Lipoteichoic acid is the major cell wall component responsible for surface hydrophobicity of group A streptococci

Abstract

MATERIALS AND METHODS Bacterial strains. A total of 56 bacterial strains were included in the study. The bacterial species and number of strains were as follows: group A streptococci, 34; group C streptococci, 5; group G streptococci, 6; Klebsiella pneumoniae, 3; Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 4; and Escherichia coli, 4. The strains were kindly provided by J. Rotta, Prague, Czechoslovakia (28 strains), and L. W. Wannamaker, Minneapolis, Minn.(2 strains), or were obtained consecutively from clinical specimens sent to the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, University Hospital, Lund, Sweden. Strains were stored at -90°C in Todd-Hewitt broth supplemented with fetal calf serum and on blood agar plates at 4°C. Bacterial strains were inoculated in Todd-Hewitt broth and incubated for 15 to 17.5 h at 37°C. Bacteria were harvested by centrifugation at 3,500 rpm for 10 min and washed twice in phosphate-buffered 336 on July 16, 2020 by guest http://iai.asm.org/ Downloaded from

Correlation between cell‐adherent activity and surface structure in Porphyromonas gingivalis

“…Several recent studies have suggested that the surface hydrophobicity of oral bacteria may play an important role in their adherence to host tissues (8,17,21,42). Weiss et al, (42) and Gibbons et al, (8) compared surface hydrophobicity in several species of oral bacteria and found an overall correlation between the adsorption of bacteria to hexadecane and their attachment to experimental substrates.…”

Surface Characteristics of Group a Streptococci With and Without M‐protein

“…The present investigation was undertaken to describe the surface properties and quantity of surface LTA of group A streptococci in relation to their ability to grow in fresh human blood. The quantity of surface-associated LTA on streptococci was assessed in a double-layer radioimmunoassay (20). Statistical evaluation of the data on surface LTA content indicates differences between Mpositive and M-negative strains.…”

“…Assays of cell-surface LTA. Cell-surface teichoic acids were determined on whole bacterial organisms as described previously (20). Fifty p1 of bacterial suspension ( 5 x 108 organisms) was mixed with 100 pl anti-LTA diluted I / I00 in PBS containing 0.…”

“…Lipoteichoic acid (LTA) is a cell-surface component of most gram-positive bacteria (40). We have previously shown that surface-associated LTA is the major cell-wall component responsible for surface hydrophobicity of group A streptococci (20).…”

“…Surface hydrophobicity of the bacteria was determined by hydrophobic affinity partition (1, 6 , 35,37). Surface LTA and M antigen was determined in double-layer radioimmunoassays (20) and the total amount of cellular and extracellular LTA was estimated by rocket immunoelectrophoresis and red blood cell sensitizing activity. The results indicate that there is no correlation between surface LTA or surface hydrophobicity of the bacteria and their ability to grow in fresh human blood.…”