Salmonella enteritidis Serotype 501, 2, 3: z4, z24: -

Characteristics of a new Salmonella serotype, subgenus IV, are reported. Culture 5534-68 was recovered from the intestinal tract of Anolis biporcatus, an arboreal lizard found in deep forest tracts in Panama Province, Republic of Panama. The antigenic composition of this new serotype was found to be 50(1, 2, 3):z(4), z(24):-.     

A new Salmonella serovar S.III b 58:z10:z53:Rz50

A new Salmonella serovar S.III b 58:z10:z53:Rz50 was isolated from the water samples of Ashida river, Fukuyama city, Japan. Its antigenic structure is described.     

A linear plasmid truncation induces unidirectional flagellar phase change in H:z66 positive Salmonella Typhi

The process by which bacteria regulate flagellar expression is known as phase variation and in Salmonella enterica this process permits the expression of one of two flagellin genes, fliC or fljB, at any one time. Salmonella Typhi (S. Typhi) is normally not capable of phase variation of flagellar antigen expression as isolates only harbour the fliC gene (H:d) and lacks an equivalent fljB locus. However, some S. Typhi isolates, exclusively from Indonesia, harbour an fljB equivalent encoded on linear plasmid, pBSSB1 that drives the expression of a novel flagellin named H:z66. H:z66+S. Typhi isolates were stimulated to change flagellar phase and genetically analysed for the mechanism of variation. The phase change was demonstrated to be unidirectional, reverting to expression from the resident chromosomal fliC gene. DNA sequencing demonstrated that pBSSB1 linear DNA was still detectable but that these derivatives had undergone deletion and were lacking fljA(z66) (encoding a flagellar repressor) and fljB(z66). The deletion end-point was found to involve one of the plasmid termini and a palindromic repeat sequence within fljB(z66), distinct to that found at the terminus of pBSSB1. These data demonstrate that, like some Streptomyces linear elements, at least one of the terminal inverted repeats of pBSSB1 is non-essential, but that a palindromic repeat sequence may be necessary for replication.     

Cloning and characterization of the gene encoding the z66 antigen of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi

Z66 antigen-positive strains of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi change flagellin expression in only one direction from the z66 antigen to the d or j antigen, which is different from the phase variation of S. enterica serovar Typhimurium. In the present study, we identified a new flagellin gene in z66 antigen-positive strains of S. enterica serovar Typhi. The genomic structure of the region containing this new flagellin gene was similar to that of fljBA operon of biphasic S. enterica serovars. A fljA-like gene was present downstream of the new flagellin gene. A rho-independent terminator was located between the new flagellin gene and the fljA-like gene. Hin-like gene was not present upstream of the new flagellin gene. We generated a mutant strain of S. enterica serovar Typhi, which carries a deletion of the new flagellin gene. Western blotting revealed that the 51-kDa z66 antigen protein was absent from the population of proteins secreted by the mutant strain. Southern hybridization demonstrated that the z66 antigen-positive strains of S. enterica serovar Typhi carried the new flagellin gene and fliC on two different genomic EcoRI fragments. When z66 antigen-positive strains were incubated with anti-z66 antiserum, the flagellin expression by S. enterica serovar Typhi changed from z66 antigen to j antigen. The new flagellin gene and the fljA-like gene were absent in the strain with altered flagellin expression. These results suggested that the new flagellin gene is a fljB-like gene, which encodes the z66 antigen of S. enterica serovar Typhi, and that deletion of fljBA-like operon may explain why S. enterica serovar Typhi alters the flagellin expression in only one direction from the z66 antigen to the d or j antigen.