title: Necessity of meningococcal gamma-glutamyl aminopeptidase for Neisseria meningitidis growth in rat cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and CSF-like medium.
abstract: The growth of a gamma-glutamyl aminopeptidase (GGT)-deficient Neisseria meningitidis strain was much slower than that of the parent strain in rat cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and in a synthetic CSF-mimicking medium, and the growth failure was suppressed by the addition of cysteine. These results suggested that, in the environment of cysteine shortage, meningococcal GGT provided an advantage for meningococcal multiplication by supplying cysteine from environmental gamma-glutamyl-cysteinyl peptides.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hirose
authors.forename: Haruo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000382:microbiology*; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry; D003545:Cysteine / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000254:growth & development*; D051381:Rats; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase; D003545:Cysteine