Signal peptides of gram-positive exoproteins generally carry a higher net positive charge at their amino termini (N regions) and have longer hydrophobic cores (h regions) and carboxy termini (C regions) than do signal peptides of Escherichia coli envelope proteins. To determine if these differences are functionally significant, the ability of Bacillus subtilis to secrete four different E. coli ...

Extreme-drug-resistant (XDR) Acinetobacter baumannii is a rapidly emerging pathogen causing infections with unacceptably high mortality rates due to inadequate available treatment. New methods to prevent and treat such infections are a critical unmet medical need. To conduct a rational vaccine discovery program, OmpA was identified as the primary target of humoral immune response after intraven...

BACKGROUND In our earlier studies 34 kDa outer membrane protein (OMP) of Shigella flexneri 2a has been identified as an efficient immunostimulant. KEY RESULTS In the present study MALDI-TOF MS analysis of the purified 34 kDa OMP of Shigella flexneri 2a shows considerable sequence homology (Identity 65%) with the OmpA of S. flexneri 2a. By using the specific primers, the gene of interest has b...

Klebsiella pneumoniae causes common and severe hospitaland community-acquired infections with a high incidence of multidrug resistance. The emergence and spread of -lactamase-producing K. pneumoniae strains highlight the need to develop new therapeutic strategies. In this study, we developed antisense peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) conjugated to the (KFF)3K peptide and investigated whether they c...

Two homologs of the outer membrane protein OmpA were identified in Aeromonas salmonicida by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, immunoblotting, and amino-terminal sequence analyses. An A. salmonicida genomic DNA library was constructed by using lambda GEM-11 and recombinant phage carrying both genes ompAI and ompAII) selected by immunoscreening. A 5.0-kb BamHI fragment co...

Outer membrane proteins (OMPs) of gram-negative bacteria are synthesized in the cytosol and must cross the periplasm before insertion into the outer membrane. The 17-kDa protein (Skp) is a periplasmic chaperone that assists the folding and insertion of many OMPs, including OmpA, a model OMP with a membrane embedded beta-barrel domain and a periplasmic alphabeta domain. Structurally, Skp belongs...

The avian and human pathogen Chlamydophila (C.) psittaci represents a genetically heterogeneous species. To facilitate epidemiological surveys, more rapid yet highly specific molecular tests are needed. Currently used typing methods, i.e. serotyping and PCR-RFLP, have only limited sensitivity and are incapable of covering the wide spectrum of naturally occurring types of C. psittaci strains. In...

Phylogenetic analysis of five rickettsial genes (17-kDa gene, gltA, ompB, ompA, and sca4) from two molecular isolates of Candidatus Rickettsia andeanae from two ticks (Amblyomma maculatum and Ixodes boliviensis) collected from two domestic horses living in two separate locations in northern Peru (Coletas and Naranjo) was conducted to more clearly characterize this recently reported novel spotte...

Double-stranded DNA bacteriophages are highly pressurized, providing a force driving ejection of a significant fraction of the genome from its capsid. In P22-like Podoviridae, internal proteins ("E proteins") are packaged into the capsid along with the genome, and without them the virus is not infectious. However, little is known about how and when these proteins come out of the virus. We emplo...

The Escherichia coli Sm-like host factor I (Hfq) protein is thought to function in post-transcriptional regulation by modulating the function of small regulatory RNAs. Hfq also interferes with ribosome binding on E. coli ompA messenger RNA, indicating that Hfq also interacts with mRNAs. In this study, we have used stimulation of group I intron splicing in vivo and a modified in vitro toeprintin...