Skip to main content
PMC home page
Infection and Immunity logoLink to Infection and Immunity
. 1990 Dec;58(12):4145–4148. doi: 10.1128/iai.58.12.4145-4148.1990

Conservation of Neisseria gonorrhoeae pilus expression regulatory genes pilA and pilB in the genus Neisseria.

M K Taha 1, C Marchal 1
PMCID: PMC313788  PMID: 1979321

Abstract

The pili of Neisseria gonorrhoeae mediate bacterial adhesion to the host-susceptible tissues. We have previously reported the identification of two genes, pilA and pilB, which act in trans to regulate pilus expression. Besides this regulatory function, pilA participates in an essential function for bacterial viability. Here we show that pilA and pilB homologs are also present in a variety of other members of the Neisseriaceae family of bacteria in contrast to the gonococcal pilin gene which hybridizes only to the pathogenic Neisseria species.

Full text

PDF

Images in this article

4146Image
on p.4146
4147Image
on p.4147

Selected References

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

  1. Aho E. L., Murphy G. L., Cannon J. G. Distribution of specific DNA sequences among pathogenic and commensal Neisseria species. Infect Immun. 1987 Apr;55(4):1009–1013. doi: 10.1128/iai.55.4.1009-1013.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Keevil C. W., Major N. C., Davies D. B., Robinson A. Physiology and virulence determinants of Neisseria gonorrhoeae grown in glucose-, oxygen- or cystine-limited continuous culture. J Gen Microbiol. 1986 Dec;132(12):3289–3302. doi: 10.1099/00221287-132-12-3289. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Kingsbury D. T. Deoxyribonucleic acid homologies among species of the genus Neisseria. J Bacteriol. 1967 Oct;94(4):870–874. doi: 10.1128/jb.94.4.870-874.1967. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. McGee Z. A., Johnson A. P., Taylor-Robinson D. Pathogenic mechanisms of Neisseria gonorrhoeae: observations on damage to human fallopian tubes in organ culture by gonococci of colony type 1 or type 4. J Infect Dis. 1981 Mar;143(3):413–422. doi: 10.1093/infdis/143.3.413. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Meyer T. F., Mlawer N., So M. Pilus expression in Neisseria gonorrhoeae involves chromosomal rearrangement. Cell. 1982 Aug;30(1):45–52. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90010-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Miller V. L., Mekalanos J. J. Synthesis of cholera toxin is positively regulated at the transcriptional level by toxR. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Jun;81(11):3471–3475. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.11.3471. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Mårdh P. A., Westtöm L. Adherence of bacterial to vaginal epithelial cells. Infect Immun. 1976 Mar;13(3):661–666. doi: 10.1128/iai.13.3.661-666.1976. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Segal E., Hagblom P., Seifert H. S., So M. Antigenic variation of gonococcal pilus involves assembly of separated silent gene segments. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Apr;83(7):2177–2181. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.7.2177. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Swanson J. Studies on gonococcus infection. IV. Pili: their role in attachment of gonococci to tissue culture cells. J Exp Med. 1973 Mar 1;137(3):571–589. doi: 10.1084/jem.137.3.571. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Taha M. K., So M., Seifert H. S., Billyard E., Marchal C. Pilin expression in Neisseria gonorrhoeae is under both positive and negative transcriptional control. EMBO J. 1988 Dec 20;7(13):4367–4378. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1988.tb03335.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Infection and Immunity are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES