Studies on the proteolytic activity of Bacteroides fragilis

The proteolytic activity of the intestinal bacterium Bacteroides fragilis NCDO 2217 was cell-bound during exponential growth, but was progressively released from the cells in stationary phase. Proteins hydrolysed included casein, trypsin, chymotrypsin, azocasein and the proteins in azosoya bean flour. Collagen, azocoll, elastin, gelatin, ovalbumin and bovine serum albumin were either weakly degraded or completely refractory to proteolysis. Arylamidase activity was exhibited against leucine p-nitroanilide (LPNA), leucine beta-naphthylamide, glycyl-proline p-nitroanilide and valyl-alanine p-nitroanilide. The bacterium grew with ammonia, peptone or casein as sole nitrogen source. Azocasein- and LPNA-hydrolysing activities were consistently higher when grown on casein. Cell-bound protease activity increased concomitantly with growth rate in both carbon- and nitrogen-limited continuous culture. Leucine arylamidase activity was also growth-rate-dependent, being 3-fold greater at D = 0.18 h-1 compared to D = 0.03 h-1. Extracellular proteolytic activity was only detected at low growth rates, accounting for about 25% of total protease activity.     

Prevalence of the Bacteroides fragilis Group and Enterotoxigenic Bacteroides fragilis in Immunodeficient Children

Members of the Bacteroides fragilis group are indigenous to the human and animal intestinal microbiota and they are responsible for several endogenous infections. Enterotoxigenic B. fragilis (ETBF) has been associated with acute diarrhea in children and farm animals. Immunodeficient patients are more predisposed to different opportunistic infections, including anaerobic infections. In this study, 130 stool samples were analysed from 56 immunodeficient and 74 healthy children. Enterotoxin production was detected by cytotoxicity assay on HT-29 cells and by PCR. B. fragilis sensu strictu was prevalent in both groups and ETBF species was detected from a single stool sample belonged to an immunodeficient child with AIDS.     

Haemagglutination of Bacteroides fragilis

Abstract The relationship between the ability to cause haemagglutination (HA) and the presence of capsules and/or pili was examined for 50 clinical isolates of Bacteroides fragilis . HA was tested using a slide technique, and bovine, porcine, guinea pig, rat, rabbit, horse, human, chicken and pigeon erythrocytes. Chicken and pigeon erythrocytes were the best indicators for HA with 43 (86%) of the strains tested causing HA and 39 (78%) with strong reactions. Capsule staining showed that the same 43 strains causing HA also produced a demonstrable capsule. No pili were found on either encapsulated or non-encapsulated strains using transmission electron microscopy. These results suggest that adherence of B. fragilis is related to the presence of capsular material, not pili.     

Isolation of a ferritin from Bacteroides fragilis

A ferritin was isolated from the obligate anaerobe Bacteroides fragilis. Estimated molecular masses were 400 kDa for the holomer and 16.7 kDa for the subunits. A 30-residue N-terminal amino acid sequence was determined and found to resemble the sequences of other ferritins (human H-chain ferritin, 43% identity; Escherichia coli gen-165 product, 37% identity) and to a lesser degree, bacterioferritins (E. coli bacterioferritin, 20% identity). The protein stained positively for iron, and incorporated 59Fe when B. fragilis was grown in the presence of [59Fe]citrate. However, the isolated protein contained only about three iron atoms per molecule, and contained no detectable haem. This represents the first isolation of a ferritin protein from bacteria. It may alleviate iron toxicity in the presence of oxygen.     

Nutritional Features of Bacteroides fragilis subsp. fragilis

Studies of three reference strains of Bacteroides fragilis subsp. fragilis showed that they grow well in a minimal defined medium containing glucose, hemin, vitamin B₁₂, minerals, bicarbonate-carbon dioxide buffer, NH₄Cl, and sulfide. The vitamin B₁₂ requirement of 0.1 ng/ml was replaced with 7.5 μg of methionine. Cysteine or sulfide was an excellent source of sulfur, thioglycolate was a poor source, and thiosulfate, methionine, β-mercaptoethanol, dithiothreitol, sulfate, or sulfite did not serve as sole sources of sulfur. Neither single amino acids, nitrate, urea, nor a complex mixture of L-amino acids or peptides effectively replaced ammonia as the nitrogen source. Comparative studies with a few strains of other subspecies of B. fragilis including B. fragilis subsp. vulgatus, B. fragilis subsp. thetaiotaomicron, and B. fragilis subsp. distasonis indicate that they exhibit similar growth responses in the minimal medium. A single strain of B. fragilis subsp. ovatus required other materials. The results indicate the great biosynthetic ability of these organisms and suggest that, in their ecological niche within the large intestine, many nutrients such as amino acids are in very low supply, whereas materials such as ammonia, heme, and vitamin B₁₂, or related compounds, must be available during much of the time.     

Heterologous expression of the Bacteroides ruminicola xylanase gene in Bacteroides fragilis and Bacteroides uniformis

A cloned xylanase gene from the ruminal bacterium Bacteroides ruminicola 23 was transferred by conjugation into the colonic species Bacteroides fragilis and Bacteroides uniformis by using the Escherichia coli-Bacteroides shuttle vector pVAL-1. The cloned gene was expressed in both species, and xylanase specific activity in crude extracts was found to be at least 1400-fold greater than that found in the B. ruminicola strain. Analysis of crude extract proteins from the recombinant B. fragilis by SDS-PAGE demonstrated a new 60,000 molecular weight protein. The xylanase activity expressed in both E. coli and B. fragilis was capable of degrading xylan to xylooligosaccharides in vitro. This is the first demonstration that colonic Bacteroides species can express a gene from a ruminal Bacteroides species.     

A rapid assay of the sialidase activity in species of the Bacteroides fragilis group by using peanut lectin hemagglutination

In this study, a novel, simple and rapid hemagglutination assay by using a peanut lectin to detect a neuraminidase activity in strains of the Bacteroides fragilis group was developed. One hundred and fourteen species of the B. fragilis group isolated from children with and without diarrhea and 15 reference strains were evaluated. Neuraminidase production was determined by using the method above described and its inhibition was observed by using galactose. The neuraminidase production was observed in 54 (84.37%) diarrhea and in 43 (86%) non-diarrhea strains. HA titers were ranged from 2 to 32. This neuraminidase assays based on PNA hemagglutination is highly sensitive, reproducible and could be used as a tool to detect the sialidase activity in anaerobic bacteria, particularly, in species of the B. fragilis group.     

Purification of a GSH-affinity binding protein from Bacteroides fragilis devoid of glutathione transferase activity

For the location of the aminoglycoside-(3)-N-acetyltransferase isoenzyme II (AAC(3)-II) in the bacterial cell, two strains were studied: Escherichia coli HB101(pJV03), producing the 31-kDa AAC (3)-II enzyme, and E. coli HB101, which served as a control. From each strain five protein fractions were prepared: culture supernatant, and proteins occurring in the periplasm, cytoplasm, inner membrane and outer membrane. All fractions were tested for enzymatic activity of AAC(3)-II. Most of the acetylating activity was found in the cytoplasmic fraction. The distribution of marker enzymes showed a good separation between the periplasmic and the cytoplasmic fraction.     

Intracellular polysaccharide of Bacteroides fragilis.

Formation of iodophilic polysaccharide (IPS) from glucose was demonstrated in 27 strains of Bacteroides fragilis. Synthesis was dependent on the glucose concentration of the medium, the pH and the growth phase. When glucose was in short supply the cellular polysaccharide was degraded rapidly at pH 4.5 to 6.5 and fatty acids accumulated in the medium. Storage of IPS was not responsible for the low carbon recoveries observed in fermentation balance studies. In electron micrographs of thin sections, the IPS was observed as cytoplasmic granules dispersed throughout the whole cell. After extraction and purification the IPS was characterized as a glycogen.     

脆弱拟杆菌的研究进展

脆弱拟杆菌是定殖于哺乳动物肠道中的共生菌,同时也是临床感染病例中常见的条件致病菌。本文从致病及益生特性两大方面综述脆弱拟杆菌的研究现状,着重讨论了脆弱拟杆菌作为潜在益生菌在预防和治疗糖尿病及免疫性疾病中所起的重要作用,从而为筛选及应用益生脆弱拟杆菌菌株提供一定的参考。     

Analysis of fatty acids from lipopolysaccharides of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and Bacteroides fragilis]

The aim of this study was to determine and to compare fatty acids occurring in lipopolysaccharides (LPS) isolated from B. thetaiotaomicron and B. fragilis strains of different origin. Lipopolysaccharides of three B. thetaiotaomicron strains and four B. fragilis strains were isolated by phenol-water extraction according to the procedure of Westphal and Jann (1965). Water-phase LPS fractions were then treated with nucleases and purified by ultracentrifugation as described by Gmeiner (1975). Fatty acid methyl esters, obtained by methanolysis of LPS, were analysed in gas-liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (GLC-MS). Trimethylsilylated hydroxyl groups of fatty acid methyl esters were identified with GLC-MS using a method of selective ion monitoring (SIM). Lipopolysaccharides of B. thetaiotaomicron and B. fragilis strains contained long-chain (15-18 carbon atoms) fatty acids. The broad spectrum of simple long-chain and branched-chain fatty acids as well as 3-hydroxy fatty acids were detected. The main fatty acid of analyzed bacterial species was 3-hydroxy-hexadecanoic acid (3OH C16:0). Several 3-hydroxy fatty acids were detected in LPS of examined strains. Fatty acids occurring in LPS of B. thetaiotaomicron and B. fragilis strains appeared to be qualitatively similar. Quantitative differences in fatty acids composition of lipopolysaccharides isolated from strains of different origin were observed.     

Characterization of proteases formed by Bacteroides fragilis

Bacteroides fragilis NCDO 2217 produced three major proteases, P1, P2 and P3 of estimated molecular masses 73, 52 and 34 kDa respectively. Protease P1 weakly hydrolysed azocasein but strongly hydrolysed valyl-alanine p-nitroanilide (VAPNA), glycyl-proline p-nitroanilide (GPRPNA), and to a lesser extent leucine p-nitroanilide (LPNA), indicating it to be an exopeptidase. Proteases P2 and P3 hydrolysed only azocasein and LPNA. The high protease:arylamidase ratios of these enzymes indicated that they were probably endopeptidases. Experiments with protease inhibitors suggested that P1 and P2 had characteristics of serine and metalloproteases respectively and that P3 was a cysteine protease. The proteolytic activity of whole cells was stimulated by divalent metal ions such as Mn2+, Ca2+ and Mg2+, but was strongly inhibited (about 95%) by Cu2+ and Zn2+. The temperature optimum for protein hydrolysis was 43 degrees C. Proteolysis was temperature sensitive, however (90% reduction at 60 degrees C) and was maximal at alkaline pH, with two broad peaks at pH 7.9 and pH 8.8. Cell fractionation showed that P1 was located intracellularly and in the periplasm, whereas P2 and P3 were largely associated with the outer membrane. Release of the membrane-bound proteases by treatment with 1 M-NaCl suggested that ionic interactions were involved in the association of these enzymes with the membranes.     

对脆弱类杆菌β-内酰胺酶及其与肠道微生态学关系的初步探讨

本文利用β-内酰胺酶作为分类学研究的方法,探讨了脆弱类杆菌与肠道菌之间的微生态学关系。临床分离菌株脆弱类杆菌55的β-内酰胺酶经离子交换层析、凝胶过滤和制备型聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳进行纯化,纯酶与脂质体-CPS-K佐剂混合制备抗血清,并建立IgG-ELISA和Western blotting方法,其测定结果均表明脆弱类杆菌的β-内酰胺酶不同于其它类杆菌和肠道菌的β-内酰胺酶,具有种的特异性。