« Previous AbstractLong-term sexual allocation in herbivore resistant and susceptible pinyon pine (Pinus edulis)    Next AbstractA novel conjugative plasmid from Enterococcus faecalis E99 enhances resistance to ultraviolet radiation »

Infect Immun

Title:		"A novel means of self-protection, unrelated to toxin activation, confers immunity to the bactericidal effects of the Enterococcus faecalis cytolysin"
Author(s):		Coburn PS; Hancock LE; Booth MC; Gilmore MS;
Address:		"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Molecular Pathogenesis of Eye Infections Research Center, Dean A. McGee Eye Institute, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA"
Journal Title:		Infect Immun
Year:		1999
Volume:		67
Issue:		7
Page Number:		3339 - 3347
DOI:		10.1128/IAI.67.7.3339-3347.1999
ISSN/ISBN:		0019-9567 (Print) 1098-5522 (Electronic) 0019-9567 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Enterococcus faecalis has become a pervasive clinical problem due to the emergence of resistance to most antibiotics. The cytolysin of E. faecalis is a novel bacterial toxin that contributes to the severity of disease. It consists of two structural subunits, which together possess both hemolytic and bactericidal activity. Both toxin subunits are encoded in a complex operon frequently harbored on pheromone-responsive plasmids. E. faecalis strains lacking such plasmids are susceptible to the bactericidal effects of the cytolysin. A novel cytolysin immunity determinant at the 3' end of the pAD1 cytolysin operon is described in the present study. Deletion analysis and specific mutagenesis isolated the immunity function to a single open reading frame. Specific mutagenesis experiments demonstrate that cytolysin immunity is unrelated to cytolysin activator (CylA) expression as previously proposed. Cytolysin immunity is, however, encoded on the same transcript as and 3' to CylA, and previous associations between immunity and CylA can be ascribed to the polar behavior of Tn917 insertion"
Keywords:		"Amino Acid Sequence Antigens, Bacterial/genetics/immunology Base Sequence Cytotoxins/*genetics/immunology Drug Resistance, Microbial/genetics Enterococcus faecalis/*genetics/immunology Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections/immunology/*microbiology Molecular;"
Notes:		"MedlineCoburn, P S Hancock, L E Booth, M C Gilmore, M S eng R01 AI041108/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ R01 EY008289/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ AI41108/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ EY08289/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. 1999/06/22 Infect Immun. 1999 Jul; 67(7):3339-47. doi: 10.1128/IAI.67.7.3339-3347.1999"