The analysis of the 6.8-Mbp draft genome sequence of the phenylmalonate-assimilating bacterium Bordetella bronchiseptica KU1201 identified 6,358 protein-coding sequences. This will give us an insight into the catabolic variability of this strain for aromatic compounds, along with the roles of arylmalonate decarboxylases in nature.

It has been demonstrated that under iron-restricted conditions Bordetella pertussis can take up iron from human transferrin within 30 min of exposure. B. pertussis utilizes two mechanisms for acquiring iron from human transferrin, a direct contact method and a siderophore mediated system. Both systems are shown to result in bacterial internalization of iron from transferrin. However, direct con...

In order to initially colonize a host, bacteria must avoid various components of the innate immune system, one of which is complement. The genus Bordetella includes three closely related species that differ in their ability to resist complement-mediated killing. Bordetella parapertussis and Bordetella bronchiseptica resist killing in naïve serum, a characteristic that may aid in efficient respi...

The morphology of cells and the hemagglutinogens isolated from cultures of Bordetella pertussis, Bordetella bronchiseptica, and Bordetella parapertussis were studied by electron microscopy with the negative-staining technique. Cells of all three species had long, thin (3 nm thick), peritrichously arranged fimbriae on the cell surface. Similar structures were found in purified hemagglutinogen pr...

The API 20E system for Enterobacteriaceae, recently broadened to include identification of nonfermentative gram-negative bacteria, was evaluated and compared with the conventional method for complete identification of 221 nonfermenters, which were well distributed into 48 species or biotypes and included organisms not listed in the API 20E data base. The results of 16 tests common to both syste...

Bordetella pertussis isolates that do not express pertactin (PRN) are increasing in regions where acellular pertussis vaccines have been used for >7 years. We analyzed data from France and compared clinical symptoms among infants <6 months old infected by PRN-positive or PRN-negative isolates. No major clinical differences were found between the 2 groups.

To investigate the role played by urease during the Bordetella bronchiseptica infection process, the ability to colonise and persist in the mouse respiratory tract of a urease-negative B. bronchiseptica BB7865 and a BB7865 derivative constitutively expressing urease was compared with that of the wild-type strain. The results obtained showed that neither constitutive expression nor abolishment o...

BACKGROUND The activator P14K is necessary for the activation of nitrile hydratase (NHase). However, it is hard to be expressed heterogeneously. Although an N-terminal strep tagged P14K could be successfully expressed from Pseudomonas putida, various strategies for the over-expression of P14K are needed to facilitate further application of NHase. RESULTS P14K was successfully expressed throug...

An internal control of amplification was constructed by recombinant PCR to detect PCR inhibitors. This exogenous DNA was included in the reaction mixture and coamplified with the target gene. This detection was successfully applied to the diagnosis of whooping cough by amplification of a fragment of Bordetella pertussis IS481.

To date Bordetella petrii has infrequently been identified within the clinical setting likely due to the asaccharolytic nature of this organism. We present a case of B. petrii recovered on two separate events in a patient with adult cystic fibrosis experiencing chronic pansinusitis.