Infection of both cattle and humans with Salmonella dublin can result in septicemia and death. Like many nontyphoid Salmonella species that cause disease, S. dublin contains a cryptic plasmid (pSDL2) that is required for the full expression of virulence. Transposon mutagenesis of pSDL2 defined a 4.1-kb EcoRI region that is necessary for the development of a systemic infection in BALB/c mice. Th...

β-barrel membrane proteins are composed of multiple antiparallel β-strands and form pores in the outer membranes of endosymbiotic organelles like mitochondria and the evolutionary related Gramnegative bacteria. These β-barrel channels are crucial for signal transduction, metabolite transport, and protein translocation. How are β-barrel membrane proteins assembled into the outer membrane? After ...

Helicobacter pylori is a gram-negative bacterial pathogen that chronically inhabits the human stomach. To survive and maintain advantage, it has evolved unique host-pathogen interactions mediated by Helicobacter-specific proteins in the bacterial outer membrane. These outer membrane proteins (OMPs) are anchored to the cell surface via a C-terminal β-barrel domain, which requires their assembly ...

Conditions that impair protein folding in the Gram-negative bacterial envelope cause stress. The destabilizing effects of stress in this compartment are recognized and countered by a number of signal transduction mechanisms. Data presented here reveal another facet of the complex bacterial stress response, release of outer membrane vesicles. Native vesicles are composed of outer membrane and pe...

Two papers in this issue of Cell (Paradis-Bleau et al., 2010 and Typas et al., 2010) report that the lipoproteins LpoA and LpoB are required for the synthesis of cell walls in Escherichia coli. Attached to the bacterial outer membrane, these new cell wall components regulate penicillin-binding proteins located at the inner membrane.

The basis of differentiation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa into the 17 serotypes of the International Antigenic Typing Scheme is differences in an outer membrane glycolipid, lipopolysaccharide (LPS). This observation, together with the high toxicity and pyrogenicity of LPS, has led to the search for alternative "common" antigens for use as vaccines. The relation between the major outer membrane pro...

In this review, we describe the outer membrane proteins of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and related strains from the Pseudomonas fluorescens rRNA homology group of the Pseudomonadaceae, with emphasis on the physiological function and biochemical characteristics of these proteins. The use of opr (for outer membrane protein) is proposed as the genetic designation for the P. aeruginosa outer membrane pr...

Ehrlichia chaffeensis is a tick-transmitted monocytic ehrlichiosis agent primarily causing the disease in people and dogs. We recently described development characterization of 55 random mutations E. , which aided defining critical nature many bacterial genes for its growth physiologically relevant canine infection model. In current study, we tested 45 mutants their infectivity ability to patho...