Bacteroides fragilis adheres to laminin significantly stronger than Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and other species of the genus.
The laminin binding properties of eight species of the genus Bacteroides were examined using latex particle agglutination assay. B. fragilis was found to bind strongly to laminin, whereas all other species tested showed no or only weak laminin adherence. The pronounced differences in laminin binding activity between B. fragilis on the one side and B. thetaiotaomicron and B. ovatus on the other were determined to be statistically significant (p < 0.001 and p < 0.01, respectively). With regard to the relevance of laminin adherence for bacterial pathogenicity and invasiveness, our results give a possible explanation for the well-known finding that B. fragilis is the most frequently isolated pathogen in anaerobic bacteremia.
Eiring
P
P
Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Tübingen, Germany.
Manncke
B
B
Gerbracht
K
K
Werner
H
H
D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D001439:Bacteroides / Q000502:physiology*; D001441:Bacteroides fragilis / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D007797:Laminin / Q000378:metabolism*; D007841:Latex Fixation Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
D007797:Laminin