从全沟硬蜱分离的伯氏疏螺旋体的形态学特征

比较了从我国不同地区的全沟硬蜱体内分离的伯氏疏螺旋体的超徽结构特征。8株螺旋体长8．4-36．O,um,宽0．12-1.35μm,有1-9个左手螺旋,螺旋波长1.09-4．30μm,波幅0．38- 2.10um 。细胞末端形态有尖锐和略呈纺锤状两种。每侧细胞近末端有7、8和9根鞭毛三种类型。细胞内部未见空泡。少数细胞处于分裂期。结果表明,全沟硬蜱分离株具有伯氏疏螺旋体的形态学特征,且有多种形态学类型。     

CD14/TLR1-TLR2/p38MAPK信号通路在莱姆病发病机制中的作用

莱姆病的致病源是伯氏疏螺旋体,机体感染伯氏疏螺旋体后主要表现为神经系统病变、皮肤病变和关节损伤。炎症作为机体受到感染后的一种重要反应,对疾病的发生发展有着重要意义。CD14/TLR1-TLR2/p38 MAPK信号通路通过CD14对伯氏疏螺旋体表面脂蛋白的识别,引起TLR1-TLR2、p38 MAPK等下游信号的激活,同时,机体分泌促炎因子,引起炎症反应。本文就CD14/TLR1-TLR2/p38 MAPK信号通路引起的炎症反应在莱姆病发病机制中的研究进行综述。     

环介导恒温扩增对莱姆病病原伯氏疏螺旋体的分型鉴定

使用环介导恒温扩增技术,基于莱姆病病原伯氏疏螺旋体的外膜蛋白A(OspA)基因,针对伯氏疏螺旋体不同的基因型设计特异性引物,对国内主要的莱姆病病原伯氏疏螺旋体的3个基因型进行分型鉴定。研究结果表明,设计的引物具有良好的特异性,可以对狭义伯氏疏螺旋体(Borrelia burgdorferi sensu strict)、嘎氏疏螺旋体(B.afzelii)和伽氏疏螺旋体(B.garinii)进行分型鉴定。伯氏疏螺旋体的分型鉴定可以对不同临床症状莱姆病患者的治疗和莱姆病的控制提供一定的依据。     

由四川桤木根瘤中分离和培养弗兰克氏菌

用蔗糖离心法从四川桤木的根癌中分离到内生菌——Frankia ACC 13,并获得纯培养。ACC 13是属慢生长型放线菌,形成的菌落紧密,无色素,菌丝分枝有隔,粗细不规整,一般为0．6一1．4μm。革兰氏阳性,菌丝居间或末端膨大,形成特征性的孢子囊。在孢子囊中形成孢子,圆形或椭圆形,直径1．3μm左右。在限制性培养基上诱导出分离菌的固氮泡囊。在根瘤悬液中不含抑制内生菌生长的“抑制物质”。该菌在pH 6．5—7．2范围内生长。以ACC13回接四川桤木幼苗,幼苗根系形成大量根瘤。根瘤的乙炔还原活性为15．7μmoIC2H4/g·鲜重．H。     

啤酒酵母对杀假丝菌素抗性的遗传分析

杀假丝菌素(Candicidin)在0．8μ／ml的YEPG平板上能完全抑制呻酒酵母(Saechar-mycescerevisiae) H802-1B (a,lys2)及H802-5D(a,ade,ural)的生长。将H802-1B涂布在含有5—70μg／ml的抗生素平板上分离得到抗性突变体。第一次突变体的最高抗性水平是50μg／ml,从5—50μg／ml 抗生素平板上共获得39株自发突变株,第二次抗性突变株是将第一次突变体涂布在更高浓度(70—90μg／ml)的抗生素平板上分离到的。部分抗性突变株(70μg／ml和90μg／ml)与亲株H802-5D交配,测其分离子的抗性,所有杂合二倍体表现：抗性：敏感性为2：2分离现象。H1121-1A(a,lys2,CADR9)XH113-8A(a, ural,CADR30)的杂种抗性分离行为：PD(17个子囊),NPD(2个子囊)T(4个子囊)口遗传分析证明,实验用的抗性突变体有两个显性抗性基因CADHr30和CADR90．     

从莱姆病患者血液分离出螺旋体

从黑龙江省海林县林区的18例神经系统损害的菜姆病患者血液中分离出3株螺旋体。这3株螺旋体在形态学和免疫学上与伯氏包柔氏螺旋体(Borrelia burgdorferi)极相似。所分离的螺旋体实验感染金黄地鼠出现发病症状并死亡,从其肝、脾、肾和脑组织可找到大量螺旋体。将21例神经系统损害的蓑姆病患者血清或血浆,用间接荧光试验检测菜姆炳IgG抗体,8例阳性,阳性率为38％。因此认为所分离的螺旋体是莱姆病的病原体。     

异育银鲫肠道蛭弧菌的分离及其生物学特性的研究

以一株具有致病力的温和气单胞菌作为筛选宿主菌,从异育银鲫肠道中分离到一株蛭弧菌,暂命名为BDF-H16。通过光学显微镜、相差显微镜、电子显微镜对蛭弧菌BDF-H16进行形态观察,并研究了其部分生物学特性。结果表明:蛭弧菌BDF-H16为革兰氏阴性菌,杆形或弧杆形,端生一根鞭毛,菌体大小多为0．2μm～0．5μm×0．8μm～1．2μm;蛭弧菌BDF-H16对实验所选用的革兰氏阴性菌和部分革兰氏阳性菌均有裂解作用;以大肠杆菌为宿主菌,其最佳生长条件为宿主菌浓度6．75×10~9cfu/mL、pH7．0～7．5、温度28℃;在NaCl含量0．85%～5．00%的培养基中能够生长;恩诺沙星、诺氟沙星对其有抑制作用。     

禽流感病毒分离株NS基因同源性及等位基因类型分析

目的　克隆测定国内具有代表性的禽流感病毒 (AIV)的非结构 (NS)蛋白基因核苷酸序列 ,分析其同源性和等位基因类型 ,为进一步探索禽流感NS蛋白抗体监测方法奠定基础。方法　经RT PCR扩增了国内 3株H9N2、2株H5N1、2株H7N2亚型AIV分离株的NS蛋白基因 ,并把扩增的基因片段克隆到pGEM T载体中测序 ,将测序结果与GenBank中的核苷酸序列进行同源性比较 ,绘制基因进化树。结果　经测序获得了各AIV分离株NS基因的完整编码序列。同源性分析表明 ,3株H9亚型AIV的NS基因之间的同源性为 96 %～ 98% ;两株H5亚型AIVNS基因同源性为 91 6 % ;两株H7亚型AIV的NS基因同源性为 98 9%。H5和H9亚型分离株的NS基因之间的同源性均高于 90 % ;而H7N2亚型分离株与其它两种亚型分离株的NS基因同源性约为 6 0 %～ 70 %。在AIVNS基因系统发育进化树中 ,H5、H9亚型分离株都处于等位基因A群内 ;3株H9亚型分离株的进化关系较近 ,与香港、广东的部分H5N1病毒株起源相同 ,而 2株H5病毒的NS基因则处于不同分枝内 ;2株H7亚型分离株的NS基因都处于等位基因B群内 ,进化关系较近。结论　这 7株国内AIV分离株的NS基因之间的同源性差异较大 ,约为 6 0 %～ 99% ,且包括A、B两种类型的等位基因     

一个水解纤维素的嗜热厌氧菌新种

本文报告了一株分解纤维素的嗜热厌氧菌。该菌株细胞革兰氏阴性,直或微弯杆状,大小0.2-0·6x1·5—9 0μm,以单端丛生鞭毛游动,形成端生膨大芽孢。可利用多种碳水化合物。在纤维素培养基中产生黄色。发酵纤维素的主要产物为乙醇、乙酸、CO2和H2。最适生长温度60℃,生长温度范围40—70℃;最适生长pH7．3—7．5。DNA中G+C含量为34mol％。经鉴定,它与已知的嗜热纤维素水解菌均有较大差别,定名为产黄纤维素梭菌(Clostridiumcelluloflavum sp．nov．)。     

一株中度嗜热嗜酸细菌的分离与分子鉴定

用稀释分离法,从云南某温泉分离得到一株中度嗜热嗜酸细菌YN06。该菌株短杆状,革兰氏阴性,菌体大小为(0．3-0．5)μm x(1-2．2)μm。16S rDNA和16S—23S间隔区序列分析表明,YN06与嗜酸硫杆菌属的喜温硫杆菌处于同一进化树分支中,相似性均高达99%以上,因此该菌株被鉴定为喜温硫杆菌。     

The complement regulator factor H binds to the surface protein OspE of Borrelia burgdorferi

Spirochete bacteria of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex cause Lyme borreliosis. The three pathogenic subspecies Borrelia garinii, Borrelia afzelii, and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto differ in their disease profiles and susceptibility to complement lysis. We investigated whether complement resistance of Borreliae could be due to acquisition of the main soluble inhibitors of the alternative complement pathway, factor H and the factor H-like protein 1. When exposed to nonimmune EDTA-plasma, the serum-resistant B. afzelii and B. burgdorferi sensu stricto strains bound factor H/factor H-like protein 1 to their surfaces. Assays with radiolabeled proteins showed that factor H bound strongly to the B. burgdorferi sensu stricto strain. To identify factor H ligands on the borrelial surface, we analyzed a panel of outer surface proteins of B. burgdorferi sensu stricto with the surface plasmon resonance technique. The outer surface lipoprotein OspE was identified as a specific ligand for factor H. Using recombinant constructs of factor H, the binding site for OspE was localized to the C-terminal short consensus repeat domains 15-20. Specific binding of factor H to B. burgdorferi sensu stricto OspE may help the pathogen to evade complement attack and phagocytosis.     

Isolation of Borrelia burgdorferi from Peromyscus leucopus in Oklahoma.

Borrelia burgdorferi was isolated from a field-caught Peromyscus leucopus from central Oklahoma (USA). The strain was identified as B. burgdorferi by reaction with monoclonal antibody H5332 specific for the outer surface protein OspA of B. burgdorferi. This represents the first isolation of B. burgdorferi from a wild mouse outside of the normal range of the known vectors Ixodes dammini and I. pacificus.     

Experimental inoculation of mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos) with Borrelia burgdorferi

Birds have been incriminated as disseminaters of Borrelia burgdorferi and have the potential to spread the organism over a wide geographic range. Borrelia burgdorferi has been isolated from the liver and blood of passerine birds and from Ixodes dammini removed from passerines. The objective of this study was to determine if waterfowl, specifically mallards (Anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos), were susceptible to infection with B. burgdorferi. Eight ducks were inoculated with B. burgdorferi; four orally and four intravenously (i.v.) and two ducks were inoculated with phosphate buffered saline as controls. All eight inoculated birds became infected and developed antibodies to B. burgdorferi. The spirochete was isolated from cloacal material from an orally infected duck on day 22 postinoculation (PI) and from an i.v. infected bird on day 29 PI, from the blood of an i.v. infected bird on day 7 PI, and from the kidney of an orally infected bird. Borrelia burgdorferi was detected by indirect immunofluorescence using the B. burgdorferi specific monoclonal antibody H5332 in kidneys of three orally infected birds and one i.v. infected bird and from the mesentery of one orally infected bird. These findings show that mallard ducks are susceptible to infection by B. burgdorferi and that they can be infected orally and shed the organism in the droppings. Thus, mallards could disseminate B. burgdorferi over long distances without the need of an arthropod vector.     

Species of Borrelia distinguished by restriction site polymorphisms in 16S rRNA genes

Abstract Three phyletic groups of Borrelia associated with Lyme disease, B. burgdorferi, B. garinii and group VS461 can be distinguished from each other and other species of Borrelia by Bfa I restriction site polymorphisms in PCR amplified 16S rRNA genes. One strain isolated from an Ixodes pacificus tick in California that was previously unclassifiable was distinguishable from B. burgdorferi by an Mnl I restriction site polymorphism.     

Cell-mediated immune response to high-passage Borrelia spirochetes in C57bl/6 mice is strictly dependent on antigen specificity

Inbred C57bl/6 mice were challenged with high-passage Borrelia afzelii, Borrelia garinii and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto and tested for antigen specific T-cell response in vitro. Sonicated preparations of washed spirochetes were potent cell activators, capable of stimulating polyclonal proliferation after 72h of culture while increasing the incubation time up to 120h provoked specific cell-mediated response. Isolated murine spleocytes previously sensitized to B. burgdorferi sensu lato but not those from control mice could be induced for antigen-specific proliferation in vitro, as revealed by [3H]thymidine incorporation assay, Moreover, in mice presensitized to B. burgdorferi sensu lato, detectable cell-mediated response could be induced only with antigen preparations derived from a corresponding strain but not with those obtained from other Borrelia genospecies. The current study emphasises that the B. burgdorferi antigen-specific response may also be expected in different genospecies infections in men.     

Comparative membrane proteome analysis of three Borrelia species

The versatility of the surface of Borrelia, the causative agent of Lyme borreliosis, is very important in host-pathogen interactions allowing bacteria to survive in ticks and to persist in a mammalian environment. To identify the surface proteome of Borrelia, we have performed a large comparative proteomic analysis on the three most important pathogenic Borrelia species, namely B. burgdorferi (strain B31), B. afzelii (strain K78), and B. garinii (strain PBi). Isolation of membrane proteins was performed by using three different approaches: (i) a detergent-based fractionation of outer membrane proteins; (ii) a trypsin-based partial shedding of outer cell surface proteins; (iii) biotinylation of membrane proteins and preparation of the biotin-labelled fraction using streptavidin. Proteins derived from the detergent-based fractionation were further sub-fractionated by heparin affinity chromatography since heparin-like molecules play an important role for microbial entry into human cells. All isolated proteins were analysed using either a gel-based liquid chromatography (LC)-MS/MS technique or by two-dimensional (2D)-LC-MS/MS resulting in the identification of 286 unique proteins. Ninety seven of these were found in all three Borrelia species, representing potential targets for a broad coverage vaccine for the prevention of Lyme borreliosis caused by the different Borrelia species.     

Complement regulator-acquiring surface protein 1 imparts resistance to human serum in Borrelia burgdorferi

Factor H and factor H-like protein 1 (FH/FHL-1) are soluble serum proteins that negatively regulate the alternative pathway of complement. It is now well recognized that many pathogenic bacteria, including Borrelia burgdorferi, bind FH/FHL-1 on their cell surface to evade complement-mediated destruction during infection. Recently, it was suggested that B. burgdorferi open reading frame bbA68, known as complement regulator-acquiring surface protein 1 (CRASP-1), encodes the major FH/FHL-1-binding protein of B. burgdorferi. However, because several other proteins have been identified on the surface of B. burgdorferi that also can bind FH/FHL-1, it is presently unclear what role CRASP-1 plays in serum resistance. To examine the contribution of CRASP-1 in serum resistance, we generated a B. burgdorferi mutant that does not express CRASP-1. The B. burgdorferi CRASP-1 mutant, designated B31cF-CRASP-1, was found to be as susceptible to human serum as a wild-type strain of Borrelia garinii 50 known to be sensitive to human serum. To further examine the role of CRASP-1 in serum resistance, we also created a shuttle vector that expresses CRASP-1 from the native B. burgdorferi gene, which was designated pKFSS-1::CRASP-1. When the pKFSS-1::CRASP-1 construct was transformed into the B. burgdorferi B31cF-CRASP-1 mutant, wild-type levels of serum resistance were restored. Additionally, when pKFSS-1::CRASP-1 was transformed into the serum-sensitive B. garinii 50 isolate, human serum resistance was imparted on this strain to a level indistinguishable from wild-type B. burgdorferi. The combined data led us to conclude that CRASP-1 expression is necessary for B. burgdorferi to resist killing by human serum.     

Complement resistance of Borrelia burgdorferi correlates with the expression of BbCRASP-1, a novel linear plasmid-encoded surface protein that interacts with human factor H and FHL-1 and is unrelated to Erp proteins

The etiologic agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, is capable of circumventing the immune defense of a variety of potential vertebrate hosts. Previous work has shown that interaction of host-derived complement regulators, factor H and factor H-like protein 1 (FHL-1), with up to five complement regulator-acquiring surface proteins (CRASPs) expressed by resistant B. burgdorferi sensu lato isolates conferred complement resistance. In addition expression of CRASP-1 is directly correlated with complement resistance of Borrelia species. This work describes the functional characterization of BbCRASP-1 as the dominant factor H and FHL-1-binding protein of B. burgdorferi. The corresponding gene, zs7.a68, is located on the linear plasmid lp54 and is different from factor H-binding Erp proteins that are encoded by genes localized on circular plasmids (cp32). Deletion mutants of BbCRASP-1 were generated, and a high affinity binding site for factor H and FHL-1 was mapped to the C terminus of BbCRASP-1. Similarly, the predominant binding site of factor H and FHL-1 was localized to the short consensus repeat 7. Factor H and FHL-1 maintain their cofactor activity for factor I-mediated C3b inactivation when bound to BbCRASP-1, and factor H is up to 6-fold more efficient in mediating C3b conversion than FHL-1. In conclusion, BbCRASP-1 (i). binds the host complement regulators factor H and FHL-1 with high affinity, (ii). is the key molecule of the complement resistance of spirochetes, and (iii). is distinct from the Erp protein family. Thus, BbCRASP-1 most likely contributes to persistence of B. burgdorferi and to pathogenesis of Lyme disease.     

The cell-mediated immune response to Borrelia afzelii, garinii and burgdorferi in C57BL/6 mice is dependent on antigen specificity

Inbred C57BL/6 mice were challenged with Borrelia afzelii, Borrelia garinii and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto and tested for antigen-specific T-cell response in vitro. The sonicated preparations of in vitro grown spirochetes were capable of stimulating polyclonal proliferation and specific cell-mediated response, depending on duration of the cell culture. Murine splenocytes previously sensitized to B. burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l. ), but not those from control mice, could be induced for antigen-specific proliferation in vitro. Moreover, detectable cell-mediated response could be induced only with antigen preparations derived from a corresponding strain but not with those obtained from other Borrelia genospecies as revealed by the [(3)H]thymidine incorporation assay. The current study considers that the strict B. burgdorferi s.l. antigen-specific response may also be expected in infections in humans and contributes to the explanation of the frequently poor antibody- and cell-mediated immune response observed in patients diagnosed with Lyme disease.     

Detection of a large linear plasmid in Borrelia spielmanii isolate

Borrelia spielmanii belongs to human pathogenic species within the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex in Europe, which is a causative agent of Lyme disease. So far, the human disease caused by B. spielmanii has been associated with skin manifestations. The aim of the study was to analyze 4 human B. spielmanii isolates by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and to localize genes of 3 important Borrelia proteins: OspA, DbpA, and VlsE. The analysis revealed variation within linear plasmid profiles among the strains; isolate PSigII contained a large plasmid of 100 kb compared with a 50 kb plasmid present in the 3 other B. spielmanii isolates, all carried the genes ospA and dbpA. Differences in the size of linear plasmids among the Borrelia strains may be a result of host-pathogen interactions, as the PSigII strain was the only strain of the 4 tested strains to be isolated from a patient with a previous history of Lyme disease, whereas 3 other patients were diagnosed with this disease for the first time.