J Med Microbiol Track the topics, authors and articles important to you
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
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 arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Pettit, R. K.
Right arrow Articles by Hamer, T. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Pettit, R. K.
Right arrow Articles by Hamer, T. A.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Pettit, R. K.
Right arrow Articles by Hamer, T. A.

The Journal of Medical Microbiology, Vol 48, Issue 2 149-156, Copyright © 1999 by Society for General Microbiology

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Response of gonococcal clinical isolates to acidic conditions

R. K. Pettit, S. C. McAllister and T. A. Hamer
Cancer Research Institute and Department of Microbiology, Arizona State University, Tempe 85287-1604, USA.

This study examined the response to acidic conditions of four gonococcal isolates -NRL38874 (Proto/IB-2), NRL38884 (Pro/IA-2), NRL38953 (Proto/IB-3) and NRL39029 (Pro/IA-3) - obtained from various sites in patients in whom a diagnosis of pelvic inflammatory disease had been made by laparoscopic examination. Acid tolerance of the clinical isolates was strain and growth phase dependent. Growth of the four strains on solid media was undetectable below pH 5.8. In liquid culture, strain NRL38884 did not survive below pH 5.2; strains NRL38874, NRL38953 and NRL39029 survived to pH 4.5. Between pH 4.2 and pH 5.1, the latter three strains exhibited a peak in survival at pH 4.6-4.7 during log phase, suggesting that there may be a distinct acid tolerance system operating at this pH. SDS-PAGE of whole-cell, total membrane and outer-membrane fractions of the four strains prepared from pH 7.2 and pH 6.1 plate cultures revealed numerous differences in protein composition. Acidic conditions reduced the expression of the reduction modifiable outer-membrane protein Rmp, and induced the expression of many membrane proteins, including gonococcal hsp63. Immunoblotting studies with matched serum samples and strains from patients with pelvic inflammatory disease indicated that IgG recognition of outer-membrane components from strains cultured in acidic and neutral conditions was quite different. The results suggest that the immune system interacts with unique outer-membrane constituents on gonococci colonising sites at different pH.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Infect. Immun.Home page
C. Ronpirin, A. E. Jerse, and C. N. Cornelissen
Gonococcal Genes Encoding Transferrin-Binding Proteins A and B Are Arranged in a Bicistronic Operon but Are Subject to Differential Expression
Infect. Immun., October 1, 2001; 69(10): 6336 - 6347.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
INT J SYST EVOL MICROBIOL J MED MICROBIOL MICROBIOLOGY J GEN VIROL ALL SGM JOURNALS
Copyright © 1999 Society for General Microbiology.