Isolation and characterization of Francisella novicida mutants defective in lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis

In order to identify genes involved in LPS biosynthesis we isolated random mutants generated by transposon insertion in Francisella novicida. The resulting mutant bank yielded mutants with three distinct LPS phenotypes, and three representative mutants were chosen for further study. One mutant that...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:FEMS microbiology letters 2000, Vol.182 (1), p.63-67
Main Authors: Cowley, Siobhan C, Gray, Catherine J, Nano, Francis E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
deoxycholic acid
Endotoxin
Francisella
Francisella novicida
LPS
Tularemia
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Summary:In order to identify genes involved in LPS biosynthesis we isolated random mutants generated by transposon insertion in Francisella novicida. The resulting mutant bank yielded mutants with three distinct LPS phenotypes, and three representative mutants were chosen for further study. One mutant that had short O-antigen chains was sensitive to serum; this mutant and one other were more sensitive to killing by deoxycholate than control strains. The third mutant was resistant to deoxycholate killing but slightly sensitive to serum. The three mutants varied in their ability to grow in macrophages. The DNA sequences interrupted by the transposon in two of the three mutants showed similarity to known LPS biosynthetic genes at the deduced amino acid level.
ISSN:0378-1097
1574-6968
DOI:10.1016/S0378-1097(99)00570-4