Factors that affect the cell cycle of Mycobacterium avium

Mycobacterium avium, a pathogen of both animals and humans, is an acid-fast bacterium that is very drug-resistant and pleomorphic in colony and cellular morphology. By selective filtration, cells 1 micrometer long could be obtained. When placed in fresh medium, these small cells elongated to form filaments that aggregated during about a 40-hr incubation period. The filamentous cells divided rapidly for an additional 40 hr, with a doubling time of approximately 6 hr. Fission ceased, and the resulting culture consisted of coccobacilli. The cell cycle would not proceed if the cells were starved for either fatty acid or ammonium ion. During elongation (the growth phase), protein, DNA, and triglycerides were synthesized exponentially. During the fission stage, the triglycerides were utilized and redistributed among other cellular constituents. It is proposed that the cell cycle offers a unique system by which to test drugs that may inhibit growth of, or be bactericidal for, M. avium.

Isolation of deoxyribonucleic acid from Mycobacterium avium by rapid nitrogen decompression

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of high molecular weight could be isolated from cells of Mycobacterium avium if the cells were exposed to nitrogen gas at 1,500 lb/in2 for 30 min and then brought to atmospheric pressure by rapid decompression. DNA isolated from the cells had a molecular weight of 4.8 x 10(6) to 17.4 x 10(6). DNA was also released into the fluid in which the cells were suspended during nitrogen decompression. One-half of this DNA, representing 3% of the total DNA phosphorus in the cells had a uniform molecular weight of 4.2 x 10(6). This DNA was linear in conformation, and removal of associated carbohydrates did not change its sedimentation rate. The biological function or significance of the 4-megadalton DNA was not determined.

Ammonium ion requirement for the cell cycle of Mycobacterium avium

Mycobacterium avium has a defined cell cycle in which small cells elongate to about five times their original length and then divide by fragmentation. The nitrogen requirement for production of maximal number of colony-forming units was assessed by varying concentrations and kinds of nitrogen source in the medium. Ferric ammonium citrate at a concentration in 7H10 medium of 0.17 mumol/ml or ammonium chloride at 0.25 mumol/ml as the nitrogen source permitted the cells to elongate and to undergo limited division, with the final culture at 4 x 10(7) colony-forming units per ml. Ammonium chloride at 2.5 mumol/ml or glutamine at 1.37 mumol/ml supported completion of the cell cycle with final colony-forming units at about 5 x 10(8)/ml. Other amino acids, including glutamic acid, at 2.5 mumol/ml did not support completion of the cell cycle, although in most cases an intermediate number of colony-forming units per milliliter were formed. Limited uptake of [(14)C]glutamic acid and uptake of [(14)C]glutamine were not detectable until cell fission began. Cells not limited for nitrogen took up five times as much (35)S during fission as limited cells did during the same time. The nonlimited cells contained 10 times as much sulfolipid as the nitrogen-limited cells at the end of the cell cycle. These results demonstrate that rapidly dividing cells of M. avium utilize amino acids and sulfur and also synthesize sulfolipids in events that are apparently separable from metabolic functions of elongating cells. The results are contrasted with those found for other mycobacteria in which no cell cycle has been demonstrated.

Synthesis and release of sulfolipid by Mycobacterium avium during growth andcell division

Mycobacterium avium exhibits a life cycle wherein small cells elongate to form filaments. The life cycle is unique in that elongated cells will undergo rapid division by fragmentation only if fatty acid is present. The utilization of [14C]palmitic acid and [3H]oleic acid by M. avium during the life cycle was assessed. Four glycolipids, identifiable by elution patterns from hydroxylapatite columns, were associated with postfission cells and contained isotope from the precursor fatty acid. The incorporation of 3H from oleic acid into the cellular glycolipids was maximal during cell division, but as much as 73% of the radioactivity was lost to the lipids from cells in the postfission status. Three of the glycolipids were sulfatides into which 36S was incorporated by M. avium. The [35]sulfatides were synthesized by cells undergoing fragmentation and were recovered from the medium at the termination of cell fission. These results demonstrated that the isotope was not lost to the cells because of turnover, but rather that the labeled compounds were released, intact, from the cells after fission. Because of the facile release of the sulfolipids, it was suggested that they were part of the cell envelope of M. avium cells during the division process.

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A chin-operated switch was developed to permit control of motorized operating microscope movement simultaneously along three axes. It permits use of both feet to operate surgical modalities, decreases microscope positioning time, and decreases needless hand movements.

Mechanical syringe drive for vitreous surgery

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Effect of palmitic acid utilization on cell division in Mycobacterium avium

Mycobacterium avium, a facultative pathogen for humans, undergoes a life cycle in which selected small cells elongate and then fragment to form coccobacilli. M. avium cells of uniform size were selected by membrane filtration and tested for growth and division in the presence or absence of palmitic acid. Growth was measured by increased cellular protein, and cell division was determined by increased colony-forming units on agar or, electronically, by increased numbers of particles. Both growth and division rates of M. avium were found to be dependent upon the initial concentration of palmitic acid presented to the cells. The division constant varied from 0.05 to 0.13 when the concentration of palmitic acid ranged from 0 to 175 nmol/ml of medium. With [(14)C]palmitic acid as a tracer, it was found that rapid cell division began upon cessation of fatty acid uptake. During division, new lipid materials were released which contained (14)C derived from [(14)C]palmitic acid. Limited cell division and no fragmentation occurred in fatty acid-starved cultures. During fatty acid starvation, the transparent colony form, considered a pathogen, underwent a transition to the colony form considered a nonpathogen. The possible relationships between the organism's dependence on fatty acid and its ability to infect humans are discussed.

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Utilization of palmitic acid by Mycobacterium avium

Mycobacterium avium accumulates (14)C-palmitic acid with saturation kinetics; the process is both temperature dependent and pH sensitive. The fatty acid is incorporated into triglyceride in vivo and the conversion is detectable within 5 min after exposure of the cells to (14)C-palmitic acid. The triglyceride is rapidly utilized because (14)CO(2) evolution from it begins within 30 min after (14)C-palmitic acid accumulation. Data from silicic acid column chromatography of extracts of cultures that have divided many times in medium containing (14)C-palmitic acid indicate that a large proportion of the cell lipid is triglyceride, but the radioactivity is widely dispersed among the other lipids. It is estimated that about 5% of the cell dry weight is triglyceride in a postexponential culture.

Spontaneous and Induced Mutation in Mycobacterium avium

Mycobacterium avium exhibits two colonial forms, transparent and opaque, on 7H10 agar. The transparent variant of M. avium B2900 undergoes a spontaneous transition to the opaque form at the rate of 4.7 × 10 −5 to 3.5 × 10 −4 per cell per generation. The two variants differ in cell morphology and mass; the opaque cells are two to three times as large as the transparent in terms of dry weight, total protein, deoxyribonucleic acid, or carbohydrate. A search for auxotrophic mutants resulted in the induction, by nitrosoguanidine or ultraviolet irradiation, of conditional, salt-sensitive mutants. One such mutant requires methionine and tryptophan supplementation for growth in a medium containing a buffer at high molarity. The clinical and physiological significance of these findings is discussed.

Heat-activated endonuclease in Bacillus subtilis

A heat-stable, heat-activated endonuclease was found in sonic extracts of the transformable strain Bacillus subtilis 168 when the organism was grown to logarithmic phase in minimal medium. The enzyme was not present in the poorly transformable strain 23. The endonuclease was stable to 100 C for 30 min and, in a crude extract, was activated by heating at 80, 90, or 100 C. The activation caused a 5- to 10-fold increase in total units of enzyme activity. Sucrose gradient centrifugation indicated that the enzyme in a crude preparation has a major form (molecular weight, 66,000) which remains unchanged after heat activation. Under the assay conditions employed, the endonuclease did not release acid-soluble material from the substrate, high molecular weight tritiated deoxyribonucleic acid. The product, in double-stranded form, had a molecular weight of approximately 10(5), but it appeared to have undergone single-strand breaks.

Heat-sensitive step in deoxyribonucleic acid-mediated transformation of Bacillus subtilis

Over 90% of the competent cells in a population of Bacillus subtilis lost their competence after being heated to 50 C for 5 min. There was only a slight loss in the number of transformants if the culture was heated for 5 min after the termination of transformation, but 90% of the transformants were lost after 1 hr at 50 C. The population as a whole grew at a slightly faster rate at 50 C than at 32 C. We postulate that a heat-labile factor is required for the uptake or retention (or both) of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in the cell, since uptake of (32)P-DNA into a deoxyribonuclease-resistant form was inversely proportional to the time of exposure to heat. Cells that had lost competence after being heated did not regain their competence for at least several hours, although other cells in the population became competent. These data suggest that the heat-labile factor required for competence is synthesized only once during the period that a cell remains competent.

Macromolecular synthesis in newly transformed cells of Bacillus subtilis

The capacity of newly transformed cells of Bacillus subtilis to synthesize deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA), and protein has been determined by following the kinetics of suicide after their exposure to tritiated precursors of each of these macromolecules. Competent cells, whether transformed or not, are heterogeneous with respect to DNA synthesis. About 40 to 50% are latent in DNA synthesis. This latency may persist for 2.5 to 3 hr since transformants are resistant to thymineless death for this period after DNA addition. The remainder of the transformants synthesize DNA at one-half the rate of the cells of the total population. Synthesis of stable RNA does not occur at an appreciable rate in newly transformed cells. Newly transformed cells, however, do synthesize protein extensively, as demonstrated by the lethality of incorporated tritiated amino acids. Either chloramphenicol or actinomycin D treatment during the time of exposure to the tritiated amino acid prevented the suicide of transformants.