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The accessibility of the three F\(_0\) subunits a, b and c from the Escherichia coli Kll A TP synthase to various proteases was studied in F\(_1\)-depleted inverted membrane vesicles. Subunit b was very sensitive to all applied proteases. Chymotrypsin produced a defined fragment of mol. wt. 1S 000 which remained tightly bound to the membrane. The cleavage site was located at the C-terminal region of subunit b. Larger amounts of proteases were necessary to attack subunit a (mol. wt. 30 000). There was no detectable deavage of subunit c. It is suggested that the major hydrophilic part of subunit b extends from the membrane into the cytoplasm and is in contact with the F\(_1\) sector. The F\(_1\) sector was found to afford some protection against proteolysis oftheb subunit in vitro andin vivo. Protease digestion bad no influence on the electro-impelled H\(^+\) conduction via F\(_0\) bot ATP-dependent H\(^+\) translocation could not be reconstituted upon binding of F\(_1\)• A possible role for subunit b as a linker between catalytic events on the F\(_1\) component and the proton pathway across the membrane is discussed.
A virus derived from cells of a Iymphoblastoid line originating from the lymph node of a healthy African green monkey was characterized as a typical member of the foamy virus subgroup of rctroviridac by its morphological, physicochemical, biological and biochemical properties (reverse transcriptase actvity). Besides the usual host range of foamy viruses, the isolated strain revealed a remarkable T -lymphotropism, distinguishing it from the prototypes of foamy viruses previously isolated from African green monkeys. Two foamy virus infectious are demonstrated in human contacts of the African green monkey colony, with the animal barbauring the isolate.
[\(^3\)H]Hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) was synthesized by chlorination of [\(^3\)H]benzene prepared by catalytic tritiation of benzene with tritiated water. The isomers of HCH were separated by adsorption chromatography on silica gel. In order to determine the covalent binding to DNA, [\(^3\)H]HCH was administered to male mice by oral gavage, and liver DNA was isolated via cbromatin. The specific radioactivity of the DNA was nonnalized by the dose administered and expressed in the molar units of the Covalent binding index, CBI = DNA damage/dose = (\(\mu\)mol bound HCH/mol DNA nucleotide)/(mmol HCH administered/kg body weight). CBI values of - 0.2 were found 10 h after the administration of alpha- and gamma-HCH. Enzymatic digestion of the DNA to the nucleosides and h.p.l.c. analysis revealed that - 40% of the radioactivity co-migrated with the natural nucleosides. At elution volumes known to contain the more lipophilic carcinogen-nucleoside adducts, - 10% of the radioactivity could be detected. The remaining 50% of th,e radioactivity eluted with the front, representing a mixture of oligonucleotide- HCH adducts and/or hydrophilic degradation products which were strongly bot not covalently associated with intact DNA. Therefore, a true CBI of 0.02-0.1 must be expected both for alpha- and gamma-HCH. This CBI is by a factor of 10\(^5\) -10\(^6\) below the value found with the strongest DNAbinding carcinogens like aflatoxin B1 or dimethylnitrosamine and is unlikely to be decisive for the liver tumor induction in mice because of the foUowing additional findings: (i) both isomers gave rise to similar Ievels of DNA darnage although the alpha-isomer is a much morepotent tumor inducer. This similarity was seen not only at the time of mäximum binding but up to 10 days after oral administration; (ii) three mouse strains with apparently different susceptibility to tumor induction by gamma-HCH could not be distinguished with respect to DNA binding; (iii) the level of DNA binding of alpha-HCH (CBI = 0.02-0.1) is more than three orders of magnitude lower than would be expected if the mechanism of tumor induction was by genotoxicity mediated by DNAbinding. For a preliminary investigation on a potential stimulatory effect on liver DN A replication and ceU division, [\(^{14}\)]thymidine was admlnistered i.p. 3.5 h before sacrifice of the [\(^3\)H]HCH-treated mice. The alpha-isomer was found to be more potent than the gamma-isomer in this respect. Taken together, our data allow the conclusion that the non- mutational processes must be more important for the carcinogenicity of HCH.
The trypsin fragments of rat liver microsomal cytochron1e b\(_5\) (Tb\(_5\)) lack both methionine (met) and cysteine (cys), i.e., the sulphur-containing antino acids. Tb\(_5\) should therefore contain no 358-radioactivity after isolation from animals treated wHh [\(^{35}\)S]met or [\(^{36}\)S]cys. If, however, the nucleic acids coding for this polypeptide have been damaged by a genotoxic carcinogen, a miscoding could result in an incorporation of met or cys into the polypeptide so that Tb\(_8\) could now be \(^{36}\)S-radiolabelled. Two experiments are descrihed. the first one where a toxic regimen of N -nitrosomorpholine (NNM) to rats resulted in a significant increase of \(^{35}\)S-radioactivity in the Tbs of liver microsomes, and a second experiment with a non-toxic regimen of N,N diethylnitrosamine (DENA), where no increase was observable.
The extent of formation of N-nitrosodimethylaminc {NDMA) in the stomachs of rats and mice after sirnultancous oral administration of [\(^{14}\)C]dimethylamine and potassium nitrite was determined by measuring the methylation of liver DNA. With doses of around 1 mg dimethylamine hydrochloride/ kg body weight and 50 mg potassium nitrite/kg body weight. 0,8 % of the amine was nitrosated on average. The individual fluctuations ranged from 0.2 to 1.30% in the rat and from 0.2 to 1.9% in the mouse. Simultaneous administration of 50 mg sodium ascorbate (vitamin Cl/kg body weight inhibited the nitrosation by ahout 80% while 50 mg \(\alpha\)-tocopherol acetate [Vitamin E)/kg body weight reduced the nitrosation by about a half. Assuming similar kinctics and conditions of nitrosation in rats and man. a comparison of the formation of NDMA in vivo from dietary dimethylamine and nitrite with the estimated human uptake of preformed N DMA revealed that in vitro formation in the stomach of man is probably negligible.
After intraperitoneal injection of mice with Escherichia coli strains isolated from patients with urinary tract infections, the mortality due to hemolytic (Hly+) and nonhemolytic (Hiy-) isolates was 77 and 40%, respectively. Deletion of the chromosomal hemolysin (h/y) determinant in an E. co/i 06:K15:H31 urinary tract infection strain led to a significant reduction in toxicity for mice, and its reintroduction on a recombinant plasmid partially restored the original toxicity. Although introduction of the cloned plasmid pHiy152-encoded hly determinant into the Hly- E. coli 06 mutant strain increased toxicity by only a marginal degree, transformation with the cloned chromosomal hly determinants from two E. coli strains of serotypes 018ac:K5:H- and 075:K95:H? resulted in markedly greater toxicity, even exceeding that of the original Hly+ E. coli 06 wild-type strain.
Potential virulence, as defined by combined Ievels of adhesion to urinary epithelial cells, serum resistance, and mouse toxicity, was assessed for Escherichia coli strains causing symptomatic and asymptomatic urinary tract infections in relation to the carriage of hemolysin and other suspected virulence determinants. Hemolysin production (Hly), associated with certain 0 (04, 06, 018, and 075), K (5), and hemagglutination (VI and VII) antigenic types but not colicin V production (Cva), was evident in 83 and 60% ofisolates in groups possessing high potential virulence andin only 11 and 6% of those with low virulence. Strains of particular 0-types were not more virulent per se, but among the serotypes, specific combinations of virulence factors appeared decisive, e.g., 018 HAVI B/D/G Hly+ K5+t- and 018 HAIIIIIVBN Hly- Cva +t- Kl +t- strains were, respectively, of high and low potential virulence. Isolates with high potential virulence were found to a similar extent in symptomatic and asymptomatic infections.
Bifunctional recombinant plasmids were constructed, comprised of the E. coli vectors pBR322, pBR325 and pACYC184 and different plasmids from Gram-positive bacteria, e.g. pBSU161-1 of B. subtilis and pUB110 and pC221 of S. aureus. The beta-lactamase (bla) gene and the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (cat) gene from the E. coli plasmids were not transcribed and therefore not expressed in B. subtilis. However, tetracycline resistance from the E. coli plasmids was expressed in B. subtilis. Transcription of the tetracycline resistance gene(s) started in B. subtilis at or near the original E. coli promoter, the sequence of which is almost identical with the sequence recognized by σ<sup>55</sup> of B. subtilis RNA polymerase.
From a cosmid gene bank of Bacillus cereus GP4 in Escherichia coli we isolated clones which, after several days of incubation, formed hemolysis zones on erythrocyte agar plates. These clones contained recombinant cosmids with B. cereus DNA insertions of varying lengths which shared some common restriction fragments. The smallest insertionwas recloned as aPstl fragment into pJKK3-1, a shuttle vector which repücates in Bacillus subtilis and E. coli. When this recombinant plasmid (pJKK3-1 hly-1) was transformed into E. coli, it caused hemolysis on erythrocyte agar plates, but in liquid assays no extemal or intemal hemolytic activity could be detected with the E. coli transformants. B. subtilis carrying the same plasmid exhibited hemolytic activity at Ievels comparable to those ofthe B. cereus donor strain. The hemolysin produced in B. subtilis seemed to be indistinguishable from cereolysin in its sensitivity to cholesterol, activation by dithiothreitol, and inactivation by antibodies raised against cereolysin. When the recombinant DNA carrying the cereolysin gene was used as a probe in hybridization experiments with chromosomal DNA from a streptolysin 0-producing strain of Streptococcus pyogenes or from üsteriolysin-producing strains of Usteria monoeytogenes, no positive hybridization signals were obtained. These data soggest that the genes for these three SH-activated cytolysins do not have extended sequence homology.