The relationship between the antibacterial activity and structure of 9-O,9'-O-demethyl (+)-virgatusin (Virg 3) was examined. The conversion of hydroxy groups on the 9 and 9' positions to amino groups increased the activity. It was found that the 3'-methoxy group was more important for higher activity than the 4'-methoxy group on the 7'-phenyl group, and that the 3,4-methylenedioxy group on the ...

Agrobacterium tumefaciens is a Gram-negative plant-pathogenic bacterium that causes crown gall disease by transferring and integrating its transferred DNA (T-DNA) into the host genome. We characterized the chromosomally encoded alpha-crystallin-type small heat-shock protein (alpha-Hsp) HspL, which was induced by the virulence (vir) gene inducer acetosyringone (AS). The transcription of hspL but...

RosR is a transcriptional regulator important for determining cell-surface characteristics and nodulation competitiveness in Rhizobium etli CE3. We identified a 15-kb region that contains genes with similarity to members of the virB, virC, virG, and virE operons of Agrobacterium tumefaciens and demonstrated that RosR directly regulates one operon in this region. These genes were located on plas...

Shigella species and enteroinvasive strains of Escherichia coli cause disease by invasion of the colonic epithelium, and this invasive phenotype is mediated by genes carried on 180- to 240-kb plasmids. In addition, at least eight loci on the Shigella chromosome are necessary for full expression of virulence. The products of these genes can be classified as (i) virulence determinants that direct...

Shigella causes diarrhea and dysentery through contaminated food and water. Shigella sonnei live vaccine candidates WRSs2 and WRSs3 are attenuated principally by the loss of VirG(IcsA) that prevents bacterial spread within the colonic epithelium. In this respect they are similar to the clinically tested vaccine candidate WRSS1. However, WRSs2 and WRSs3 are further attenuated by loss of senA, se...

In an effort to identify the Agrobacterium tumefaciens phosphate regulatory gene(s), we isolated a clone from an A. tumefaciens cosmid library that restored regulated alkaline phosphatase activity to an Escherichia coli phoB mutant. The gene that complemented phoB was localized by subcloning and deletion analysis, and the DNA sequence was determined. An open reading frame, denoted chvI, was ide...

In this investigation, the students' goal was to isolate and characterize Agrobacterium strains from soil. Following selection and enrichment on 1A-t medium, putative Agrobacterium isolates were characterized by Gram stain reaction and biochemical tests. Isolates were further evaluated using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with different primer sets designed to amplify specific regions of bacte...