General transducing phages like Salmonella phage P22 isolated using a smooth strain of Escherichia coli as host

A smooth colony strain, resistant to phages λ and P22, was isolated from sewage and identified as Escherichia coli (strain H). Four temperate phages plaquing on strain H were isolated from sewage. The archetype, HK620, does not plaque on strains C and K12 of E. coli nor on the LT2 strain of Salmonella enterica. Bacterial mutants resistant to a clear plaque mutant of HK620 produce rough colonies. Some are also galactose-negative, a few are histidine auxotrophs, and most show sensitivity to λ. HK620 can transduce a wide variety of auxotrophic mutants of E. coli H to prototrophy. It can recombine with λ but its virions resemble those of P22.     

Isolation of three different bacteriophage from mesophilic Aeromonas sp. that use different types of monopolar flagella as their primary receptor

Bacteriophage PM4, PM5 and PM6 were isolated on different mesophilic Aeromonas strains. These bacteriophage use the flagellum as their primary bacterial receptor since purified flagella from these strains are able to inactivate these bacteriophages, independently, and the phage-resistant mutants are aflagellate and nonmotile. Furthermore, we showed that these bacteriophage may be useful to initiate the serotyping of mesophilic Aeromonas for the H-antigen (flagellum).     

Structural analysis of catechin derivatives as mammalian DNA polymerase inhibitors

The inhibitory activities against DNA polymerases (pols) of catechin derivatives (i.e., flavan-3-ols) such as (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, (-)-gallocatechin, (-)-epigallocatechin, (+)-catechin gallate, (-)-epicatechin gallate, (-)-gallocatechin gallate, and (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg) were investigated. Among the eight catechins, some catechins inhibited mammalian pols, with EGCg being the strongest inhibitor of pol alpha and lambda with IC(50) values of 5.1 and 3.8 microM, respectively. EGCg did not influence the activities of plant (cauliflower) pol alpha and beta or prokaryotic pols, and further had no effect on the activities of DNA metabolic enzymes such as calf terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase, T7 RNA polymerase, and bovine deoxyribonuclease I. EGCg-induced inhibition of pol alpha and lambda was competitive with respect to the DNA template-primer and non-competitive with respect to the dNTP (2'-deoxyribonucleotide 5'-triphosphate) substrate. Tea catechins also suppressed TPA (12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate)-induced inflammation, and the tendency of the pol inhibitory activity was the same as that of anti-inflammation. EGCg at 250 microg was the strongest suppressor of inflammation (65.6% inhibition) among the compounds tested. The relationship between the structure of tea catechins and the inhibition of mammalian pols and inflammation was discussed.     

Distribution and Evolution of Bacteriophage WO in Wolbachia, the Endosymbiont Causing Sexual Alterations in Arthropods

Wolbachia are obligatory intracellular and maternally inherited bacteria, known to infect many species of arthropod. In this study, we discovered a bacteriophage-like genetic element in Wolbachia, which was tentatively named bacteriophage WO. The phylogenetic tree based on phage WO genes of several Wolbachia strains was not congruent with that based on chromosomal genes of the same strains, suggesting that phage WO was active and horizontally transmitted among various Wolbachia strains. All the strains of Wolbachia used in this study were infected with phage WO. Although the phage genome contained genes of diverse origins, the average G+C content and codon usage of these genes were quite similar to those of a chromosomal gene of Wolbachia. These results raised the possibility that phage WO has been associated with Wolbachia for a very long time, conferring some benefit to its hosts. The evolution and possible roles of phage WO in various reproductive alterations of insects caused by Wolbachia are discussed. Received: 28 January 2000 / Accepted: 3 August 2000     

Core-binding specificity of bacteriophage integrases

The site-specific recombination systems of bacteriophages λ and HK022 share the same mechanism and their integrase proteins show strong homology. Nevertheless the integrase protein of each phage can only catalyze recombination between its own att sites. Previous work has shown that the specificity determinants in the att sites are located within the sequences that bind the integrase to the core of att. DNA fragments that carry attL and attR sites of each phage were challenged with each of the two integrases and the DNA-protein complexes were examined by the gel- retardation technique. The results show that each integrase can form higher-order DNA-protein complexes only with its cognate att sites, suggesting that differences in the mode of binding to the core are responsible for the specificity difference between the two integrases. Received: 16 November 1999 / Accepted: 26 January 2000     

新疆分离细菌的提取物对λ噬菌体紫外诱导的抑制作用

本研究从我国夏季高温、强辐射的新疆塔里木地区采集样品,进行了细菌的分离、纯化及分类鉴定.用丙酮萃取法抽提39个分离菌株的培养产物,通过高效液相色谱和紫外-可见吸收光谱分析其主要组分;利用λ噬菌体紫外诱导系统研究抽提物清除自由基的能力.高效液相色谱和紫外-可见吸收光谱分析的结果表明多数分离菌株丙酮提取物的主要组分为类胡萝卜素物质.λ噬菌体紫外诱导系统抑制实验结果表明29个菌株的丙酮提取物对λ噬菌体的紫外诱导具有不同程度的抑制作用,抑制率最高达81%.不同菌株之间的比较试验显示不同属细菌的丙酮提取物对λ噬菌体紫外诱导系统的抑制效果存在很大差异,其中以Methylobacterium的抑制作用最强;不同颜色菌株提取物的抑制效果也出现较大差异;Koanria中不同颜色菌株的抑制效果也有类似结果.本文为类胡萝卜素可能是该类细菌具有抗辐射能力的内因之一提供了直接证据.同时,也证实了λ噬菌体紫外诱导系统是一种很好的探讨细菌抗辐射机理的研究模型.     

Biological properties of the phage-tail-like particles from Myxococcus coralloides D

Abstract Electron microscopy of preparations of the Myxocococcus coralloides D autolytic supernatants revealed the presence of phage-tail-like particles. The particles consisted of a core, a contractile sheath and a baseplate with fibers. The induction of the defective prophage occurred when the cultures reached the stationary phase, but the events occurring during induction did not lead to cell lysis. Particles nerver appeared during exponential growth. They were not observed when M. coralloides D grew on solid media, either. Purified samples of phage tails were able to inhibit most of the myxobacterial strains which were tested when the particles were in the extended state, but they were unable to multiply on the sensitive strains.     

Replication,maturation and physical mapping of bacteriophage MB78 genome

Bacteriophage MB78 is a virulent phage ofSalmonella typhimurium. The viral DNA is 42 kb in size and seems to be circularly permuted. We show that viral DNA replication is through concatemeric DNA formation which is subsequently converted into full length DNA through headful packaging. A restriction map of MB78 DNA for six restriction endonucleases e.g.BgIII,PvuII, ECORI, ClaI, SalI and SmaI has been constructed. The yield of certain fragments in less than molar amount is explained in terms of permutation and the headful mechanism of packaging. The packaging site (pac site) has been suggested.