Role of Disulphide Bonds in the Resistance of Bacillus cereus Spores to Gamma Irradiation and Heat

S ummary . Spores of Bacillus cereus were treated with thioglycollic acid which ruptures at least 10–30% of the spore disulphide bonds by reducing them to thiol groups. The treated spores were still viable and were sensitive to lysozyme but remained as resistant to γ-irradiation and to heat as untreated spores. Neither treated nor untreated spores were sensitized to irradiation by reagents which block thiol groups. The results did not indicate that the high content of disulphide bonds in spore coat protein protects spores against inactivation by irradiation or heat.     

Cloning of Bacteroides fragilis plasmid genes affecting metronidazole resistance and ultraviolet survival in Escherichia coli

Since reduced metronidazole causes DNA damage, resistance to metronidazole was used as a selection method for the cloning of Bacteroides fragilis genes affecting DNA repair mechanisms in Escherichia coli. Genes from B. fragilis Bf-2 were cloned on a recombinant plasmid pMT100 which made E. coli AB1157 and uvrA, B, and C mutant strains more resistant to metronidazole, but more sensitive to far uv irradiation under aerobic conditions. The loci affecting metronidazole resistance and uv sensitivity were linked and located on a 5-kb DNA fragment which originated from the small 6-kb cryptic plasmid pBFC1 present in B. fragilis Bf-2 cells.     

Induction of proteins and mRNAs after uv irradiation of human epidermal keratinocytes

uv sensitivity of cultured human epidermal keratinocytes was analyzed at different growth conditions and compared with the sensitivity of dermal fibroblasts derived from the same skin specimen. No significant differences in survival curves were found between these two cell types, although keratinocytes grown under standard conditions were slightly more resistant to uv irradiation than fibroblasts. The extracellular concentration of calcium appeared to be critical not only in the regulation of keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation, but also in the uv sensitivity of these cells: keratinocytes grown under conditions which favor cell proliferation (low calcium concentration) are more resistant to uv irradiation than those grown under conditions favoring differentiation (high calcium concentration). Two-dimensional protein gel electrophoresis was used to detect a possible effect of uv irradiation on the accumulation of specific mRNAs in the cytoplasm and/or on the synthesis of specific proteins. Proteins were pulse labeled in vivo with [35S]methionine or synthesized in vitro in rabbit reticulocyte lysates on mRNA isolated from keratinocytes that were irradiated with different uv doses at different periods of time prior to isolation. Alterations in expression were demonstrated for several proteins in both in vivo and in vitro experiments.     

Transient and stable expression of marker genes in cotransformedPetunia protoplasts in relation to X-ray and UV-irradiation

Irradiation of protoplasts with X-rays or ultraviolet light does not seem to influence the level of transient expression of foreign DNA inPetunia protoplasts, whereas the number of stably transformed colonies is significantly raised. This may indicate that irradiation influences integration and/or the expression of marker genes and does not result in enhanced uptake rates of plasmids into protoplasts and cell nuclei. Co-transformation with plasmids carrying a gene for kanamycin resistance (neomycin phosphotransferase II) and a gene for hygromycin resistance (hygromycin phosphotransferase) revealed that the cotransformation rates were not stimulated by irradiation when measuring expression. Twenty-five kanamycin resistant but hygromycin sensitive colonies were examined with Southern or slot blotting and all were found to contain the coding sequence for the hygromycinphosphotransferase gene in their genomes. No obvious differences regarding copy number of integrated genes were observed when comparing transformed colonies derived from irradiated and non-irradiated protoplasts.     

Heat Resistance of Bacillus Spores at Various Relative Humidities

The thermal resistance characteristics of spores from strains of five different Bacillus species were determined in phosphate buffer and at relative humidities ranging from <0.001 to 100% in a closed-can system. Spores tested in the closed-can system showed a marked increase in heat resistance over those in phosphate buffer, with the greatest increases occurring at relative humidities between 1 and 50%. When estimates of the time to reduce the initial spore concentration 99.99% (F value) at eight different relative humidities were plotted against temperature, three different types of heat resistance profiles were obtained, with maximum resistances at relative humidities of 1, 7, and 30%. When the various strains of spores were heated at the relative humidity of their maximum heat resistance, their relative order of heat resistance was different from that seen in buffer. Spores from the soil isolate were most resistant under these conditions (F_121.1 = 99.5 h).     

Heat and UV light resistance of vegetative cells and spores of Bacillus subtilis Rec-mutants.

The heat and UV light resistance of spores and vegetative cells of Bacillus subtilis BD170 (rec+) were greater than those of B. subtilis BD224 (recE4). Strain BD170 can repair DNA whereas BD224 is repair deficient due to the presence of the recE4 allele. Spores of a GSY Rec+ strain were more heat resistant than spores of GSY Rec- and Uvr- mutants. The overall level of heat and UV light resistance attained by spores may in part be determined by their ability to repair deoxyribonucleic acid after exposure to these two physical mutagens.     

Effects of aqueous and alcoholic povidone-iodine on spores of Bacillus subtilis

Spores of Bacillus subtilis NCTC 10073 were examined for susceptibility to two proprietary brands of povidone-iodine: an aqueous solution, Betadine and an alcoholic solution, Videne. Spores were converted to ion-exchange (Ca, H) and coat-defective (SLS-, UME-, UMS-, UDT- and UDS-treated) forms. The resistance of these to povidone-iodine was compared and related to uptake. Effects on spore protoplasts and cortex in relation to hexosamine release were also examined. The degree of spore penetration and site of action of povidone-iodine is discussed.     

Heat shock proteins do not influence wet heat resistance of Bacillus subtilis spores

Spores of Bacillus subtilis are significantly more resistant to wet heat than are their vegetative cell counterparts. Analysis of the effects of mutations in and the expression of fusions of a coding gene for a thermostable β-galactosidase to a number of heat shock genes has shown that heat shock proteins play no significant role in the wet heat resistance of B. subtilis spores.     

The effect of growth conditions on inducible, recA-dependent resistance to X rays in Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli cells grown to logarithmic phase in, and plated on, rich medium (yeast extract-nutrient broth) were more resistant to X rays, ultraviolet (uv) radiation, and methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) than cells grown in, and plated on, minimal medium. We have called this enhanced survival capability medium-dependent resistance (MDR). The magnitude of MDR observed after oxic X irradiation was greater than that observed after anoxic X irradiation, uv irradiation, or MMS treatment. MDR was not observed in stationary-phase cells with X or uv radiation. MDR was associated with an increased ability to repair X-ray-induced DNA single-strand breaks, and with reduced X-ray-induced DNA degradation and protein synthesis retardation. Postirradiation protein synthesis was concluded to be critical in allowing the high X-ray survival associated with MDR, because of the large radiosensitization caused by a postirradiation growth medium shift down or treatment with rifampicin (RIF), recA protein must be at least one of the proteins whose synthesis is critical to MDR, as judged by the absence of MDR or a RIF effect in X-irradiated recA and lexA mutants. The results with X-irradiated temperature-conditional recA cells suggest that it is only after cells have been damaged that the recA gene plays a role in MDR.     

Influence of the sporulation temperature upon the heat resistance of Bacillus subtilis

The influence of different sporulation temperatures (30, 37, 44 and 52°C) upon heat resistance of Bacillus subtilis was investigated.
Heat resistance was greater after higher sporulation temperatures. Relation of heat resistance and temperature of sporulation was not linear over all the range of temperatures tested. Heat resistance increased about tenfold in the range of 30–44°C. Sporulation at 52°C did not show any further increase in heat resistance.
This effect was constant over all the range of heating temperatures tested (100–120°C). z value remained constant ( z = 9°C).
Greater heat resistances at higher temperatures of sporulation were not due to selection of more heat resistant cells by a higher sporulation temperature. Spores obtained from cells incubated at 32 or 52°C always possessed heat resistances that corresponded to the sporulation temperature regardless of the incubation temperature of their vegetative cells.     

Influence of the sporulation temperature upon the heat resistance of Bacillus subtilis.

The influence of different sporulation temperatures (30, 37, 44 and 52 degrees C) upon heat resistance of Bacillus subtilis was investigated. Heat resistance was greater after higher sporulation temperatures. Relation of heat resistance and temperature of sporulation was not linear over all the range of temperatures tested. Heat resistance increased about tenfold in the range of 30-44 degrees C. Sporulation at 52 degrees C did not show any further increase in heat resistance. This effect was constant over all the range of heating temperatures tested (100-120 degrees C). z value remained constant (z = 9 degrees C). Greater heat resistances at higher temperatures of sporulation were not due to selection of more heat resistant cells by a higher sporulation temperature. Spores obtained from cells incubated at 32 or 52 degrees C always possessed heat resistances that corresponded to the sporulation temperature regardless of the incubation temperature of their vegetative cells.     

Effect of ultraviolet radiation on the microsporidian Octosporea muscaedomesticae with reference to protectants provided by the host Phormia regina

The effect of ultraviolet light on the microsporidian Octosporea muscaedomesticae in relation to infection in the adult black blowfly, Phormia regina, was investigated. A 30-Watt germicidal lamp, 253.7-nm wavelength, was used as source of uv light in five investigations. In addition, sunlight served as a uv source in two studies. Viable naked dried spores exposed to the uv lamp at a distance of 10 cm were killed after 15 min. Viable naked spores in an aqueous suspension were killed after 30 min of exposure to the uv lamp and after 3 hr of exposure to bright sunlight, respectively. Daily 30-min uv lamp exposures on living hosts harboring all life phases of the parasite did not interfere with the ensuing infection in the blowfly's midgut and the pathogen's developmental cycle. Spores harvested from uv-treated infected hosts were found to be as infective as spores retrieved from hosts not treated with uv. Spores contained in dried fecal droplets and exposed up to 3 hr to the uv lamp, or 12 hr to bright sunlight, respectively, remained infective. Addition of uric acid to a preparation of naked spores prior to 15- and 30-min uv irradiations yielded 100% infection in both host groups. A uv-protective function is ascribed to components provided by the host's tissues and feces.     

Cell fusion between L-forms and protoplasts of Staphylococcus aureus

Mixtures of various combinations of Lysostaphin protoplasts and stable L-forms of Staphylococcus aureus, which have different markers for drug resistance, were treated with polyethylene glycol (PEG) to examine the development of doubly resistant fusion products (fusants). To recover doubly resistant colonies as L-forms, they were incubated in 4.5% NaCl-brain heart infusion (BHI) broth containing penicillin G (PCG) for enrichment culture and cultured in PCG-4.5% NaCl-BHI agar medium (method 1), while to recover doubly resistant fusants as L-forms and coccal forms, they were grown on reversion medium (R medium) which causes reversion of protoplasts or fusants to parent type cells, and then cultured on assay media, i.e., R medium, BHI agar medium or PCG-4.5% NaCl-BHI agar medium (method 2). Under both experimental conditions, doubly resistant fusants developed as L-form cells by PEG treatment of pairs of protoplasts carrying the chloramphenicol (CP)-resistance plasmid and L-forms having chromosomal resistance to streptomycin (SM). In the reverse combinations, i.e., protoplasts showing chromosomal SM-resistance and L-form cells carrying the CP-resistance plasmid, the first method gave no doubly resistant colonies. By the second method, without enrichment culture on R medium, the latter combination gave doubly resistant fusants as L-form, coccal-type and mixed-type colonial forms, while when the PEG-treated mixture was enriched on R medium, fusants were obtained exclusively as the coccal type on either R medium or BHI agar assay medium. Neither of the methods yielded colonies of doubly resistant fusants on PEG-treatment of pairs of protoplasts and L-forms both of which were chromosomal, but with different drug resistances. These results show that PEG-induced cell fusion between protoplasts and L-forms of S. aureus, unlike the fusion between protoplasts or between L-forms, resulted in transfer of the drug resistance controlled by the plasmid to the fusion products. The fusants obtained were L-forms in method 1, and coccal type in the method 2.     

Relative susceptibilities of caffeine-sensitive and caffeine-resistant strains of Candida albicans to inactivation and mutation by ultraviolet radiation

Summary Stable variants having increased resistance to growth inhibition by caffeine were obtained from four different absolute, amino acid auxotrophs of Candida albicans. Differences in growth rates and expression of auxotrophy between the resistant (Caf^R) variants and their sensitive (Caf^S) progenitors suggest that caffeine resistance arises through suppressor mutations which affect the fidelity of messenger RNA translation.Both Caf^S and Caf^R strains of C. albicans are more susceptible to inactivation by ultraviolet radiation (uv) when grown at 37°C rather than 25°C following exposure. Post irradiation growth on caffeine potentiates ultraviolet inactivation of all Caf^S strains at both temperatures. Depending on its origin, a Caf^R strain (i) may show greater, lesser or the same intrinsic susceptibility to uv inactivation as its Caf^S parent at 25°C or at 37°C and (ii) may or may not be refractory to post-irradiation contact with caffeine. Caf^R variants independently isolated from a given auxotroph are alike in inactivational responses whereas those obtained from different auxotrophs are dissimilar. This implies that different suppressor mutations are unique in the way they affect expression of potentially lethal uv damage and that only one kind of suppressor is obtained by selection for caffeine resistance in a particular auxotroph.The histidine requiring Caf^R strain WB-2CR is much more resistant to uv inactivation that its Caf^S parent WB-2. Moreover, post-irradiation survival of WB-2CR is unaffected by caffeine. However, WB-2CR and WB-2 are equally susceptible to uv-induced reversion to prototrophy. In both strains, caffeine does not enhance uv-induced reversion at 25°C or 37°C and exhibits an antimutagenic activity at high uv dosage at 37°C.The findings reinforce previously reported indications that, in C. albicans, (i) caffeine-sensitive excision-repair of uv damaged DNA does not occur and (ii) caffeine potentiates uv cellular inactivation by disturbing post-irradiation synthesis of protein essential for recovery from non-genetic damage.     

Effect of radioprotective agents in sporulation medium on Bacillus subtilis spore resistance to hydrogen peroxide, wet heat and germicidal and environmentally relevant UV radiation

Aims: To determine the effects of cysteine, cystine, proline and thioproline as sporulation medium supplements on Bacillus subtilis spore resistance to hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), wet heat, and germicidal 254 nm and simulated environmental UV radiation. Methods and Results: Bacillus subtilis spores were prepared in a chemically defined liquid medium, with and without supplementation of cysteine, cystine, proline or thioproline. Spores produced with thioproline, cysteine or cystine were more resistant to environmentally relevant UV radiation at 280–400 and 320–400 nm, while proline supplementation had no effect. Spores prepared with cysteine, cystine or thioproline were also more resistant to H₂O₂ but not to wet heat or 254‐nm UV radiation. The increases in spore resistance attributed to the sporulation supplements were eliminated if spores were chemically decoated. Conclusions: Supplementation of sporulation medium with cysteine, cystine or thioproline increases spore resistance to solar UV radiation reaching the Earth’s surface and to H₂O₂. These effects were eliminated if the spores were decoated, indicating that alterations in coat proteins by different sporulation conditions can affect spore resistance to some agents. Significance and Impact of the Study: This study provides further evidence that the composition of the sporulation medium can have significant effects on B. subtilis spore resistance to UV radiation and H₂O₂. This knowledge provides further insight into factors influencing spore resistance and inactivation.     

Role of the spore coat layers in Bacillus subtilis spore resistance to hydrogen peroxide, artificial UV-C, UV-B, and solar UV radiation

Spores of Bacillus subtilis possess a thick protein coat that consists of an electron-dense outer coat layer and a lamellalike inner coat layer. The spore coat has been shown to confer resistance to lysozyme and other sporicidal substances. In this study, spore coat-defective mutants of B. subtilis (containing the gerE36 and/or cotE::cat mutation) were used to study the relative contributions of spore coat layers to spore resistance to hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) and various artificial and solar UV treatments. Spores of strains carrying mutations in gerE and/or cotE were very sensitive to lysozyme and to 5% H(2)O(2), as were chemically decoated spores of the wild-type parental strain. Spores of all coat-defective strains were as resistant to 254-nm UV-C radiation as wild-type spores were. Spores possessing the gerE36 mutation were significantly more sensitive to artificial UV-B and solar UV radiation than wild-type spores were. In contrast, spores of strains possessing the cotE::cat mutation were significantly more resistant to all of the UV treatments used than wild-type spores were. Spores of strains carrying both the gerE36 and cotE::cat mutations behaved like gerE36 mutant spores. Our results indicate that the spore coat, particularly the inner coat layer, plays a role in spore resistance to environmentally relevant UV wavelengths.     

Electroporation of rapeseed protoplasts – transient and stable transformation

Protoplasts of Brassica napus hypocotyls were transfected using electroporation. Parameters such as discharge potential, protoplast density and buffer constituents were tested to determine the most suitable conditions for gene transfer. To monitor the introduction of DNA into protoplasts a plasmid containing the β-glucuronidase (EC 3.2.1.31), and the neomycin phospotransferase (EC 2.7.1.95) genes was used. By using this construct, expression of a screenable marker gene for transient expression analysis as well as an antibiotic resistance marker gene for selection of stable transformants were obtained. Refined electroporation conditions resulted in a frequency of 0.1% transiently transformed protoplasts. Microcalluses were cultured under selective conditions in a bead-type culture system. Resistant callus, with an absolute transformation frequency of 4.9 × 10⁻⁵ and a relative transformation frequency of 0.3% could be achieved. X-ray irradiation of newly electroporated protoplasts did not enhance absolute transformation frequencies. From some of the resistant calluses, transgenic plants could be regenerated which were characterized by molecular analysis.     

Valine-resistant plants from in vitro selected tobacco cells

Summary Growth inhibition of protoplasts and cells of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) occurs when 0.1 to 10 mM L-valine is present in the culture medium but not if L-isoleucine is simultaneously added. Mesophyll protoplasts from haploid tobacco were submitted to ultraviolet irradiation and cell colonies derived from these protoplasts were plated in a medium containing valine. Plants were regenerated from five presumptive resistant calli and retested for valine-resistance. Among the recovered plants two were definitely resistant to valine. This trait was transmitted in sexual crosses as a mendelian character.     

Resistance of Bacillus Spores to Combined Sporicidal Treatments

S ummary . Moist heat at 82° (100° for Bacillus stearothermophilus ) and solutions of 0.2% w/v chlorocresol or 0.01% w/v benzalkonium chloride at 24° separately showed no sporicidal activity against B. pumilis, B. stearothermophilus, B. subtilis and B. subtilis var. niger . Spores of the last organism were the most sensitive to γ radiation, the D value being 0.16 Mrad. Prior irradiation with a dose of 0.16 Mrad brought about only a slight increase in the sensitivity of the spores to moist heat. The presence of bactericide during irradiation did not affect radiation resistance. Inactivation rates were greater when the spores were heated in the presence of a bactericide than in aqueous suspension and benzalkonium chloride was more active than chlorocresol. Chlorocresol enhanced the heat activation of B. stearothermophilus at 100°. Irradiation in the presence of 0.2% w/v chlorocresol or 0.01% w/v benzalkonium chloride had no effect on the subsequent resistance of the spores when heated in the presence of these bactericides. It is concluded that it is unlikely that combinations of moist heat, radiation and bactericides, each less severe than when used in an accepted sterilization process, will lead to an alternative process which, while less damaging to the materials being sterilized, would still maintain the accepted standards of freedom from contamination.     

The effect of hypochlorite on spores of Bacillus subtilis lacking small acid-soluble proteins

M.Z.H. SABLI, P. SETLOW AND W.M. WAITES. 1996. α/β-Type small acid-soluble proteins (SASP) bind to spore DNA and protect it against ultraviolet light, heat, hydrogen peroxide and freeze drying, making the spores much more resistant than vegetative cells to these agents. Spores of a mutant of Bacillus subtilis lacking the two major α/β-type SASP were almost 30 000-fold less resistant to hypochlorite than were wild-type spores. After treatment with hypochlorite, surviving spores of the mutant, but not those of the wild type, showed higher levels of mutation, suggesting that SASP contribute to hypochlorite resistance by protecting spore DNA.