Linked Life Data

9701824

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/9701824

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
1998-11-18
pubmed:abstractText
Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the Gram-negative aetiological agent of gonorrhoeae, is one of many mucosal pathogens of man that expresses competence for natural transformation. Expression of this phenotype by gonococci appears to rely on the expression of type IV pili (Tfp), but the mechanistic basis for this relationship remains unknown. During studies of gonococcal pilus biogenesis, a homologue of the PilT family of proteins, required for Tfp-dependent twitching motility in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and social gliding motility in Myxococcus xanthus, was discovered. Like the findings in these other species, we show here that gonococcal PilT mutants constructed in vitro no longer display twitching motility. In addition, we demonstrate that they have concurrently lost the ability to undergo natural transformation, despite the expression of structurally and morphologically normal Tpf. These results were confirmed by the findings that two classes of spontaneous mutants that failed to express twitching motility and transformability carried mutations in PilT. Piliated PilT mutants and a panel of pilus assembly mutants were found to be deficient in sequence-specific DNA uptake into the cell, the earliest demonstrable step in neisserial competence. The PilT-deficient strains represent the first genetically defined mutants that are defective in DNA uptake but retain Tfp expression.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jul
pubmed:issn
0950-382X
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
29
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
321-30
pubmed:dateRevised
2008-7-24
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1998
pubmed:articleTitle
PilT mutations lead to simultaneous defects in competence for natural transformation and twitching motility in piliated Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor 48109-0620, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.