respectively. Only three of six geese inoculated with tachyzoites at the same time as the ducks elicited a low and non-permanent antibody response as detected by the IFAT. In the TgSAG1-ELISA, only a slight increase of the ELISA indices was observed in four of six tachyzoite-inoculated geese. By contrast, inoculation of ducks and geese with oocysts led to an increase in anti-TgSAG1 antibodies within 1 or 2 weeks, which were still detectable at the end of the observation period, i.e. 11 weeks p.i. Inoculation of three ducks and three geese with oocysts of Hammondia hammondi, a protozoon closely related to T. gondii, resulted in a transient seroconversion in ducks and geese as measured by IFAT or TgSAG1-ELISA. Using the newly established TgSAG1-ELISA, sera from naturally exposed ducks and geese sampled in the course of a monitoring program for avian influenza were examined for antibodies to T. gondii; 145/2534 (5.7%) of the ducks and 94/373 (25.2%) of the geese had antibodies against TgSAG1. Seropositive animals were detected on 20 of 61 duck and in 11 of 13 goose farms; the seroprevalences within positive submissions of single farms ranged from 2.2% to 78.6%. Farms keeping ducks or geese exclusively indoors had a significantly lower risk (odds ratio 0.05, 95% confidence interval 0.01-0.3) of harboring serologically positive animals as compared with farms where the animals had access to an enclosure outside the barn.

Interaction of RecBCD enzyme with DNA at double-strand breaks produced in UV-irradiated Escherichia coli: requirement for DNA end processing.

The RecBCD enzyme has a powerful duplex DNA exonuclease activity in vivo. We found that this activity decreased strongly when cells were irradiated with UV light (135 J/m2). The activity decrease was seen by an increase in survival of phage T4 2(-) of about 200-fold (phage T4 2(-) has defective duplex DNA end-protecting gene 2 protein). The activity decrease depended on excision repair proficiency of the cells and a postirradiation incubation. During this time, chromosome fragmentation occurred as demonstrated by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. In accord with previous observations, it was concluded that the RecBCD enzyme is silenced during interaction with duplex DNA fragments containing Chi nucleotide sequences. The silencing was suppressed by induction or permanent derepression of the SOS system or by the overproduction of single-strand DNA binding protein (from a plasmid with ssb+) which is known to inhibit degradation of chromosomal DNA by cellular DNases. Further, mutations in xonA, recJ, and sbcCD, particularly in the recJ sbcCD and xonA recJ sbcCD combinations, impeded RecBCD silencing. The findings suggest that the DNA fragments had single-stranded tails of a length which prevents loading of RecBCD. It is concluded that in wild-type cells the tails are effectively removed by single-strand-specific DNases including exonuclease I, RecJ DNase, and SbcCD DNase. By this, tailed DNA ends are processed to entry sites for RecBCD. It is proposed that end blunting functions to direct DNA ends into the RecABCD pathway. This pathway specifically activates Chi-containing regions for recombination and recombinational repair.

Interaction with the recombination hot spot chi in vivo converts the RecBCD enzyme of Escherichia coli into a chi-independent recombinase by inactivation of the RecD subunit.

The RecBCD enzyme of Escherichia coli promotes recombination preferentially at chi nucleotide sequences and has in vivo helicase and strong duplex DNA exonuclease (exoV) activities. The enzyme without the RecD subunit, as in a recD null mutant, promotes recombination efficiently but independently of chi and has no nucleolytic activity. Employing phage lambda red gam crosses, phage T4 2- survival measurements, and exoV assays, it is shown that E. coli cells in which RecBCD has extensive opportunity to interact with linear chi-containing DNA (produced by rolling circle replication of a plasmid with chi or by bleomycin-induced fragmentation of the cellular chromosome) acquire the phenotype of a recD mutant and maintain this for approximately 2 h. It is concluded that RecBCD is converted into RecBC during interaction with chi by irreversible inactivation of RecD. After conversion, the enzyme is released and initiates recombination on other DNA molecules in a chi-independent fashion. Overexpression of recD+ (from a plasmid) prevented the phenotypic change and providing RecD after the change restored chi-stimulated recombination. The observed recA+ dependence of the downregulation of exoV could explain the previously noted "reckless" DNA degradation of recA mutants. It is proposed that chi sites are regulatory elements for the RecBCD to RecBC switch and thereby function as cis- and trans-acting stimulators of RecBC-dependent recombination.

Suppression of the UV-sensitive phenotype of Escherichia coli recF mutants by recA(Srf) and recA(Tif) mutations requires recJ+.

Mutations in recA, such as recA801(Srf) (suppressor of RecF) or recA441(Tif) (temperature-induced filamentation) partially suppress the deficiency in postreplication repair of UV damage conferred by recF mutations. We observed that spontaneous recA(Srf) mutants accumulated in cultures of recB recC sbcB sulA::Mu dX(Ap lac) lexA51 recF cells because they grew faster than the parental strain. We show that in a uvrA recB+ recC+ genetic background there are two prerequisites for the suppression by recA(Srf) of the UV-sensitive phenotype of recF mutants. (i) The recA(Srf) protein must be provided in increased amounts either by SOS derepression or by a recA operator-constitutive mutation in a lexA(Ind) (no induction of SOS functions) genetic background. (ii) The gene recJ, which has been shown previously to be involved in the recF pathway of recombination and repair, must be functional. The level of expression of recJ in a lexA(Ind) strain suffices for full suppression. Suppression by recA441 at 30 degrees C also depends on recJ+. The hampered induction by UV of the SOS gene uvrA seen in a recF mutant was improved by a recA(Srf) mutation. This improvement did not require recJ+. We suggest that recA(Srf) and recA(Tif) mutant proteins can operate in postreplication repair independent of recF by using the recJ+ function.

Regulatory role of recF in the SOS response of Escherichia coli: impaired induction of SOS genes by UV irradiation and nalidixic acid in a recF mutant.

We isolated a new recF mutant of Escherichia coli K-12 by insertion of transposon Tn5 into the recF gene. This recF400::Tn5 allele displayed the same phenotypic characteristics as the classic recF143 mutation. By using Mu d(Ap lac) fusions, the induction of nine SOS genes, including recA, umuC, dinA, dinB, dinD, dinF, recN, and sulA, by UV irradiation and nalidixic acid was examined. Induction of eight genes by the two agents was impaired by recF400::Tn5 to different extents. The ninth fused SOS gene, dinF, was no longer inducible by UV when combined with recF400::Tn5. The generally impaired SOS response in recF strains did not result from weak induction of recA protein synthesis, since a recA operator-constitutive mutation did not alleviate the inhibitory effect of the recF mutation. The results suggest that recF plays a regulatory role in the SOS response. It is proposed that this role is to optimize the signal usage by recA protein to become a protease.

Genetic control of damage-inducible restriction alleviation in Escherichia coli K12: an SOS function not repressed by lexA.

The alleviation of K-specific DNA restriction after treatment of cells by UV or nalidixic acid has been studied in mutants with various alleles of recA and lexA and combinations of these alleles and with recB and recF mutations. The studies show that induction of restriction alleviation by UV or nalidixic acid is abolished in mutants in which the recA protein is defective (recA13, recA56), its protease activity is altered (recA430) or in which it cannot be efficiently activated (recA142). Thermoinduction of restriction alleviation was observed in tif mutant (recA441). In lexA amber mutants restriction alleviation is not constitutive but is still inducible. In a lexA3 mutant restriction alleviation is inducible by nalidixic acid provided that recA protein is overproduced as a result of a recA operator mutation. Induction by UV depends on the recF function and an unidentified function (Y) which is controlled by the lexA protein. The recBC enzyme is necessary for induction by UV or by nalidixic acid. Temperature shift experiments with a thermosensitive recB mutant indicate that the recBC enzyme functions in an early step during UV-induction. It is concluded that the damage-inducible function which alleviates restriction is similar to other damage inducible repair (SOS) functions in the dependence on activated recA protease for induction, but that it differs from these functions by the absence of a direct control through the lexA repressor.

Expression of ultraviolet-induced restriction alleviation in Escherichia coli K-12. Detection of a lambda phage fraction with a retarded mode of DNA injection.

Ultraviolet-induced restriction alleviation is an SOS function which partially relieves the K-12-specific DNA restriction in Escherichia coli. Restriction alleviation is determined by observing elevated survival of unmodified phage lambda in cells irradiated with ultraviolet prior to infection. We demonstrate that restriction of lambda is also relieved when log-phase cells are irradiated as late as 50 min after adsorption of lambda. At this time more than 60% of the lambda DNA is already released as acid-soluble material from the cells. Experiments involving reextraction of lambda DNA from infected cells and a mild detergent treatment removing absorbed phages from the cellular surface showed that only a small specific fraction of all lambda infections is destined to escape restriction due to restriction alleviation. This fraction (10-20%) has a retarded mode of DNA injection (60 min or longer) after adsorption which allows the expression of the restriction alleviation function before the phage DNA is exposed to restriction endonucleases. This behaviour of a fraction of lambda phages explains why the SOS function restriction alleviation could initially be discovered. We show that the retarded mode of DNA injection is not required for another SOS function acting on lambda DNA, the increased repair of ultraviolet-irradiated DNA (Weigle reactivation).

UV-induced allevation of lambda restriction in Escherichia coli K-12: kinetics of induction and specificity of this SOS function.

In UV-irradiated cells of Escherichia coli K-12 a partial release of the restriction of non-modified phage lambda is observed when the cells are recA+ lexA+. We show here that the induction of this restriction allevation (RA) also depends on the recBC enzyme and that the expression of RA requires protein synthesis. Maximum expression was reached within 60 to 90 min after irradiation. Experiments are presented which show that upon UV-irradiation a signal is created which triggers the development of RA when protein synthesis is allowed. This signal decayed with a half-life of only a few minutes in cells treated with chloramphenicol. The decay kinetics were similar in uvr+ and uvrA mutants. RA appeared to be specific for EcoK insofar as no allevation of lambda restriction by EcoRI, EcoRII and EcoP1 occurred. During maximum expression of RA no gross reduction of the activities of the recBC enzyme (exonuclease V) and the restriction endonuclease EcoK was observed and no new DNA modifying activity appeared in the cells. Since, in fully expressed cells, up to 75% of the infecting lambda DNA was converted to acid-soluble material within 20 min after infection we suggest that only a small specific fraction of lambda infections may undergo RA.

Role of sugar uptake and metabolic intermediates on catabolite repression in Bacillus subtilis.

Many phosphorylated intermediates exert catabolite repression on the enzyme acetoin dehydrogenase in Bacillus subtilis. This was shown with strains that are blocked at different positions in central metabolism when they receive sugars that cannot be metabolized past enzymatic block(s). In the case of sorbitol, transport events were not involved in catabolite repression, for this sugar cannot repress acetoin dehydrogenase in a strain lacking sorbitol dehydrogenase but otherwise able to take up sorbitol. The presence of glucose did not markedly influence the uptake of acetoin.

[Relations between catabolite repression and sporulation in Bacillus subtilis (author's transl)]. / Beziehungen zwischen katabolischer Repression und Sporulation bei Bacillus subtilis

Acetoin dehydrogenase can be catabolite repressed by numerous sources of carbon. The following results point out that the catabolite repression of this enzyme and the inhibition of sporulation are mediated by the same mechanism: 1. Mutants, able to synthesize acetoin dehydrogenase in the presence of glucose, sporulate in glucose medium at a higher rate than the standard strain. 2. The catabolite repressing effect of a compound and its ability to inhibit sporulation are in a direct relation to each other. 3. The limitation of inorganic phosphate in the growth medium, which is known to favour sporulation, counteracts the catabolite repressing effect of glucose.

Acetoin degradation in Bacillus subtilis by direct oxidative cleavage.

Acetate and acetaldehyde can be detected as products of the oxidative dissimilation of acetoin in Bacillus subtilis extracts. They arise as the result of the direct cleavage of acetoin without a previous oxidation to diacetyl. This can be deduced from the following observations: (a) no diacetyl was detected in acetoin dissimilation experiments in vitro and (b) methylacetoin, an acetoin analogue which can not be oxidized to the diketone, also undergoes oxidative splitting, yielding acetone and acetate. The splitting reaction requires thiamine pyrophosphate as a cofactor, suggesting that the oxidative step occurs, as known for similar reactions, by the electron transfer from hydroxyethylthiamine pyrophosphate to a proper acceptor, which in vitro can be replaced by dichlorophenolindophenol. In vivo the final product of the oxidation of hydroxyethylthiamine pyrophosphate is activated acetate. A mutant which lacks acetoin-cleaving activity can not reutilize the acetoin accumulated after growth in glucose. This corroborates the actual importance of the cleavage reaction for acetoin dissimilation. The enzyme diacetylmethylcarbinol synthase, thought to be responsible for the formation of diacetylmethylcarbinol from diacetyl, probably is identical to the enzyme catalyzing the cleavage of acetoin.