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 Vilei, E. M.
Right arrow Articles by Frey, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Vilei, E. M.
Right arrow Articles by Frey, J.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, January 2001, p. 85-92, Vol. 8, No. 1
1071-412X/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.8.1.85-92.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Genetic and Biochemical Characterization of Glycerol Uptake in Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides SC: Its Impact on H2O2 Production and Virulence

Edy M. Vilei and Joachim Frey*

Institute for Veterinary Bacteriology, University of Berne, CH-3012 Berne, Switzerland

Received 14 August 2000/Returned for modification 6 October 2000/Accepted 23 October 2000

Highly virulent strains of Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides SC belonging to the African cluster contain an operon with the genes gtsA, gtsB, and gtsC, encoding membrane ATP binding cassette transporter proteins GtsA, GtsB, and GtsC, which are involved in glycerol transport. Strain Afadé from the African cluster incorporated [U-14C]glycerol with a time-dependent increase. The less virulent strain L2 of the European cluster, which lacks gtsB and gtsC, failed to incorporate glycerol. Antibodies against GtsB noncompetitively inhibited glycerol uptake. L-alpha -Glycerophosphate was not transported by M. mycoides subsp. mycoides SC. It is postulated to be synthesized by phosphorylation of glycerol during transport and subsequently metabolized further to dihydroxyacetone phosphate accompanied by release of H2O2. Peroxide production in glycerol-containing growth medium was high for the African strain Afadé but very low for the European strain L2. Virtually no H2O2 was produced by both strains without glycerol. Hence, the efficient glycerol uptake system found in the virulent strain of the African cluster leads to a strong release of peroxide, a potential virulence factor which is lacking in the less virulent European strains. M. mycoides subsp. mycoides SC might have adopted, as a strategy for virulence, a highly efficient uptake system for glycerol which allows the production of an active metabolic intermediate that damages host cells.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute for Veterinary Bacteriology, University of Berne, Länggass-Strasse 122, CH-3012 Berne, Switzerland. Phone: 41 31 631 2414. Fax: 41 31 631 2634. E-mail: joachim.frey{at}vbi.unibe.ch.

Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, January 2001, p. 85-92, Vol. 8, No. 1
1071-412X/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.8.1.85-92.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Pilo, P., Vilei, E. M., Peterhans, E., Bonvin-Klotz, L., Stoffel, M. H., Dobbelaere, D., Frey, J. (2005). A Metabolic Enzyme as a Primary Virulence Factor of Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides Small Colony. J. Bacteriol. 187: 6824-6831 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Halbedel, S., Hames, C., Stulke, J. (2004). In Vivo Activity of Enzymatic and Regulatory Components of the Phosphoenolpyruvate:Sugar Phosphotransferase System in Mycoplasma pneumoniae. J. Bacteriol. 186: 7936-7943 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Westberg, J., Persson, A., Holmberg, A., Goesmann, A., Lundeberg, J., Johansson, K.-E., Pettersson, B., Uhlen, M. (2004). The Genome Sequence of Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides SC Type Strain PG1T, the Causative Agent of Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP). Genome Res 14: 221-227 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Djordjevic, S. P., Vilei, E. M., Frey, J. (2003). Characterization of a chromosomal region of Mycoplasma sp. bovine group 7 strain PG50 encoding a glycerol transport locus (gtsABC). Microbiology 149: 195-204 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Fleury, B., Bergonier, D., Berthelot, X., Peterhans, E., Frey, J., Vilei, E. M. (2002). Characterization of P40, a Cytadhesin of Mycoplasma agalactiae. Infect. Immun. 70: 5612-5621 [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»