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Gene regulation in Streptococcus pneumoniae - RePub - Erasmus ...

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Materials and Methods<br />

Bacterial stra<strong>in</strong>s and media<br />

All stra<strong>in</strong>s used <strong>in</strong> this study were constructed <strong>in</strong> a S. <strong>pneumoniae</strong> D39 genetic<br />

background (NCTC 7466; serotype 2) and are listed <strong>in</strong> Table 1. The glnAP mutant was<br />

constructed by transformation of chromosomal DNA from the glnP deletion mutant to the<br />

glnA mutant and select<strong>in</strong>g for erythromyc<strong>in</strong> resistance (0.25 µg/ml) on GM17 agar plates<br />

supplemented with 1% sheep blood (Johnny Rottier, Kloosterzande, The Netherlands).<br />

Bacteria were checked for spect<strong>in</strong>omyc<strong>in</strong> (150 µg/ml) resistance and for the glnA mutation by<br />

PCR. Stocks were frozen <strong>in</strong> 10% glycerol and stored at -80°C until further use.<br />

Table 1. Bacterial stra<strong>in</strong>s used <strong>in</strong> this study.<br />

Stra<strong>in</strong> Mutation Function<br />

D39 / TIGR4<br />

accession#<br />

Resistance<br />

cassette<br />

Reference<br />

Δcps cps type 2 capsule locus spd0315-spd0328 kanamyc<strong>in</strong> (26)<br />

ΔglnR glnR glutam<strong>in</strong>e synthetase repressor spd0447 / sp0501 none a<br />

(17)<br />

ΔglnA glnA glutam<strong>in</strong>e synthetase spd0448 / sp0502 spect<strong>in</strong>omyc<strong>in</strong> (17)<br />

ΔglnRA glnR, glnA<br />

a<br />

, spect<strong>in</strong>omyc<strong>in</strong> (17)<br />

ΔglnP glnP glutam<strong>in</strong>e/glutamate transporter spd1098 / sp1241 spect<strong>in</strong>omyc<strong>in</strong> (17)<br />

ΔglnAP glnA, glnP spect<strong>in</strong>omyc<strong>in</strong>,<br />

erythromyc<strong>in</strong><br />

this study<br />

ΔgdhA gdhA glutamate dehydrogenase spd1158 / sp1306 erythromyc<strong>in</strong> (17)<br />

a premature stop codon <strong>in</strong>troduced<br />

GlnR-regulon and pneumococcal virulence<br />

In vitro adherence<br />

Adherence of pneumococci to epithelial cells was studied essentially as described<br />

previously (4, 17). In short, the human pharyngeal cell l<strong>in</strong>e Detroit 562 (ATCC CCL-138)<br />

was cultured <strong>in</strong> RPMI 1640 without phenol red (Invitrogen) supplemented with 1 mM sodium<br />

pyruvate and 10% fetal calf serum (FCS). Aliquots of bacteria (grown to mid-log <strong>in</strong> GM17broth)<br />

stored at -80°C were thawed rapidly, harvested by centrifugation, and resuspended <strong>in</strong><br />

RPMI 1640 medium without phenol red supplemented with 1% FCS to 1x10 7 colony form<strong>in</strong>g<br />

units (CFU) per ml. Monolayers of Detroit 562 <strong>in</strong> 24-well tissue culture plates were washed<br />

twice with 1 ml PBS, and 1 ml of bacterial suspension was allowed to adhere for 2h at 37°C<br />

<strong>in</strong> a 5% CO2 atmosphere. Non-adherent bacteria were removed by three washes with 1 ml<br />

PBS, after which the Detroit 562 cells were detached by add<strong>in</strong>g 200 µl of tryps<strong>in</strong>/EDTA and<br />

lysed by the addition of 800 µl of ice-cold 0.025% Triton X-100 <strong>in</strong> PBS. Serial 10-fold<br />

161<br />

161

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