Open AccessInability of encapsulated Klebsiella pneumoniae to assemble functional type 1 fimbriae on their surface
Author(s) -
Matatov Robert,
Goldhar Janina,
Skutelsky Ehud,
Sechter Ianku,
Perry Rachel,
Podschun Reiner,
Sahly Hany,
Thankavel Krishnan,
Abraham Soman N.,
Ofek Itzhak
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1999.tb08717.x
Subject(s) - fimbria , klebsiella pneumoniae , periplasmic space , microbiology and biotechnology , pilus , biology , escherichia coli , klebsiella , capsule , enterobacteriaceae , gene , genetics , botany
We screened phase variants of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates for the expression of capsule and type 1 fimbriae and found that all of the 22 blood isolates were encapsulated and did not express type 1 fimbriae while 10 of 11 urinary tract isolates expressed type 1 fimbriae but were unencapsulated. Phase variants from selected isolates were found to be either unencapsulated and fimbriated or lacked both structures. Variants expressing both structures were not detected. Fimbrial subunits FimH and FimA were localized in the periplasmic space of the parent strain and on the surface of the unencapsulated variants. The results suggest that capsule formation impedes assembly of pre‐formed fimbrial subunits on the bacterial surface.