The growth cycle of the psittacosis group of micro-organisms

Lipid Composition of the Hemagglutinating Active Fraction Obtained from Chick Embryos Infected with Chlamydia psittaci 6BC

The lipid composition of the concentrated hemagglutininating active fraction (HF) of allantoic fluid from infected eggs, but free from Chlamydia psittaci 6BC, was compared to concentrated normal allantoic fluid (NAF). Phosphatidyl-choline (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine were the major lipid classes of the total phospholipid fraction. Some quantitative differences were found in the amount of PC and phosphatidylserine present in HF and NAF. Lysophosphatidylcholine was present in HF but absent in NAF. Triglycerides and sterols were the major lipid classes found in neutral lipids of HF and NAF. Quantitative data showed distinct differences in the amount of different neutral lipid classes present between HF and NAF. The fatty acids of various classes of lipids were examined, and differences were noted in a number of phospholipids, sterol esters, and the free fatty acids. Branched-chain saturated fatty acids were found in many lipid classes of the HF, particularly in the phosphatidylethanolamine fraction, but were absent in the NAF.

Cell Wall Synthesis by Chlamydia psittaci Growing in L Cells

Biochemical events accompanying changes in structure and behavior of the cell walls of Chlamydia psittaci strain 6BC during its developmental cycle in L cells (mouse fibroblasts) were studied by measuring at short intervals the effect of d-cycloserine and penicillin G on incorporation of labeled intermediates into acid-insoluble fractions of infected L cells in which host incorporation had been inhibited by cycloheximide and into intact chlamydial cells and cell walls separated from the infected L cells. d-Cycloserine enhanced the incorporation of (14)C-l-alanine at all times in the developmental cycle, but the incorporation of (14)C-l-lysine was always inhibited. In parallel experiments, penicillin G had no effect on incorporation of any of these intermediates, but when infected L cells incorporated (14)C-l-alanine in the presence of penicillin G, the labeled alanine was released more rapidly in the subsequent absence of the antibiotic than in its continued presence. When either penicillin G or d-cycloserine was present throughout the developmental cycle, C. psittaci continued to synthesize deoxyribonucleic acid and protein, but at less than normal rates.

Increased resistance to chloramphenicol in Rickettsia prowazekii with a note on failure to demonstrate genetic interaction among

Weiss, Emilio (Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, Md.) and Harry R. Dressler. Increased resistance to chloramphenicol in Rickettsia prowazekii with a note on failure to demonstrate genetic interaction among strains. J. Bacteriol. 83:409-414. 1962.-A further effort to produce genetically labeled Rickettsia prowazekii was made by serially passing the Madrid E strain in eggs in the presence of increasing concentrations of chloramphenicol. After 40 serial and 1 limit-dilution passages, a substrain, called C(r), was isolated, which appeared to be the result of a two-step change, each involving a twofold increase in resistance to the antibiotic. Chloramphenicol resistance was retained after 10 drugless egg passages. Cross-resistance to thiocymetin, but not to unrelated drugs, was shown. Several attempts were made to demonstrate genetic interaction, in eggs or entodermal cell cultures, among strains resistant to chloramphenicol, erythromycin, and p-aminobenzoic acid. They have not been successful.

DIAMINOPIMELIC ACID DECARBOXYLASE OF THE AGENT OF MENINGOPNEUMONITIS

Moulder, James W. (University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.), Dorothy L. Novosel, and Ilse C. Tribby. Diaminopimelic acid decarboxylase of the agent of meningopneumonitis. J. Bacteriol. 85:701-706. 1963.-Evidence is presented for the presence in meningopneumonitis particles and extracts of an enzyme decarboxylating alpha, epsilon-diaminopimelic acid to lysine and for the absence of a corresponding enzyme in the uninfected host. Properties of the enzyme are described and compared with those of bacterial diaminopimelic acid decarboxylases. The significance of these observations with respect to the mode of lysine biosynthesis in the psittacosis group and to its phylogenetic origin is pointed out.

Interaction of chlamydiae and host cells in vitro

The obligately intracellular bacteria of the genus Chlamydia, which is only remotely related to other eubacterial genera, cause many diseases of humans, nonhuman mammals, and birds. Interaction of chlamydiae with host cells in vitro has been studied as a model of infection in natural hosts and as an example of the adaptation of an organism to an unusual environment, the inside of another living cell. Among the novel adaptations made by chlamydiae have been the substitution of disulfide-bond-cross-linked polypeptides for peptidoglycans and the use of host-generated nucleotide triphosphates as sources of metabolic energy. The effect of contact between chlamydiae and host cells in culture varies from no effect at all to rapid destruction of either chlamydiae or host cells. When successful infection occurs, it is usually followed by production of large numbers of progeny and destruction of host cells. However, host cells containing chlamydiae sometimes continue to divide, with or without overt signs of infection, and chlamydiae may persist indefinitely in cell cultures. Some of the many factors that influence the outcome of chlamydia-host cell interaction are kind of chlamydiae, kind of host cells, mode of chlamydial entry, nutritional adequacy of the culture medium, presence of antimicrobial agents, and presence of immune cells and soluble immune factors. General characteristics of chlamydial multiplication in cells of their natural hosts are reproduced in established cell lines, but reproduction in vitro of the subtle differences in chlamydial behavior responsible for the individuality of the different chlamydial diseases will require better in vitro models.

Inhibition of growth of Chlamydia trachomatis by human gamma interferon

Treatment of HEp-2 cell cultures with highly purified human gamma interferon before infection resulted in the reduction of Chlamydia trachomatis (L2/434/Bu) infectious particle yield. Electron microscope studies showed that interferon did not affect chlamydial conversion to reticulate bodies but influenced the extent of maturation to elementary bodies. High interferon concentrations (greater than 350 IU/ml) inhibited inclusion body formation and resulted in the appearance of aberrant reticulate bodies.

Structural and polypeptide differences between envelopes of infective and reproductive life cycle forms of Chlamydia spp

Significant differences in cysteine-containing proteins and detergent-related solubility properties were observed between outer membrane protein complexes of reproductive (reticulate body) and infective (elementary body) forms of Chlamydia psittaci (6BC). Elementary bodies harvested at 48 h postinfection possessed a 40-kilodalton major outer membrane protein and three extraordinarily cysteine-rich outer membrane proteins of 62, 59, and 12 kilodaltons, all of which were not solubilized by sodium dodecyl sulfate in the absence of thiol reagents. Intracellularly dividing reticulate bodies harvested at 21 h postinfection were severely deficient in the cysteine-rich proteins but possessed almost as much major outer membrane protein as did the elementary bodies. Most of the major outer membrane protein of reticulate bodies was solubilized by sodium dodecyl sulfate and was present in envelopes as monomers, although a proportion formed disulfide-cross-linked oligomers. By 21 to 24 h postinfection, reticulate bodies commenced synthesis of the cysteine-rich proteins which were found in outer membranes as disulfide-cross-linked complexes. The outer membranes of reticulate bodies of Chlamydia trachomatis (LGV434) also were found to be deficient in cysteine-rich proteins and to be more susceptible to dissociation in sodium dodecyl sulfate than were outer membranes of elementary bodies.

Inhibition of Chlamydia psittaci in oxidatively active thioglycolate-elicited macrophages: distinction between lymphokine-mediated oxygen-dependent and oxygen-independent macrophage activation

Immune sensitization of spleen cells was required to generate lymphokines (LK) that activated thioglycolate-elicited peritoneal macrophages (thio MACs) to respond via both oxygen-dependent and oxygen-independent systems. LK produced by incubating spleen cells from immunized A/J and LAF mice with concanavalin A stimulated a response by thio MACs to phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA)-induced chemiluminescence and activated these cells to inhibit intracellular Chlamydia psittaci replication. Concanavalin A-incubated spleen cell preparations from unimmunized animals stimulated neither PMA-induced chemiluminescence nor antichlamydial activity. Activated thio MACs demonstrated a rapid chemiluminescence response to the intracellular protozoan Toxoplasma gondii, but C. psittaci did not induce chemiluminescence in LK-activated thio MACs, although cells exposed to C. psittaci retained their responsiveness to PMA-induced chemiluminescence. The PMA-induced response was inhibited by the addition of exogenous superoxide dismutase and catalase and was therefore related to the production of superoxide anion (O2 . -) and H2O2 by these cells. LK preparations incubated at 56 degrees C before macrophage treatment retained antichlamydial activity, but heated preparations no longer stimulated thio MACs to respond in the chemiluminescence assay. These data provide evidence that macrophage oxygen-dependent and oxygen-independent systems are simultaneously activated by LK, and these preparations comprise at least two distinct activities. The portion responsible for activating oxygen-dependent systems (PMA-induced chemiluminescence) is heat labile, whereas the portion responsible for activating oxygen-independent systems is heat stable. It is the latter system that results in restriction of chlamydial growth and in vitro parasite persistence.

The relation of basic biology to pathogenic potential in the genus Chlamydia

Chlamydiae are obligately intracellular procaryotic parasites, and their activities as agents of human disease are determined to a large degree by their intracellular way of life. The inside of a host cell is a hostile environment, and few microorganisms survive and multiply intracellularly. Those that do have evolved adaptations that fit them for life inside other cells. Apart from the viruses, chlamydiae are the infectious agents most highly adapted to intracellular life. Of all the properties of chlamydiae, the ones most likely to determine their pathogenic potential are those that reflect their adaptations to life inside host cells. Wherever possible, these chlamydial activities will be indentified and described.

Developmental cycle of Coxiella burnetii: structure and morphogenesis of vegetative and sporogenic differentiations

Coxiella burnetii is a gram-variable obligate intracellular bacterium which carries out its development cycle in the phagolysosome of eucaryotic cells. Ultrastructural analysis of C. burnetii, in situ and after Renografin purification, by transmission electron microscopy of lead-stained thin sections has revealed extreme pleomorphism as demonstrated by two morphological cell types, a large cell variant (LCV) and a small cell variant (SCV). Potassium permanganate staining of purified rickettsiae revealed a number of differences in the internal structures of the cell variants. (i) The outer membrane of the sCV and LCV were comparable; however, the underlying dense layer of the SCV was much wider and more prominent than that of the LCV. The periplasmic space of the SCV was not readily visualized, whereas the periplasmic space of the LCV was apparent and resembled that of other gram-negative bacteria. (ii) Complex internal membranous intrusions which appeared to originate from the cytoplasmic membrane were observed in the SCV. The LCV did not harbor an extensive membranous system. (iii) Some LCVs contained a dense body in the periplasmic space. This endogenous structure appeared to arise in one pole of the LCV as an electrondense "cap" formation with the progressive development of a dense body approximately 130 to 170 nm in diameter which was eventually surrounded by a coat of at least four layers. Our observations suggest that the morphogenesis of C. burnetii is comparable, although not identical, to cellular differentiation of endospore formation. A developmental cycle consisting of vegetative and sporogenic differentiation is proposed.

Biochemical stratagem for obligate parasitism of eukaryotic cells by Coxiella burnetii

Coxiella burnetti, the etiologic agent of Q fever, is an oligate intracellular parasite of eukaryotes. Unlike the majority of successful bacterial parasites, which escape the bactericidal environment of the phagolysosome by various means, C. burnetii multiplies only in the phagolysosome. In view of the relatively harsh environment inhabited by C. burnetii, we have examined (i) the in vitro metabolism of glucose and glutamate by whole cells of C. burnetii under conditions designed to approximate the pH within the phagolysosome and (ii) the effect of manipulation of the phagolysosomal pH by lysosomotropic amines on the replication of C. burnetii in chicken embryo fibroblasts. The transport, catabolism, and incorporation of both glucose and glutamate were found to be highly stimulated by acidic conditions, whereas at pH 7.0 metabolism of these substrates was minimal. The transport processes were shown to be energy dependent and highly sensitive to inhibition by uncouplers of oxidative phosphorylation. Increasing the phagolysosomal pH of infected chicken embryo fibroblasts by use of the lysosomotropic agents chloroquine, methylamine, or ammonium chloride inhibited the multiplication of C. burnetii, thus demonstrating the in vivo requirement for the acidic conditions of the phagolysosome. This apparent dependence upon phagosome--lysosome fusion to generate pH conditions favorable to C. burnetii replication suggests a unique biochemical mechanism of parasite activation. A pathogenic mechanism based on regulation of microbial metabolism by H+-dependent stimulation of cell function is proposed.

Surface properties of Chlamydia psittaci

The surface properties of elementary bodies of Chlamydia psittaci were investigated by diethylaminoethyl-Sephadex chromatography, cytophoresis, partitioning in an aqueous polymer two-phase system, and hydrophobic interaction chromatography of the organism. The surface of C. psittaci was found to be hydrophobic and negatively charged at pH 7 and to have an isoelectric point of about pH 5. Reagents which block free carboxyl groups altered the surface charge of C. psittaci and caused the organism to agglomerate. The possible significance of hydrophobicity and surface charge on the ingestion of C. psittaci by host cells is discussed.

Miniature cell formation in Chlamydia psittaci

In an electron microscope study on the developmental cycle of the goat pneumonitis strain of Chlamydia psittaci in L cells, it was observed that miniature reticulate bodies, measuring approximately 0.2 mum in diameter and surrounded by double unit membranes, were produced infrequently from normal-sized reticulate bodies through a "budding"-like process. As little as 0.1 mug of penicillin per ml greatly increased the frequency of the miniature reticulate body formation.

Interaction of L cells and Chlamydia psittaci: entry of the parasite and host responses to its development

The entry and development of Chlamydia psittaci in the L cell was studied by using purified, infectious parasites at high multiplicity. Entry of the parasite was accomplished by an act of phagocytosis by the host which was independent of an adsorption stage but was temperature-dependent. Kinetic studies of phagocytosis performed with (14)C-amino acid-labeled, purified parasites indicated that the rate of phagocytosis was directly proportional to the multiplicity of inoculation. Electron microscopy of cells infected at high multiplicity with purified infectious C. psittaci showed that phagocytosed chlamydiae were segregated in a host phagocytic vacuole throughout their developmental cycle which consisted of the transition of infecting elementary bodies to reticulate bodies dividing by binary fission, followed by the reemergence of a population of elementary bodies. The process of the transition was examined and a proposed sequence of intermediate bodies is presented. In isopycnic gradients of fractionated, infected L cells, chlamydial phagocytic vacuoles were apparent as a dense band distinct from lysosome and mitochondrion peaks, as indicated by acid phosphatase and cytochrome oxidase activities. Chlamydiae inactivated by heat or neutralized by antiserum were phagocytosed and appeared in lysosomes within 12 hr after infection according to electron microscopy; however, chlamydiae which were continuously inhibited in their development by chloramphenicol were retained intact in the cell for 24 hr without lysosomal response. The possibility of a lysosomal inhibitor on the native parasite is discussed.

Use of tetrazolium salts for electron transport studies in meningopneumonitis. 3. Separation and examination of large and small particles

Purified suspensions of meningopneumonitis can be separated on potassium tartrate gradient into populations which are 80 to 90% large particles and those which are 90% small particles. Examination of the tetrazole reduction of both particle types indicates that the small particle has associated with it all of the enzymatic activity of the preparation; it also has associated with it most of the infectivity as well.

Autoradiographic study of deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis in L cells infected with the agent of meningopneumonitis

Moore, Dorothy E. (University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.), and James W. Moulder. Autoradiographic study of deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis in L cells infected with the agent of meningopneumonitis. J. Bacteriol. 92:1128-1132. 1966.-L cells infected with the agent of meningopneumonitis were labeled with H(3)-cytidine at 5-hr intervals after infection, and cell samples were fixed every 5 hr after labeling. These preparations were then digested with ribonuclease, stained by the Feulgen procedure, and examined by autoradiography. Labeled meningopneumonitis inclusions were first seen 15 hr after infection. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was synthesized in both L-cell nuclei and meningopneumonitis agent for as long as 40 hr after infection. Nuclear DNA synthesis was unaffected until 25 hr after infection, at which time synthesis of agent DNA reached its peak. After 25 hr, both meningopneumonitis and L cell DNA synthesis declined.

Synthesis of nucleic acid and protein in L cells infected with the agent of meningopneumonitis

Schechter, Esther M. (The University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill.). Synthesis of nucleic acid and protein in L cells infected with the agent of meningopneumonitis. J. Bacteriol. 91:2069-2080. 1966.-Synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA), and protein in uninfected L cells and in L cells infected with the meningopneumonitis agent was compared by measuring rates of incorporation of H(3)-cytidine and C(14)-lysine into nuclear, cytoplasmic, and agent fractions in successive 5-hr periods during the meningopneumonitis growth cycle. Synthesis of meningopneumonitis DNA, RNA, and protein was first clearly evident in the labeling period 15 to 20 hr after infection, soon after initiation of agent multiplication. The rates of synthesis of agent DNA, RNA, and protein increased logarithmically for a brief period and then declined. However, rates of isotope incorporation into all three meningopneumonitis macromolecules were sustained at near maximal values throughout the remainder of the meningopneumonitis growth cycle. These data are most readily interpreted in terms of multiplication of the meningopneumonitis agent by binary fission. The L cell response to infection was a decreased rate of DNA and RNA synthesis and an accelerated rate of cell death. Host protein synthesis was unaffected. The inhibition of nucleic acid synthesis in infected L cells probably involved competition between host and parasite for nucleic acid precursors. Different sublines of L cells varied greatly in the degree to which their nucleic acid-synthesizing mechanisms were damaged by infection. The cytoplasm of infected L cells contained newly synthesized DNA and RNA that could not be accounted for as intact meningopneumonitis cells. This nucleic acid probably arose from disintegration of the fragile intracellular forms of the meningopneumonitis agent.