Glycopeptide dependence for growth in enterococci results from mutations in the ddl gene that inactivate the host D-Ala:D-Ala ligase. The strains require glycopeptides as inducers for synthesis of resistance proteins, which allows for the production of peptidoglycan precursors ending in D-Ala-D-Lac instead of D-Ala-D-Ala. The sequences of the ddl gene from nine glycopeptide-dependent Enterococcus faecium clinical isolates were determined. Each one had a mutation consisting either in a 5-bp insertion at position 41 leading to an early stop codon, an in-frame 6-bp deletion causing the loss of two residues (KDVA243-246 to KA), or single base-pair changes resulting in an amino acid substitution (E13 → G, G99 → R, V241 → D, D295 → G, P313 → L). The potential consequences of the deletion and point mutations on the 3-D structure of the enzyme were evaluated by comparative molecular modeling of the E. faecium enzyme, using the X-ray structure of the homologous Escherichia coli D-Ala:D-Ala ligase DdlB as a template. All mutated residues were found either to interact directly with one of the substrates of the enzymatic reaction (E13 and D295) or to stabilize the position of critical residues in the active site. Maintenance of the 3-D structure in the vicinity of these mutations in the active site appears critical for D-Ala:D-Ala ligase activity.
Mycobacterium celatum is a recently described slow-growing species. It was identified on the basis of genomic sequencing that differentiates three types. The present report describes two cases of Mycobacterium celatum type 1 infection in patients with AIDS. Both patients had CD4+ lymphocyte counts of < 10/mm3, were receiving rifabutin prophylaxis, and had attended the same treatment units. The minimum inhibitory concentration of rifabutin for both strains was 8 mg/l, which may account for the failure of prophylaxis. As all type 1 strains have the same pulsed-field gel electrophoresis pattern, nosocomial transmission or acquisition from a common source could not be ruled out.
Amino-terminal fragments of listeriolysin O (LLO) of 240 and 411 residues (fragments LLO240 and LLO411, respectively) were expressed in Escherichia coli as fusion polypeptides with maltose-binding protein (MBP) with the aim of producing specific antigens for use in serological tests. In Western blots (immunoblots) with crude bacterial extracts of the fusion polypeptides, the reactivities of MBP-LLO240 and MBP-LLO411 with anti-LLO antibody (ALLO)-and anti-streptolysin O antibody (ASLO)-positive human sera were first compared with that of the entire LLO (LLO530) also fused to MBP (MBP-LLO530). Sixteen of 17 (94.1%) ALLO-positive samples reacting with MBP-LLO530 also reacted with MBP-LLO411, whereas this proportion dropped to 11 of 17 (64.7%) with MBP-LLO240. Alternatively, 18 of 19 (94.7%) ASLO-positive samples giving an interpretable result reacted with MBP-LLO530, whereas 1 of 19 (5.3%) of these samples reacted with MBP-LLO240 or MBP-LLO411. The fusion polypeptide MBP-LLO411 was purified by maltose affinity chromatography and was further evaluated as a diagnostic antigen in a Western blot assay. Twenty-one of 21 (100%) serum samples obtained from patients with listeriosis and found to be positive for ALLO by a reference dot blot test reacted with MBP-LLO411, whereas 1 of 20 (5%) ASLO-positive serum samples and 1 of 100 (1%) serum samples from healthy adults were reactive. Thus, a polypeptide limited to the 411 amino-terminal residues of LLO is a specific and sensitive antigen for the detection of ALLO.
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