Linked Life Data

8866467

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/8866467

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
1997-3-28
pubmed:abstractText
Pathogenic organisms inhabit one of several defined locations within a host where temperature, pH, and nutrients are relatively constant. While the microorganism must adapt to different environments within the host, the host immune system is the most formidable predator that can limit the growth of a pathogen. Neisseria gonorrhoeae (the gonococcus, Gc) is the causative agent of gonorrhoea, and has evolved several systems for varying the antigenicity of different surface antigens, presumably to help evade the effects of the human immune system. The On/Off/On phase variation of surface structure expression also alters the antigenic characteristics of the bacterial cell surface. Antigenic variation of the major subunit of the pilus, pilin, occurs by unidirectional, homologous recombination between a silent locus and the expression locus. The silent loci lie from 1 to 900 kb from the expression locus in the chromosome yet all can donate their sequences to the expression locus. The genetic composition of the pilin loci of two Gc strains has been elucidated, and the types of changes that lead to altered forms of the pilus have been extensively characterized. However, little is known about the precise molecular mechanisms used to allow high-frequency, non-reciprocal, chromosomal recombination between pilin loci or about what regulates the process of maintaining chromosome fidelity.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Aug
pubmed:issn
0950-382X
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
21
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
433-40
pubmed:dateRevised
2007-11-14
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1996
pubmed:articleTitle
Questions about gonococcal pilus phase- and antigenic variation.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Microbiology-Immunology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA. h-selfert@nwu.edu
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S., Review