Occurrence of the Fimbria Gene hifA in clinical isolates of nonencapsulated Haemophilus influenzae.
The adherence of Haemophilus influenzae to epithelial cells plays a crucial role in infections. However, little is known about the occurrence of fimbriae. In this study, we examined the distribution of the fimbria gene (hifA) by PCR among 167 H. influenzae strains isolated from patients with respiratory infections. Almost all (163; 98%) of the isolates were nonencapsulated strains. The carriage rate of hifA by the nonencapsulated strains was 18.4%. Electron microscopy showed that fimbriae were abundantly present on the cell surface of hifA-positive strains tested. Only four (2.4%) isolates were encapsulated, all of which were type b and did not possess hifA. The present work suggests that fimbriae may play a considerable role as adhesins in nonencapsulated H. influenzae strains.
Nakamura
Masahiko
M
Department of Clinical Laboratory Science, Division of Health Sciences, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan.
Asaka
Toshiyuki
T
Kirita
Akiko
A
Miyazaki
Hatsumi
H
Senda
Yasuko
Y
Fujita
Shin-Ichi
S
Fukushima
Ritsuko
R
Watanabe
Kishichiro
K
Karasawa
Tadahiro
T
Kawahara
Ei
E
Shimura
Satoshi
S
Yamagishi
Takayoshi
T
D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D006192:Haemophilus Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D006193:Haemophilus influenzae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008854:Microscopy, Electron
D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; C090992:HifA protein, Haemophilus influenzae; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins