Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1987 Dec;25(12):2302–2305. doi: 10.1128/jcm.25.12.2302-2305.1987

Urease activity of Proteus penneri.

H L Mobley 1, B D Jones 1, J L Penner 1
PMCID: PMC269475  PMID: 3429622

Abstract

Ten strains of Proteus penneri isolated from geographically diverse laboratories were tested for urease activity. Cell lysates from urea-induced cells had a mean activity of 4.9 +/- 4.1 mumol of NH3 per min per mg of protein. On nondenaturing 6% polyacrylamide activity gels, the enzymes of P. penneri had very similar electrophoretic mobilities within species and within the Proteus genus but were distinct from the ureases of Providencia and Morganella species. On lower-percentage polyacrylamide, differences in mobilities of the ureases could be detected between the Proteus species. From representative strains, the P. penneri urease was found to be inducible by growth in urea and had an apparent molecular weight of 246,000 +/- 9,000, an isoelectric point of 5.1, and a Km for urea of 14 mM and was inhibitable by acetohydroxamic acid, hydroxyurea, and EDTA. In an in vitro model of struvite formation, a P. penneri strain produced abundant crystals on a glass rod submerged in synthetic urine in the absence but not presence of acetohydroxamic acid (500 micrograms/ml).

Full text

PDF
2302

Images in this article

2303Image
on p.2303
2305Image
on p.2305

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Fuksa M., Krajden S., Lee A. Susceptibilities of 45 clinical isolates of Proteus penneri. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1984 Sep;26(3):419–420. doi: 10.1128/aac.26.3.419. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Grace M. E., Gregory F. J., Hung P. P., Fu K. P. Purification and properties of a beta-lactamase from Proteus penneri. J Antibiot (Tokyo) 1986 Jul;39(7):938–942. doi: 10.7164/antibiotics.39.938. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Griffith D. P., Musher D. M., Itin C. Urease. The primary cause of infection-induced urinary stones. Invest Urol. 1976 Mar;13(5):346–350. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Hamilton-Miller J. M., Gargan R. A. Rapid screening for urease inhibitors. Invest Urol. 1979 Mar;16(5):327–328. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Hausinger R. P. Nickel utilization by microorganisms. Microbiol Rev. 1987 Mar;51(1):22–42. doi: 10.1128/mr.51.1.22-42.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hawkey P. M., Pedler S. J., Turner A. Comparative in vitro activity of semisynthetic penicillins against Proteeae. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1983 Apr;23(4):619–621. doi: 10.1128/aac.23.4.619. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hickman F. W., Steigerwalt A. G., Farmer J. J., 3rd, Brenner D. J. Identification of Proteus penneri sp. nov., formerly known as Proteus vulgaris indole negative or as Proteus vulgaris biogroup 1. J Clin Microbiol. 1982 Jun;15(6):1097–1102. doi: 10.1128/jcm.15.6.1097-1102.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Jones B. D., Mobley H. L. Genetic and biochemical diversity of ureases of Proteus, Providencia, and Morganella species isolated from urinary tract infection. Infect Immun. 1987 Sep;55(9):2198–2203. doi: 10.1128/iai.55.9.2198-2203.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Krajden S., Fuksa M., Lizewski W., Barton L., Lee A. Proteus penneri and urinary calculi formation. J Clin Microbiol. 1984 Apr;19(4):541–542. doi: 10.1128/jcm.19.4.541-542.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Krajden S., Fuksa M., Petrea C., Crisp L. J., Penner J. L. Expanded clinical spectrum of infections caused by Proteus penneri. J Clin Microbiol. 1987 Mar;25(3):578–579. doi: 10.1128/jcm.25.3.578-579.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. LOWRY O. H., ROSEBROUGH N. J., FARR A. L., RANDALL R. J. Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. J Biol Chem. 1951 Nov;193(1):265–275. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Mobley H. L., Jones B. D., Jerse A. E. Cloning of urease gene sequences from Providencia stuartii. Infect Immun. 1986 Oct;54(1):161–169. doi: 10.1128/iai.54.1.161-169.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Müller H. E. Occurrence and pathogenic role of Morganella-Proteus-Providencia group bacteria in human feces. J Clin Microbiol. 1986 Feb;23(2):404–405. doi: 10.1128/jcm.23.2.404-405.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Rozalski A., Kotełko K. Hemolytic activity and invasiveness in strains of Proteus penneri. J Clin Microbiol. 1987 Jun;25(6):1094–1096. doi: 10.1128/jcm.25.6.1094-1096.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Senior B. W., Bradford N. C., Simpson D. S. The ureases of Proteus strains in relation to virulence for the urinary tract. J Med Microbiol. 1980 Nov;13(4):507–512. doi: 10.1099/00222615-13-4-507. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES