Quantitative effects of carbohydrates and aromatic amino acids on Clostridium botulinum toxin gene expression using a rapid competitive RT/PCR assay

A rapid competitive RT/PCR assay was developed to determine the effects of nutrients on Clostridium botulinum type E toxin gene expression. The type E strain (EVH) was grown in a nutrient-rich broth containing 1% glucose (base medium). Toxin gene expression was quantified at both mid and late exponential phases of growth. It was found that toxin encoding mRNA levels were highly growth phase dependent with elevated levels found in late exponential phase compared to mid exponential phase. Changing the carbohydrate source had a smaller effect on toxin encoding mRNA levels but as earlier results have suggested, toxin encoding mRNA levels show a strong correlation with type E growth rate. The results have important implications for the food industry whereby risk of type E botulism could be correlated to the nutrient composition of the contaminated food or assessed from C. botulinum growth rates in challenged foodstuffs.     

Two-Component Systems Are Involved in the Regulation of Botulinum Neurotoxin Synthesis in Clostridium botulinum Type A Strain Hall

Clostridium botulinum synthesizes a potent neurotoxin (BoNT) which associates with non-toxic proteins (ANTPs) to form complexes of various sizes. The bont and antp genes are clustered in two operons. In C. botulinum type A, bont/A and antp genes are expressed during the end of the exponential growth phase and the beginning of the stationary phase under the control of an alternative sigma factor encoded by botR/A, which is located between the two operons. In the genome of C. botulinum type A strain Hall, 30 gene pairs predicted to encode two-component systems (TCSs) and 9 orphan regulatory genes have been identified. Therefore, 34 Hall isogenic antisense strains on predicted regulatory genes (29 TCSs and 5 orphan regulatory genes) have been obtained by a mRNA antisense procedure. Two TCS isogenic antisense strains showed more rapid growth kinetics and reduced BoNT/A production than the control strain, as well as increased bacterial lysis and impairment of the bacterial cell wall structure. Three other TCS isogenic antisense strains induced a low level of BoNT/A and ANTP production. Interestingly, reduced expression of bont/A and antp genes was shown to be independent of botR/A. These results indicate that BoNT/A synthesis is under the control of a complex network of regulation including directly at least three TCSs.     

The Influence of Oxygen on the Production of Volatile Compounds by Dipodascus aggregates

The production of volatile compounds by Dipodascus aggregatus was studied in relation to the oxygen concentration in the medium. Oxygen concentration was determined with a Clark oxygen electrode and volatile compounds in the atmosphere above the culture by a gas chromatographic technique. Shake cultures of the fungus in its stationary phase of growth were very sensitive to a decrease in oxygen concentration in the presence of residual glucose. Anaerobic conditions induced production of volatile compounds that continued for many hours. The pattern of production of volatile compounds observed under conditions of low oxygen concentration during the stationary phase of growth differed from that obtained under aerobic conditions during the exponential phase of growth.     

Applicability of an Arrhenius model for the combined effect of temperature and CO(2) packaging on the spoilage microflora of fish

The temperature behavior of the natural microflora on the Mediterranean fish red mullet (Mullus barbatus) was examined as a case study. The growth of the spoilage bacteria Pseudomonas spp., Shewanella putrefaciens, Brochothrix thermosphacta, and lactic acid bacteria was modeled as a function of temperature and the concentration of carbon dioxide in modified atmosphere packaging. Combined models were developed and comparatively assessed based on polynomial, Belehradek, and Arrhenius equations. The activation energy parameter of the Arrhenius model, E(A), was independent of the packaging atmosphere and ranged from 75 to 85 kJ/mol for the different bacteria, whereas the preexponential constant decreased exponentially with the packaging CO(2) concentration. We evaluated the applicability of the models developed by using experimental bacterial growth rates obtained from 42 independent experiments performed with three Mediterranean fish species and growth rates predicted from the models under the same temperature and packaging conditions. The accuracy factor and bias factor were used as statistical tools for evaluation, and the developed Arrhenius model and the Belehradek model were judged satisfactory overall.     

Carbon Dioxide Control of Lag Period and Growth of Streptococcus sanguis

A carbon dioxide requirement for growth of Streptococcus sanguis was readily demonstrated in a fermentor where the gas atmosphere could be controlled. Growth at a maximum rate occurred immediately in response to the appropriate CO(2) concentration; growth stopped when CO(2) was deleted. Washed inocula consisting of exponentially growing cells required a minimum of 2.4% CO(2), postexponential phase cells needed 1.2 to 1.8% CO(2) immediately and 2.4% CO(2) shortly thereafter, whereas stationary phase cells required three sequential increases in CO(2) from 0.3 to 1.8 to 2.4% within the first 90 min of growth. These CO(2) concentrations permitted each inoculum to initiate growth immediately at the same maximum rate. These results also showed that physiologically "old" cells had the same capacity for growth as "young" cells when the CO(2) concentrations were appropriate for the type of inoculum. Continued exponential growth of the culture at the same optimum rate required 2.4% CO(2). Lower concentrations of CO(2) were rate limiting and the resulting exponential rate was proportional to the CO(2) concentration. The "normal" lag period of S. sanguis appears to be an artifact induced by a CO(2) deficiency.     

High level expression,purification and immunogenicity analysis of a protective recombinant protein against botulinum neurotoxin type E

Botulinum neurotoxin type E heavy chain consists of two domains: N-terminal half as a translocation domain and C-terminal half (Hcc) as a binding domain. In this research a synthetic gene fragment encoding the binding domain of botulinum neurotoxin type E (BoNT/E-Hcc) was highly expressed in Escherichia coli by pGEX4T-1 vector. After purification, the recombinant BoNT/E-Hcc was evaluated by SDS-PAGE and western blot (immunoblot) analysis. Average yields obtained in this research were 3.7 mg recombinant BoNT/E-Hcc per liter of bacterial culture. The recombinant protein was injected in mice for study of its protection ability against botulinum neurotoxin type E challenges. The challenge studies showed that, vaccinated mice were fully protected against 10⁴ × minimum lethal dose of botulinum neurotoxin type E.     

Expression and characterization of alkaline phosphatases during differentiation of human pancreatic cancer (Capan-1) cells in culture.

Human pancreatic cells of the Capan-1 cell line differentiate in culture. During the exponential growth phase, the cells are undifferentiated, only becoming differentiated during the stationary phase. The formation of domes in this phase is related to the exchange of water and electrolytes. The present study was designed to characterize the localization and expression of alkaline phosphatases (AP) in Capan-1 cells during growth in culture. Biochemical, cytoenzymatic and immunocytochemical methods were employed combined with light and electron microscopic examination. AP essentially of the placental type were expressed progressively during the exponential growth phase, and were seen to be distributed over the surface of the Capan-1 cells. In the stationary phase, the AP became localized on the surface of microvilli. The precipitates of the enzyme reaction highlighted regular four-bodied structures. Biochemical assays showed a progressive increase in activity of this enzyme in cells during both the exponential and stationary growth phases. However, in the stationary phase between days 7 and 8, there was a fall in enzyme activity, with a corresponding increase in this activity in the culture medium. Cytological examination indicated that this fall could be accounted for by loss of AP-positive membranes by vesiculization of apical microvilli and release of microvesicles into the culture medium. Immunoblots showed that Capan-1 cells expressed two types of AP, a placental type (70 kDa) and to a lesser extent a liver type (80 kDa). Expression of the placental type was attributed to a neoplastic derepression of the coding gene, while the liver type was assumed to be a normal gene expression of human duct cells. The placental type AP might thus serve as a marker of transformation, and the liver type as a marker of differentiation.     

Effective expression of fragments of a botulinum neurotoxin type A gene, coding for the L-chain and H-chain in E. coli, with formation of products causing protective immunity to administration of the toxin

Native Clostridium botulinum gene coding for type A neurotoxin has been used to construct recombinant derivatives coding separately for L and H polypeptide chains of the toxin. The gene derivatives have been cloned into an expression vector pET28b in E. coli BL21 (DE3) cells. The recombinant L and H proteins seem to be the major individual proteins after IPTG induction of the recombinant cells. Each of the proteins has been accumulated only in inclusion bodies. The recombinant L chain (but not H chain) has been successfully resolubilized. Each of the proteins contains six His residues on the N terminus which allows purification on Ni-agarose columns with high yield. No toxic effect has been observed for both L and H chains after injection of 10 micrograms of recombinant preparations purified from inclusion bodies. Moreover, the injection resulted in an increase in the titer of specific antibodies which protected mice from 1 DLM of type A native botulinum neurotoxin. Hence, the recombinant neurotoxin protein derivatives which are present in E. coli inclusion bodies can be a source of material for producing diagnostic and therapeutic sera against type A botulinum neurotoxin.