Ultrastructural and Chemical Alteration of the Cell Envelope of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Associated with Resistance to Ethylenediaminetetraacetate Resulting from Growth in a Mg2+-Deficient Medium

Cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa became resistant to the lytic effect of ethylenediametetraacetate (EDTA) when grown in a Mg(2+)-deficient medium. To correlate ultrastructural changes in the cell wall associated with the shift to EDTA-resistance, a freeze-etch study was performed. Upon fracturing, the outer cell wall membrane split down the hydrophobic center to reveal the outer (concave) and inner (convex) layers. The concave cell wall layer of EDTA-sensitive cells grown in Mg(2+)-sufficient medium contained spherical units resting on an underlying smooth support layer. Upon EDTA treatment, approximately one-half of these spherical units were extracted. Cells grown in Mg(2+)-deficient medium were resistant to EDTA. The concave cell wall layer of EDTA-resistant cells had increased numbers of highly compacted spherical units, giving this layer a disorganized appearance. The highly compacted appearance of this layer was unaltered by EDTA treatment. Thus, growth in Mg(2+)-deficient medium resulted in cells which were resistant to EDTA and which possessed an ultrastructurally altered outer layer of the outer cell wall membrane. Cell envelopes from EDTA-resistant cells were found to possess 18% less phosphorus, 16.4% more total carbohydrate, and 13.3% more 2-keto-3-deoxyoctonate than cell envelopes from EDTA-sensitive cells. There were also qualitative, but not quantitative, differences in the protein content of cell envelopes from EDTA-resistant and EDTA-sensitive cells.     

Outer membrane protein H1 of Pseudomonas aeruginosa: involvement in adaptive and mutational resistance to ethylenediaminetetraacetate, polymyxin B, and gentamicin.

It is well established that Pseudomonas aeruginosa cells grown in Mg2+-deficient medium acquire nonmutational resistance to the chelator ethylenediaminetetraacetate and to the cationic antibiotic polymyxin B; this type of resistance can be reversed by transferring the cells to Mg2+-sufficient medium for a few generations. Stable mutants resistant to polymyxin B were isolated and shown to have also gained ethylenediaminetetraacetate resistance. Both the mutants and strains grown on Mg2+-deficient medium had greatly enhanced levels of outer membrane protein H1 when compared with the wild-type strain or with revertants grown in Mg2+-sufficient medium. It was determined that in all strains and at all medium Mg2+ concentrations, the cell envelope Mg2+ concentration varied inversely with the amount of protein H1. In addition, the increase in protein H1 in the mutants was associated with an increase in resistance to another group of cationic antibiotics, the aminoglycosides, e.g., gentamicin. We propose that protein H1 acts by replacing Mg2+ at a site on the lipopolysaccharide which can otherwise be attacked by the cationic antibiotics or ethylenediaminetetraacetate.     

Resistance of Pseudomonas to Quaternary Ammonium Compounds: II. Cross-Resistance Characteristics of a Mutant of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Tube dilution experiments showed that benzalkonium chloride (BC)-resistant mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa grown in the presence of 1,000 mug of BC per ml were at least 20 times more sensitive to polymyxin B and colistin sulfate than the BC-sensitive (BCS) parent strain. BCS cells selected for resistance to 500 mug of polymyxin B per ml remained sensitive to BC. There was little difference in the amount of carbenicillin, gentamicin sulfate, or rifampin needed to prevent growth of either the BCS or BC-resistant (BCR) strains. Growth of BCR cells was inhibited by ethylenediaminetetraacetate at a concentration of 400 mug/ml or less, whereas the BCS strain grew at ethylenediaminetetraacetate levels of 10,000 mug/ml. Phenylmercuric acetate and thimerosal inhibited growth of BCR and BCS cells at concentrations of 10 mug/ml or less. BCR cells were cross-resistant to >1,000 mug/ml concentrations of five other quaternary ammonium compounds, including three with C(16) alkyls and two with alkyl groups of shorter length. The BCS strain was also resistant to >1,000 mug/ml concentrations of the three quaternary ammonium compounds with C(16) alkyl groups but, in addition to BC, was inhibited by 200 mug/ml levels or less of the two quaternary ammonium compounds containing alkyl groups of less than 16 carbon atoms.     

Freeze-Etching of the Cell Envelope of an Acinetobacter Species Which Carries a Regular Array of Surface Subunits

Freeze-etching was applied to preparations, with and without glycerol, of Acinetobacter sp. strain MJT/F5/199A, consisting of intact cells after normal growth or after incubation with chloramphenicol, spheroplasts, and isolated cell walls and outer membranes. Etched preparations show that a regular array of subunits forms the surface of normal cells. Near the zones of constriction in dividing cells, blebs and irregularities are seen, and some blebs, consisting of both surface subunits and outer membrane, are released from the cells. The cross-fractured cell envelope shows four layers which are related to the structures seen in section as follows: cw1, which is not visible in section, contains the surface subunits; cw2 consists of all or part of the outer membrane; cw3 includes the intermediate and dense, peptidoglycan-containing layers; within these cell wall layers is the plasma membrane. Internal fracture of the plasma membrane occurs under all conditions tested, but the fracture plane in the cell wall is only revealed in chloramphenicol-treated cells or normal cells freeze-fractured with glycerol present; the characteristic fracture faces are not seen in spheroplasts or isolated outer membranes. The concave fracture face cw2 consists of densely packed granules, while the convex face cw3 is fibrillar. The probable location of this fracture plane is discussed. After incubation with chloramphenicol, the outer surface of the cells is obscured by extracellular material, the dense peptidoglycan-containing layer is increased in thickness, and the cytoplasm contains rounded bodies bounded by one or more unit membranes.     

The Influence of Calcium or Manganese on the Resistance to EDTA, Polymyxin B or Cold Shock, and the Composition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Grown in Glucose- or Magnesium-depleted Batch Cultures

Cultures were batch grown in simple salts media in which growth was limited either by depletion of glucose and magnesium (C/Mg-dep) or by glucose alone (C-dep). Cultures were also grown in these media supplemented by calcium and/or manganese.
All cultures grown in the C-dep media were sensitive to ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), polymyxin and also to cold shock but were relatively resistant to ethyleneglycol-bis(2-aminoethyl ether)-N, N-tetraacetic acid (EGTA). Inclusion of calcium or manganese in the growth medium enhanced lysis by EDTA. Cultures grown in the basic C/Mg-dep media were resistant to EDTA, EGTA, polymyxin and to cold shock. Sensitivity to these agents was retained by cultures grown in C/Mg-dep media supplemented with Ca²⁺ and/or Mn²⁺. Cells grown in C/Mg-dep media with added Mn²⁺ were more sensitive to EDTA and polymyxin than those from the unsupplemented C/Mg-dep media but still resistant compared with C-dep cultures. All cultures from supplemented C/Mg-dep media were more sensitive to EGTA than those from any of the C-dep media.
Whole cells and cell walls from these various media had differing amounts of cell wall, phosphorus, amino sugar, carbohydrates, readily extractable lipid (REL), total phospholipid (PL), and especially differences in cell wall divalent metal cation content.
The differences in PL, REL and amino sugars and carbohydrate did not correlate with the response of C-dep and C/Mg-dep bacteria to EDTA, EGTA or polymyxin. The results are discussed in relation to the hypothesis that the sensitivity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to polymyxin and EDTA is more dependent on outer membrane cation content rather than on other components, e.g. PL and lipopolysaccharide.     

Surface Structure of Intact Cells and Spheroplasts of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

This report describes the ultrastructural features of Pseudomonas aeruginosa after freeze-etching of intact cells and enzymatically prepared spheroplasts. Freeze-etching of intact cells revealed two convex layers of the cell wall and particles within the hydrophobic interior of the cell membrane. Areas of the membrane free of particles were sometimes elevated in the form of rather large dome-shaped structures. Spheroplasts were formed from intact cells by the addition of trypsin to a reaction mixture of lysozyme and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. Spheroplasts contained the outer lipoid layer of the cell wall. It was possible to observe this cell wall layer in freeze-etch preparations of spheroplasts. The spheroplast membrane like that of intact cells was cleaved along a central plane to expose particles and particle-free areas.     

Composition of major outer membrane proteins of Vibrio vulnificus isolates: effect of different growth media and iron deficiency

The outer membrane proteins of Vibrio vulnificus including isolates from humans, seawater and an asari clam were examined by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A major outer membrane protein with an apparent molecular weight of 48,000 (48K protein) was common to all the strains grown in 3% NaCl-nutrient broth; however this 48K protein was not produced in any of the strains grown in chemically defined medium. Other major outer membrane proteins with molecular weights ranging from 33,000 to 40,000 varied in number, relative amount and molecular weight depending on the strain. One to three new outer membrane proteins with molecular weights ranging from 74,000 to 85,000 were produced in the cells grown in iron-deficient medium. The 48K protein and one or two major proteins with molecular weights ranging from 35,000 to 37,000 in the cells grown in 3% NaCl-nutrient broth were not solubilized by 2% SDS at 60 C for 30 min and were resistant to trypsin, indicating that they are porins. On the other hand, in cells grown in chemically defined medium, one or two major outer membrane proteins with molecular weights ranging from 33,000 to 40,000 might be porins.     

Freeze-Etch Study of Pseudomonas aeruginosa: Localization Within the Cell Wall of an Ethylenediaminetetraacetate-Extractable Component

A freeze-etch study of normal cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and of cells after incubation with ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) and tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (Tris) was performed. When cells were freeze-etched without a cryoprotective agent, a smooth outer cell wall layer, which showed a regular array of subunits, and the presence of flagella and pili were observed. These features were not observed in cells freeze-etched after cryoprotection with glycerol. Four fracture surfaces, which resulted from splitting down the center of the outer wall membrane and of the inner cytoplasmic membrane, were revealed in freeze-etched glycerol-protected cells. The murein layer was seen in profile between the outer cell wall membrane and the cytoplasmic membrane. Spherical units and small rods composed of the spherical units were observed in the inner layer of the outer cell wall membrane. These spherical units appeared to be attached to, or embedded in, the inner face of the outer layer of the outer cell wall membrane. These spherical units were removed from cells on exposure to EDTA-Tris, resulting in cells that were osmotically fragile. The spherical units were detected via electron microscopy of negatively stained preparations in the supernatant fluid of cellular suspensions treated with EDTA-Tris. Upon addition of Mg(2+), the spherical units were reaggregated into the inner layer of the outer cell wall membrane and the cells were restored to osmotic stability. The spherical units were shown to consist primarily of protein. These data are thought to represent the first ultrastructural demonstration of reaggregation of cell wall components within a living cell system.     

Composition and properties of the outer cell wall layer in Bacillus brevis--the producer of gramicidin S

Two membrane antigens were found by cross immunoelectrophoresis in the cell walls of Bacillus brevis var. G.-B., R form, which started to synthesize gramicidin S (20 mg per 1 ml of cultural broth). The cell wall contained no membrane components in cells at the beginning of the logarithmic growth phase. The protein with a molecular mass of 100 kDa is a component of the cell wall outer layer. The protein is not digested by trypsin or pronase when it comprises the cell walls of cells synthesizing gramicidin S. In the preparation of isolated cell walls, this protein becomes susceptible to the action of the above proteases only when the peptidoglycan layer is broken down by lysozyme. Electron microscopy of cells treated with proteases and shadowed with a metal revealed that many cells lacked the cytoplasm. Therefore, the outer layer of B. brevis R cell wall contains small regions susceptible to the action of protease along with regions composed of the 100 kDa protein and resistant to these enzymes. It is possible that the small regions contain membrane components.     

Adaptive resistance to polymyxin in Pseudomonas aeruginosa due to an outer membrane impermeability mechanism

The isolated outer membrane from cells of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain exhibiting adaptive resistance to polymyxin was not affected by polymyxin treatment, as monitored by electron microscopy of negatively stained preparations. This was in sharp contrast with extensive disruption by polymyxin of the outer membranes of the parent polymyxin-sensitive strain and the resistant strain following reversion to greater polymyxin sensitivity. The isolated cytoplasmic membrane of the polymyxin-resistant strain, on the other hand, remained sensitive to the disruptive effects of polymyxin treatment. The permeability characteristics of the resistant strains appear to be altered, as indicated by differences in minimal inhibitory concentrations for a variety of antibiotics between the polymyxin-sensitive and polymyxin-resistant strains. No evidence was found for a polymyxin-inactivating enzyme in osmotic shock fluid from the polymyxin-resistant strain. No evidence for a cytoplasmic membrane repair mechanism was found in the polymyxin-resistant strain. These observations suggest that the mechanism of adaptive polymyxin resistance in this model system is the alteration of the outer membrane so that it excludes polymyxin from reaching the still sensitive cytoplasmic membrane.     

Electron microscope study of the effect of benzalkonium, chlorhexidine and polymyxin on Pseudomonas cepacia

Electron micrographs of Pseudomonas cepacia cell grown in nutrient broth show an external membrane which is distinctly wavy, when compared with similar preparations of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and which is not affected by growing in the presence of broth containing benzalkonium (10 microgram/ml), chlorhexidine (10 microgram/ml) or polymyxin (25 units/ml). Both benzalkonium (10 microgram/ml) and chlorhexidine (10 microgram/ml) damage the cytoplasmic membrane of P. cepacia cell grown in the presence of the chemicals. Contrasts are shown between the effect of polymyxin (chlorhexidine and benzalkonium) on the outer membrane of P. cepacia and P. aeruginosa.     

Effect of Polymyxin on the Bacteriophage Receptors of the Cell Walls of Gram-Negative Bacteria

Treatment of gram-negative bacteria with lethal doses of polymyxin B and colistin resulted in the formation of projections of the outer layer of the cell wall. Phages T3, T4, and T7, which use wall lipopolysaccharide as receptors, were specifically prevented from adsorbing to Escherichia coli B cells treated with polymyxin, whereas phages T1, T2, T5, and T6 were not. In the systems of phage P22C-Salmonella typhimurium LT2 and phage C21-S. typhimurium variant SL1069, the phage were prevented from adsorbing to the host cell treated with the antibiotics. Electron microscopic observations show that phage T2 adsorbed irreversibly to the normal smooth surface between the projections on the outer layer caused by the drug treatment. These results indicate that lipopolysaccharide is affected by polymyxin functionally and morphologically, but lipoprotein is not. The purified lipopolysaccharide showed a ribbon-like structure when viewed face on and showed trilamellar structure when viewed edge on. The lipopolysaccharide from E. coli B was irreversibly adsorbed by phages T3, T4, and T7, but not phage T2. Often, phage T4 adsorbed to both sides of the lipopolysaccharide strand at comparable distances. Phage P22C adsorbed through the spikes of the tail-plates to the lipopolysaccharide from S. typhimurium LT2. Lipopolysaccharide which was treated with low doses of the drug (2.5 to 6.25 mug of polymyxin B per ml to 100 mug of lipopolysaccharide per ml) turned into the coiled form and was partially broken down into short segments with coiled form. The loosely coiled lipopolysaccharide retains both its function as the receptor and its trilamellar structure. Treatment with high doses of the drug (12.5 to 25 mug of polymyxin B per ml to 100 mug of lipopolysaccharide per ml) caused the collapse of the trilamellar structure of the strand. These collapsed lipopolysaccharides became flat and fused with each other, making an amorphous mass, and finally they were broken into small collapsed fragments.     

Effect of Recovery Medium on the Isolation of Campylobacter Jejuni Before and After Heat Treatment

The effect of various concentrations of polymyxin B and Colistin in Skirrow’s or Butzler’s type media, respectively, on the recovery rate of 13 strains of G. jejuni before and after heat treatment was studied. Prior to heating, a Butz-ler’s type medium containing 40 I.U. per ml Colistin was inhibitory for certain strains of C. jejuni. After heating at 48° G for 30 min, media containing 2.5 I.U. per ml polymyxin B or 10 I.U. per ml Colistin were not inhibitory for heat-injured cells. When the concentrations of polymyxin B were increased to 5.0 I.U. per ml or those of Colistin to 20 or 40 I.U. per ml in the selective media, the means of the differences of log cell counts between non-selective Brucella blood agar and the selective media was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The mean D-value of G. jejuni strains in Brucella broth at 48° G was 18.4±5.4 min.     

Characterization of intracytoplasmic hydrocarbon inclusions from the hydrocarbon-oxidizing Acinetobacter species HO1-N.

The ultrastructure of Acinetobacter sp. strain HO1-N grown on hydrocarbon and nonhydrocarbon substrates was compared using thin sections and freeze-etching. Hydrocarbon-grown cells were characterized by the presence of intracytoplasmic membrane-bound hexadecane inclusions. This membrane did not exhibit a typical unit membrane structure but appeared as a monolayer. The freeze-etch technique revealed the internal structure of the hexadecane inclusions and provided evidence for the presence of a smooth-surfaced limiting membrane. Freeze-etching also revealed intracytoplasmic membranes in the hexadecane-grown cells. These ultrastructural modifications were not present in nonhydrocarbon-grown cells. The hexadecane inclusions were isolated from Acinetobacter. Negative-staining of the inclusions revealed electron-transparent vesicles approximating the size of the inclusions seen in whole cells. Freeze-etching of the purified inclusions revealed membrane-bound vesicles. The purified inclusions exhibited a relatively high value of lipid phosphorus to protein. The lipid composition and the electrophoretic banding pattern of the inclusions on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels were determined and compared with other membrane fractions (outer membrane and cytoplasmic membrane) previously isolated from this organism.     

Ultrastructure of Free-Living and Nitrogen-Fixing Forms of Rhizobium meliloti as Revealed by Freeze-Etching

Freeze-etching of Rhizobium meliloti provided considerable insight into the ultrastructure of this bacterium and into the changes accompanying the transformation from the free-living rod forms to the nitrogen-fixing bacteroid forms. In the small rods, one cleavage plane was revealed at the level of the cell wall and a second at the level of the plasma membrane. Very little structure was evident at the cell wall level, but distinctly different convex and concave fracture faces were exposed at the cell membrane cleavage plane. During the transformation into the bacteroidal state the wall decreased in thickness, became less rigid, and developed a particulate surface. In addition, changes in particle density were observed in the plasma membrane. The fine structure of the plant membranes, the infection threads, and the arrangement of the bacteroids within the plant cells also were revealed.     

Alterations of cell wall structure and metabolism accompany reduced susceptibility to vancomycin in an isogenic series of clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus

A series of isogenic methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates recovered from a bacteremic patient were shown to acquire gradually increasing levels of resistance to vancomycin during chemotherapy with the drug (K. Sieradzki, T. Leski, L. Borio, J. Dick, and A. Tomasz, J. Clin. Microbiol. 41:1687-1693, 2003). We compared properties of the earliest (parental) vancomycin-susceptible isolate, JH1 (MIC, 1 microg/ml), to two late (progeny) isolates, JH9 and JH14 (vancomycin MIC, 8 microg/ml). The resistant isolates produced abnormally thick cell walls and poorly separated cells when grown in antibiotic-free medium. Chemical analysis of the resistant isolates showed decreased cross-linkage of the peptidoglycan and drastically reduced levels of PBP4 as determined by the fluorographic assay. Resistant isolates showed reduced rates of cell wall turnover and autolysis. In vitro hydrolysis of resistant cell walls by autolytic extracts prepared from either susceptible or resistant strains was also slow, and this abnormality could be traced to a quantitative (or qualitative) change in the wall teichoic acid component of resistant isolates. Some change in the structure and/or metabolism of teichoic acids appears to be an important component of the mechanism of decreased susceptibility to vancomycin in S. aureus.     

Effect of polymyxin B on outer membranes of Serratia marcescens: morphological alterations of the outer membranes and their lipopolysaccharide components.

The in vitro or the in vivo treatment of outer membranes and their lipopolysaccharide (LPS) components from Serratia marcescens with the antibiotic polymyxin B appeared to alter their normal morphology in a sequential manner. The normal spherodial morphology was destablized into a flattened structure after the in vitro treatment of either the resistant strain 08 or the sensitive strain Bizio. The more severe in vivo treatment of the outer membranes from the resistant strain converted the flattened forms further into spheres with undefined periphery and diminished sizes. On the other hand, the same treatment of the outer membranes from the sensitive strain resulted in numerous incomplete spheres and short rods, which were similar to the various morphological forms of the LPS components after polymyxin B treatment. The difference in the morphological changes of the outer membranes and their LPS components of the resistant and sensitive strains after polymyxin B treatment may be explained by the variation of the susceptiblity of the membrane components to the degradative effects of the antibiotic.     

Pronase-susceptible Floc Forming Bacteria: Relationship between Flocculation and Calcium Ion

Six strains of floc-forming bacteria belonging to Flavobacterium were isolated from activated sludge which were deflocculated by Pronase treatment. The flocculated cells of the strain B, one of the isolates, was deflocculated not only by Pronase, but also by ethylenediaminetetraacetate. Growth was stimulated when Pronase was added in the medium. An adequate amount of calcium ion in the medium was required for flocculation. No flocculation was observed, however, when calcium was added to the cells grown with a low level of calcium. Deflocculation was observed at the late stationary phase and the onset of deflocculation depended on the concentrations of calcium in the medium. The higher concentrations delayed the deflocculation. The floes formed in the presence of calcium over 0.5 nm in the medium became resistant to the Pronase treatment.     

Morphogenesis of Influenza A Virus in Ehrlich Ascites Tumor Cells as Revealed by Thin-Sectioning and Freeze-Etching

The budding of a tumor-adapted strain of influenza A(0) virus at the surface of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells was studied by electron microscopy. Thin sections of budding sites showed the formation of a fuzzy coat on the outside of the cell membrane and simultaneously the apposition of a dark layer on the inner side. The continuity of cellular and viral membrane seemed to be preserved up to the point where the virion remained attached by only a thin stalk. Freeze-etching of virus budding sites yielded pictures in which a clear differentiation between the viral membrane and the host cell membrane was visible. The breaks across the fuzzy coat revealed striations corresponding to the "spikes" seen in negative contrast, whereas tangentially broken virus particles were best interpreted by assuming that splitting occurred midway between the two outer layers of the envelope.     

Cell envelope associations of Aquaspirillum serpens flagella.

Specific regions of the cell envelope associated with the flagellar basal complex of the gram-negative bacterium Aquaspirillum (Spirillum) serpens were identified by studying each of the envelope layers: outer membrane, mucopeptide, and plasma membrane. The outer membrane around the flagella insertion site was differentiated by concentric membrane rings and central perforations surrounded by a closely set collar. The perforations in both the outer membrane and the isolated mucopeptide layer were of a size accomodating the central rod of the basal complex but smaller than either the L or the P disks. The P disk of the complex may lie between the mucopeptide and the outer membrane. Electron microscopy of intact, spheroplasted, or autolyzed preparations did not adequately resolve the location of the inner pair of disks of the basal complex. Freeze-etching, however, revealed differentiation within the plasma membrane that appeared to be related to the basal complex. The convex fracture face showed depressions which are interpreted as impressions of a disk surrounded by a set of evenly spaced macromolecular studs and containing a central "plug" interpreted as the central rod. In thin sections, blebs, which appear to be associated with the flagellar apparatus, were seen on the cytoplasmic side of the plasma membrane. Superimposing the dimensions of the flagellar basal complex and the spacings of the cell envelope layers and using the position of the L disk within the outer membrane for reference, showed that the S disk might be within and the M disk beneath the plasma membrane. A tentative model was developed for comparison with that based on the structure of the Escherichia coli basal complex.