The Influence of Temperature on the Motility of Pasteurella pseudotuberculosis

Abstract

SUMMARY: Grown a t 22" Pasteurella pseudotuberculosis was motile and had flagella and H antigen; grown a t 37" it was non-motile and had neither flagella nor H antigen. The change occurred over a narrow range of temperature about 30". Cells grown at 37" when transferred to 22" developed flagella without cell division ; cells grown a t 22" when transferred to 37" became non-motile, due t o an unexplained adverse effect indicated by a high death-rate. It appeared that different metabolic processes were used at the two temperatures; it was not necessary to postulate the selection of a naturally occurring mutant and no evidence was obtained for the existence of an extracellular enzyme which would destroy flagella a t 37".In addition to the 'short-term' effect there was a 'long-term' effect of temperature shown by a difference in degree of motility and rate of growth (at 22") of cultures grown for several months at 22 or 37". This may have been an extension of the 'short-term' effect, a period of training being required for the optimal functioning of the metabolic processes concerned. The long-term effect could be reversed by prolonged cultivation of the 22" substrain a t 37" and vice versa.Preliminary experiments indicated that virulence was affected by the temperature of cultivation.A survey of the literature shows fairly general agreement that Pasteurella pseudotuberculosis is non-motile a t 37" but motile a t about 22" (Arkwright, 1927; Boquet, 1937;Bhatnagar, 1940). However, Boquet noted that two strains became permanently non-motile, even a t 20", after culture a t 37" for several years; one of Arkwright's strains was slightly motile a t 37"; Weitzenberg (1935) observed a few short granular flagella on organisms grown at 37". Schutze (1932) showed that all four types of Past. pseudotuberculosis, based on somatic antigcns, produced a common flagellar antigen a t room temperature. Boquet claimed that a flagellar antigen was produced a t 37", but gave no convincing proof.The object of the present work was to explain the mechanism by which the temperature of incubation affected the production of flagella. MATERIALS AND METHODSA single strain (L34) of Past. pseudotuberculosis which had been isolated from a guinea-pig and dried was used for the main experimental work. B y subculture twice a week for several months in Craigie tubes a t 22" and on agar slopes a t 37", two new substrains were produced, referred to as 134/22 and 134/37. They were maintained similarly, the medium in each case being prepared from tryptic digest broth. The parent strain and the substrains were alike in not fermenting lactose or sucrose; they produced acid (without gas) from glucose and mannitol in 24 hr., and from salicin in 5-7 days. Indole was not produced.

Growth temperature associated protein expression and membrane fatty acid composition profiles of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium

“…This is in agreement with other findings that transfer of Salmonella Typhimurium to temperature above (44 °C) and below (20 °C) optimum (37 °C) prevented flagellation [39,43,55]. Similar effects of elevated temperatures on flagellation have been observed in Proteus vulgaris [9], E. coli [46,47], and Pasteurella pseudotuberculosis [52]. Andrade et al [3] observed flagella regardless of the temperature of growth, although growth at 37 °C appeared to be the most favourable for flagellum production in E. coli.…”

Regulation of Flagellar Morphogenesis by Temperature: Involvement of the Bacterial Cell Surface in the Synthesis of Flagellin and the Flagellum

“…Growing cells of S. typhimurium above their optimum (at 44 C) prevents flagellation (6,12); after transfer of a growing culture to 44 C, the existing flagella distribute themselves among the daughter cells as the cells continue to divide. Similar effects of elevated temperatures on flagellation have been observed for cells of P. vulgaris (3), E. coli (8,9), and Pasteurella pseudotuberculosis (11). When cultures grown at a relatively high temperature are shifted back to lower temperatures, the flagella are resynthesized after a short lag.…”

The Effect of Inhibitors on the Formation of Flagella by Salmonella typhimurium

“…For a number of bacterial species including Pasteurella pseudotuberculosis (Preston & Maitland, 1952), Salmonella typhimurium (Quadling & Stocker, 1956) and Bacillus megaterium (Vennes & Gerhardt, 1959) an increase in growth temperature results in the production of non-motile organisms although growth is unaffected. The transfer of a logarithmically growing culture of S.…”