[Ambivalent bacteriophages of different species active on Escherichia coli K12 and Salmonella sps. strains].

A study was made of several bacteriophages (including phages U2 and LB related to T-even phages of Escherichia coli) that grow both on E. coli K12 and on some Salmonella strains. Such phages were termed ambivalent. T-even ambivalent phages (U2 and LB) are rare and have a limited number of hosts among Salmonella strains. U2 and LB are similar to canonical E. coli-specific T-even phages in morphological type and size of the phage particle and in reaction with specific anti-T4 serum. Phages U2 and LB have identical sets of structural proteins, some of which are similar in size to structural proteins of phages T2 and T4. DNA restriction patterns of phages U2 and LB differ from each other and from those of T2 and T4. Still, DNAs of all four phages have considerable homology. Unexpectedly, phages U2 and LB grown on Salmonella bungori were unstable during centrifugation in a CsCl gradient. Ambivalent bacteriophages were found in species other than T-even phages and were similar in morphotype to lambdoid and other E. coli phages. One of the ambivalent phages was highly similar to well-known Felix01, which is specific for Salmonella. Ambivalent phages can be used to develop a new set for phage typing in Salmonella. An obvious advantage is that ambivalent phages can be reproduced in the E. coli K12 laboratory strain, which does not produce active temperate phages. Consequently, the resulting typing phage preparation is devoid of an admixture of temperate phages, which are common in Salmonella. The presence of temperate phages in phage-typing preparations may cause false-positive results in identifying specific Salmonella strains isolated from the environment or salmonellosis patients. Ambivalent phages are potentially useful for phage therapy and prevention of salmonellosis in humans and animals.

Conservation of the N-terminus of some phage tail proteins.

To study the interaction between lipopolysaccharide and protein, a comparative approach was employed using seven Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium typing phages as the protein model systems. This interaction has been studied in detail in the Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium phage P22 system and involves only the viral tailspike protein. Similarity between these phages and phage P22 was monitored in this Report by assaying restriction endonuclease digestions, capsid size, reactivity to the P22 tailspike protein monoclonal antibody, mAb92, which reacts with the N-terminus of the P22 tail protein and the ability to produce a PCR fragment using primers made to the ends of the P22 tailspike gene. The data indicate that tailspike similarity exists between most of these phages and a scheme reclassifying them is presented and that the N-terminus of the P22 tailspike protein may be a motif for many phage systems and may serve as a aid in the taxonomy of phages. The data suggest a classification scheme in which the N-terminus of some tailspike proteins (head-binding region in some tail proteins) may play a critical element role in the classification of Salmonella viruses.

Characterization of Salmonella enterica serotype typhimurium in the Czech Republic: phage types, antimicrobial and plasmid profiles.

In this study a collection of 547 S. Typhimurium strains isolated in the years 2000 and 2001 both of the human and non-human origin were analysed. 21 different phage types were detected, the most frequent one was DT104 (46%) followed by DT141 (28%) and DT68 (3%). Resistance to one or more antimicrobial agents was found mainly in DT104 (77.4%). S. Typhimurium isolates resistant to 5 and more antimicrobial agents were found in three phagetypes DT104 (57%), DT120 and DT155. Plasmid profiling of DT104 isolates showed 10 different profiles. Pattern A found in 30.5% of tested strains was predominant and carried serovar specific plasmid and one additional small plasmid of approx. 2.5 kb.

Simplified preparation of a specific S. enteritidis antigen for ELISA and other immunological techniques.

This study was conducted to prepare a specific S. enteritidis antigen (FG-Antigen) for the serological detection of S. enteritidis infections in chicken flocks. This antigen (FG-Antigen) consistent mainly of the flagellar fraction H:g and partly of the fimbrial fraction SEF14 from a S. enteritidis-phage type 4 strain. The initial steps followed in the preparation of this antigen were conducted based on a previously described procedure, which involved the application of heat at 60 degrees C. The purification process (filtration and concentration) enabled the exclusion of the cross-reaction causing LPS antigens from the preparation and allowed the retention of S. enteritidis-specific antigens composed of fimbria and H:g fractions. As a result, no cross-reaction with S. typhimurium nor with S. gallinarum was exhibited by the prepared FG-antigen. To characterize and determine its specificity, the following laboratory tests were conducted: indirect ELISA, immunoblotting and a SEF14 agglutination test. In these examinations, rabbit and chicken reference sera as well as chicken field sera and absorbed hyperimmune sera against H:g-carrying serovars were used.

Sequence comparison of the genes for immunity, DNA replication, and cell lysis of the P22-related Salmonella phages ES18 and L.

Complementation and hybridization experiments with the generalized transducing Salmonella phages P22, ES18 and L revealed strong similarity between the phages L and P22; the genome of ES18 shows a mosaic structure. About half of its genome, including the early genes, is similar or completely homologous to P22; the other half of the morphologically different ES18 does not show any similarity to P22 nor to E. coli phage lambda. Sequence comparison of the early genes has confirmed that the C-immunity region of ES18 is identical with that of P22, whereas the same region of phage L shows poor (repressor gene) or no similarity. The 5'-terminus of the DNA replication gene 12 of ES18, however, is homologous to the same section of gene O of phage lambda. The lysis genes of ES18 again are identical to those of P22; only gene 15 is mosaic-like and has more similarity to gene Rz of phage lambda. These results will be discussed in terms of the theory of modular genome organization.

Induction of an antibody response in mice against human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 after immunization with HPV recombinant Salmonella strains.

Human papillomaviruses (HPV) are present in approximately 95% of all cervical carcinomas and the HPV E6 and E7 genes are continuously expressed in these lesions. There is also circumstantial evidence that often natural immunity against HPV is generated and that this is of influence on HPV-induced lesions. Stimulation of the immune system by proper presentation of relevant HPV antigens might, therefore, lead to a prophylactic or therapeutic immunological intervention for HPV-induced lesions. For this purpose we have expressed the E6 and E7 protein of HPV 16 in an attenuated strain of Salmonella typhimurium (SL3261, aroA mutation), which has been used extensively as a live vector. Live recombinant Salmonella vaccines have the ability to elicit humoral, secretory and cell-mediated immune responses, including cytotoxic T cells, against the heterologous antigens they express. This report describes the construction of recombinant Salmonella strains expressing the HPV 16 E6 and E7 proteins, and the induction of an HPV-16-specific immune response in mice after immunization with these live vectors.

Frequency of generalized transducing phages in natural isolates of the Salmonella typhimurium complex.

From 85 natural isolates of the Salmonella typhimurium complex, including the Salmonella reference collection A (P. Beltran, S. A. Plock, N. H. Smith, T. S. Whittam, D. C. Old, and R. K. Selander, J. Gen. Microbiol. 137:601-606, 1991), 65 strains (76.5%) released 71 different temperate phages. Forty-three (93.5%) of 46 tested phages were able to transduce the chromosomal markers his+ and trp+ and the cloning vector pBR325.

The major capsid protein of the lipid-containing bacteriophage PR4 is the precursor of two other capsid proteins.

We report that capsid proteins P16 and P18 of bacteriophage PR4 are synthesized by post-translational processing of a portion of the major capsid protein, P2. A polyclonal antibody raised against purified P2 reacted with P16 and P18 as well as with P2. A monoclonal antibody reacted with both P2 and P18. The amino acid sequences of the N-termini of P2 and P18 exactly matched, indicating that P18 is derived from the N-terminal segment of P2. These data were confirmed by the analysis of the proteins encoded by various nonsense and missense P2 mutants. The 3129-bp MnlI-C fragment of the PR4 genome was shown to encode P2. The nucleotide sequence of this fragment was obtained and a single continuous ORF was found to encode P2, thus excluding introns and transcript processing in the production of P16 and P18. The DNA segment contained eight ORFs sized > 200 bp and the genes encoding proteins P6 and P6A as well as P2 were mapped by marker rescue analysis. We also report the isolation and characterization of a new class of P2 missense mutants.

Capacidad fagocítica de las células del exudado peritoneal de ratones inmunizados con una preparación ribosomal de Salmonella Typhi Ty2 / Phagocytic capacity of exudate peritoneal cells from mice immunized with Salmonella typhi Ty2 ribosomal fraction

Se comparó la capacidad fagocítica de células ael exudado peritoneal (CEP) de ratones CFW inmunizados con una preparación ribosomal de Salmonella typhi Ty2, con la de ratones protegidos con una vacuna de bacterias inactivadas por calor, ambas en relación con lo obtenido en animales testigo, no inmunizados. Los ribosomas se administraron subcutáneamente en una dosis inicial de 100 µg de ARN y se dio un refuerzo igual a los 14 días, ambos con adyuvantes incompleto de Freund (AIF). Los ratones inmunizados con vacuna de células muertas, recibieron una sola dosis subcutánea con 16***6 bacterias en AIF. Al cabo de 7, 11, 14, 18, 22, 25, y 31 días se indujeron y extrajeron las CEP de los animales de cada grupo e individualmente se cultivaron in vitro junto con S. Typhi Ty2 virulento no opsonizado en relación células-bacterias 1:200. La sobrevida de las bacterias fagocitadas se determinó a las 24 horas de cultivo: las CEP se romperon y por cuenta viable se enumeraron las bacterias no digeridas. Los resultados indican que las CEP de los inmunizados eliminan bacterias con mayor eficiencia que las de testigos. También se demostró que la eficiencia bactericida fue significativamente mayor (P máxima de 0.005) para las CEP de los ratones tratados con la fracción ribosomal que las CEP de los animales vacunados con bacterias intactas no viables. Fiebre tifoidea; vacuna ribosomal; inmunidad a Salmonella; Salmonella typi; fagocitosis por células peritoneales

[Sensitivity of Salmonellae isolated from poultry to bacteriophage O1]. / Chuvstvitelnost na salmoneli, izolirani ot ptitsi, kum bakteriofag O1.

Studied were a total of 200 bacterial strains that agglutinated with the group B, C, D and E Salmonella sera. The organisms were isolated from viscera (liver, gallbladder, spleen, ovaries, and heart) and bone marrow from dead birds, from embryos, eggs, and washings from hatcheries, etc. in 1982-1985 in the district of Stara Zagora. It was found that the strains behaved biochemically as typical Salmonellae. Serologically typed of group B were 40 strains (S. typhimurium--34, and S. lagos--6); of group C--61 strains (S. oranienburg--38, S. isangi--7, S. montevideo--4, Salmonella II 6.7:gmst: 1.5--5, S. thompson--2, and S. newport--5); of group D--89 strains (S. gallinarum--57, S. gallinarum var. duisburg--23, S. pullorum--1, and S, enteritidis--8); and of group E--8 strains (S. senftenberg--4, S. anatum--4). Two of the strains were in the R form. Sensitive to the phage proved 89 +/- 5.7 per cent of the strains including the two R-form ones and those that were resistant of group C (S. oranienburg--5.4 per cent) and of group D (S. gallinarum--23 per cent, and S. gallinarum var. duisburg--26.1 per cent). The high sensitivity to the phage substantiated the phage identification of the strains as an adjunct, supplementary method in the complex diagnostics of diseases of a Salmonella etiology after the preliminarily determined phage for the respective region was made known.

Identification and characterization of mutations in Escherichia coli that selectively influence the growth of hybrid lambda bacteriophages carrying the immunity region of bacteriophage P22.

Mutations in two Escherichia coli genes, sipA and sipB, result in a specific inhibition of the growth of certain hybrid lambdoid bacteriophages, lambda immP22, that have the early regulatory regions and adjacent genes from bacteriophage P22. The sipB391 mutation maps near minute 56 and exerts the strongest inhibitory effect on the growth of the hybrid phages. The sipA1 mutation maps near minute 72 and plays an auxiliary role: enhancing the action of sipB391. Such a role is not limited to sipA1, since there is a similar enhancement by the nusA1 and nusE71 mutations. The Sip-imposed restriction on the growth of lambda immP22 phages is not observed if the phage carries a mutation in the c1 gene. Perhaps this reflects the fact that the c1 product regulates phage DNA replication and is a major determinant in the decision governing whether the phage takes the lytic or lysogenic pathway. Consistent with this idea is the observation that lambda immP22 DNA replication is severely inhibited in bacteria carrying the sipB391 mutation. It is suggested that sip mutations exaggerate the normal role of c1 in limiting lytic growth. This causes a failure in the expression of sufficient amounts of some or all of the lytic gene products required for phage growth.

Isolation of temperature-sensitive mutants of bacteriophage MB78 and correlation between the physical and genetic maps.

In order to study the biochemistry and genetics of the virulent virus MB78 of Salmonella typhimurium, 31 temperature-sensitive mutants of the phage were isolated following mutagenesis with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. These have been classified into six complementation groups (A through F). Linkage between different complementation groups has been mapped by using two factor crosses between representative members of each group. To correlate the physical and genetic maps of the phage, complementation between bacterial clones carrying plasmids with EcoRI fragments of the phage DNA as inserts and the ts mutants was studied. Good correlation between the physical and genetic maps has been obtained. Tentative locations of the ts mutations on the phage genome have thus been determined.

Characterization of SE1, a new general transducing phage of Salmonella typhimurium.

A transducing phage, SE1, which is able to infect Salmonella typhimurium was isolated from a Salmonella enteritidis strain. SE1 is a temperate phage which is heteroimmune with respect to phages P22, L, KB1 and ES18. It is similar in morphology and size to phages P22, L and KB1 and is serologically related to phages P22 and L but not to KB1. Efficiencies of generalized transduction effected by phage SE1 are similar to those for P22HT (int7), a mutant which mediates a high frequency of chromosomal gene transduction. The lengths of chromosomal DNA transduced by SE1 and P22HT (int7) are similar. Furthermore, the SE1 prophage does not exclude the transducing particles from cells it has lysogenized; consequently it is possible to use both SE1 lysogens and non-lysogenic strains as recipients in SE1-mediated transduction experiments, and obtain similar transduction efficiencies. However, the SE1 prophage gives rise to a lysogenic conversion that decreases the rate of adsorption of SE1 and L phages by about 50%, but does not affect adsorption of P22. Altogether these results suggest that phage SE1 may be a useful tool in the genetic manipulation of S. typhimurium.

Biological characteristics of Salmonella weltevreden typing phages.

The important biological characteristics of Salmonella weltevreden (3, 10 : r :Z6) typing phages were studied. On the basis of these, the phages could be classified into three groups: phages phi I and phi II, phages phi III, phi IV and phi VI, and phage phi V.

Plaque morphology and antigenic relationship of the Salmonella weltevreden typing phages.

The plaque morphology and antigenic relationship of the six typing phages of Salmonella weltevreden were studied. Under identical conditions of plating, the phages could be classified into three groups based on plaque morphology. Neutralization tests with anti-phage sera showed that typing phages phi I and phi II were antigenically similar. Phages phi III, phi IV and phi VI also showed antigenic similarity. Typing phage phi V was antigenically distinct from all other phages. Thus the phages could be classified into three groups on the basis of both plaque morphology on their respective indicator strains and velocities of neutralization by homologous/heterologous anti-sera.

Characterization of bacteriophage j2 of Salmonella typhi as a generalized transducing phage closely related to coliphage P1.

Phage j2, a lysogenic phage in Salmonella typhi J2, was shown to produce tiny plaques on various Vi type strains of S. typhi, to be a generalized transducing phage, and to have many characteristics including a serological one in common with phage P1 of Escherichia coli. Lysogenization of various S. typhi type strains with j2 or P1-group phages usually resulted in the alteration of the phage types of the S. typhi strains, except that phage j2 did not cause alteration of type 53. Phage j2 transduced, at high frequencies, much larger DNA molecules (up to at least 70 megadaltons) than those known to be transduced by Salmonella phage P22: this should prove useful for the genetic analysis of S. typhi.

Colony incompatibility studies among New Zealand and Australian isolates of Salmonella typhimurium phage type 179.

Recent New Zealand and Australian isolates of Salmonella typhimurium phage type 179 were studied for relatedness by colony incompatibility. This established that all but one strain of the New Zealand groups probably formed a clone despite carrying a variety of plasmids. The Australian strains showed a far greater diversity. This study demonstrates the epidemiological usefulness of the colony incompatibility reactions.

[Erythrocyte diagnostica made from salmonellal phagolysates]. / Eritrotsitarnye diagnostikumy iz fagolizatov sal'monell.

For the first time O antigens obtained from phagolysates were proved to be suitable for use as material for the production of highly specific erythrocyte diagnostic preparations. O antigens obtained from Salmonella by two methods, i.e. phage disintegration and Grasset's method, were subjected to comparative chemical analysis and found to have no essential difference. Nevertheless, the sensitizing potency of O antigens obtained from phagolysates were experimentally shown to be 3 times greater than that of O antigens obtained by Grasset's method. The optimum sensitizing doses established in the passive hemagglutination test for O antigens obtained by both methods indicated that these antigens were highly sensitive and specific.