ADAPTIVE COLD TOLERANCE RESPONSE IN Vibrio vulnificus.ADAPTIVE COLD TOLERANCE RESPONSE IN Vibrio vulnificus Vibrio vul·nif·i·cus n. A bacterium capable of causing septicemia in individuals with an underlying chronic disease, especially hepatic disease, as well as causing wound infections, especially to persons who handle shellfish. . Greer Kaufman and Asim K. Bej, Dept. of Biology, Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham, AL 35294-1170. Vibrio vulnificus is a natural inhabitant INHABITANT. One who has his domicil in a place is an inhabitant of that place; one who has an actual fixed residence in a place. 2. A mere intention to remove to a place will not make a man an inhabitant of such place, although as a sign of such intention he of coastal waters and remains dormant during the winter months. To study the adaptive nature at cold temperatures, V. vulnificus cultures were grown at 35[degrees]C, 15[degrees]C, 6[degrees]C, and 15[degrees]C[right arrow]6[degrees]C in gulf water supplemented with (a) 0.2% yeast extract, (b) 0.5% casamino acid, (c) 0.5% peptone peptone /pep·tone/ (pep´ton) a derived protein, or a mixture of cleavage products produced by partial hydrolysis of native protein.pepton´ic pep·tone n. , or (d) 0.5% casamino acid along with 0.5% peptone. When comparing the cultures incubated at 6 [degrees]C, cells remained viable for [greater than]72h in gulf water supplemented with 0.5% casamino acid. A 1-2 log increase in viability was observed by the cultures that were grown in medium containing casamino acid. Viability of cultures grown in gulf water supplemented with 0.5 % peptone along with 0.5% casamino acid at 15 [degrees]C[right arrow]6 [degrees]C increased 1-2 log and was maintained for [greater than]161h. Also, cultures grown in the presence of casamino acid remained viable for [greater than]93h. This suggests that peptone and cas amino acid amino acid (əmē`nō), any one of a class of simple organic compounds containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and in certain cases sulfur. These compounds are the building blocks of proteins. allow V. vulnificus to better adapt to cold temperatures. O'Farrel 2-dimensional protein gel, labeled with [S.sup.35]-methionine, exhibited elevated expression of at least 18 polypeptides and reduced expression of 18 polypeptides between V. vulnificus cultures exposed to 35[degrees]C and 15[degrees]C. This suggests that for growth and survival at cold temperature V. vulnificus mounts a global cellular response. A homolog hom·o·log n. Variant of homologue. of Escherichia coli Escherichia coli (ĕsh'ərĭk`ēə kō`lī), common bacterium that normally inhabits the intestinal tracts of humans and animals, but can cause infection in other parts of the body, especially the urinary tract. and Shewanella violacea cspA was identified in V. vulnificus by PCR PCR polymerase chain reaction. PCR abbr. polymerase chain reaction Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification. The amino acid sequence of V. vulnificus CspA exhibited 82% and 88% homologies with E. coli and S. violacea, respectively. The possible role of these cold shock proteins in the adaptation of V. vulnificus grown in gulf water supplemented with a defined carbon source at cold temperatures is currently being investigated. |
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