Linked Life Data

11734857

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/11734857

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
6863
pubmed:dateCreated
2001-12-5
pubmed:abstractText
The dynamic interactions between a host and its intestinal microflora that lead to commensalism are unclear. Bacteria that colonize the intestinal tract do so despite the development of a specific immune response by the host. The mechanisms used by commensal organisms to circumvent this immune response have yet to be established. Here we demonstrate that the human colonic microorganism, Bacteroides fragilis, is able to modulate its surface antigenicity by producing at least eight distinct capsular polysaccharides-a number greater than any previously reported for a bacterium-and is able to regulate their expression in an on-off manner by the reversible inversion of DNA segments containing the promoters for their expression. This means of generating surface diversity allows the organism to exhibit a wide array of distinct surface polysaccharide combinations, and may have broad implications for how the predominant human colonic microorganisms, the Bacteroides species, maintain an ecological niche in the intestinal tract.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Nov
pubmed:issn
0028-0836
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
29
pubmed:volume
414
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
555-8
pubmed:dateRevised
2010-9-16
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2001
pubmed:articleTitle
Extensive surface diversity of a commensal microorganism by multiple DNA inversions.
pubmed:affiliation
Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.