Null cyclic ␤-1,2-glucan synthetase mutants (cgs mutants) were obtained from Brucella abortus virulent strain 2308 and from B. abortus attenuated vaccinal strain S19. Both mutants show greater sensitivity to surfactants like deoxycholic acid, sodium dodecyl sulfate, and Zwittergent than the parental strains, suggesting cell surface alterations. Although not to the same extent, both mutants display reduced virulence in mice and defective intracellular multiplication in HeLa cells. The B. abortus S19 cgs mutant was completely cleared from the spleens of mice after 4 weeks, while the 2308 mutant showed a 1.5-log reduction of the number of brucellae isolated from the spleens after 12 weeks. These results suggest that cyclic ␤-1,2-glucan plays an important role in the residual virulence of the attenuated B. abortus S19 strain. Although the cgs mutant was cleared from the spleens earlier than the wild-type parental strain (B. abortus S19) and produced less inflammatory response, its ability to confer protection against the virulent strain B. abortus 2308 was fully retained. Equivalent levels of induction of spleen gamma interferon mRNA and anti-lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of immunoglobulin G2a (IgG2a) subtype antibodies were observed in mice injected with B. abortus S19 or the cgs mutant. However, the titer of anti-LPS antibodies of the IgG1 subtype induced by the cgs mutant was lower than that observed with the parental S19 strain, thus suggesting that the cgs mutant induces a relatively exclusive Th1 response.Brucella abortus is an intracellular pathogen that causes abortion in bovines and can infect humans. Abortion in cattle is the consequence of the tropism that the bacterium has for the placenta of pregnant animals, in which it multiplies intracellularly (10). Brucellosis in humans is primarily a disease of the reticuloendothelial system, in which the bacteria multiply inside the phagocytic cell; the intermittent release of bacteria from the cells into the bloodstream causes undulant fever (17, 29). Brucellosis does not spread among humans; consequently, eradication of the disease from the natural reservoirs, cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and other susceptible animals, will lead to elimination of human infection. In regions with high prevalence of the disease, the only way of controlling and eventually eradicating this zoonosis is by vaccination of all susceptible hosts and elimination of infected animals.Vaccination represents an important tool for the control of bovine brucellosis. One of the most used vaccines is the attenuated strain B. abortus S19 obtained spontaneously from the virulent strain B. abortus 2308 (24, 25, 26, 29). Live attenuated B. abortus S19 has served for many years as an effective vaccine to prevent brucellosis in cattle (8,18). The genetic defect that leads to attenuation of this strain has not yet been defined. B. abortus S19 has lost some essential unknown mechanism of virulence. Despite this fact, the vaccinal strain conserves some degree of virulence, being pathogenic for humans (37), and...

Cyclic ␤-1,2-glucans (C␤G) are osmolyte homopolysaccharides with a cyclic ␤-1,2-backbone of 17-25 glucose residues present in the periplasmic space of several bacteria. Initiation, elongation, and cyclization, the three distinctive reactions required for building the cyclic structure, are catalyzed by the same protein, the C␤G synthase. The initiation activity catalyzes the transference of the first glucose from UDP-glucose to a yet-unidentified amino acid residue in the same protein. Elongation proceeds by the successive addition of glucose residues from UDP-glucose to the nonreducing end of the protein-linked ␤-1,2-oligosaccharide intermediate. Finally, the protein-linked intermediate is cyclized, and the cyclic glucan is released from the protein. These reactions do not explain, however, the mechanism by which the number of glucose residues in the cyclic structure is controlled. We now report that control of the degree of polymerization (DP) is carried out by a ␤-1,2-glucan phosphorylase present at the C␤G synthase C-terminal domain. This last activity catalyzes the phosphorolysis of the ␤-1,2-glucosidic bond at the nonreducing end of the linear protein-linked intermediate, releasing glucose 1-phosphate. The DP is thus regulated by this ''lengthcontrolling'' phosphorylase activity. To our knowledge, this is the first description of a control of the DP of homopolysaccharides.cyclic ␤-1,2-glucan ͉ phosphorylase ͉ size control O smoregulated periplasmic glucans are oligosaccharides present in the periplasm of certain Gram-negative bacteria. Common features of these oligosaccharides are the presence of glucose as the sole sugar constituent and the regulation of their synthesis by the osmolarity of the growth media. Osmoregulated periplasmic glucans may be cyclic, branched cyclic, or branched linear and, depending on the species, may be substituted with a variety of nonglycosidic residues (1, 2). Agrobacterium, Rhizobium, Sinorhizobium, and Brucella species synthesize osmoregulated periplasmic glucans of family II. Glucans of this family have 17-25 glucose residue cyclic ␤-1,2-backbones substituted with sn-1-phosphoglycerol, succinic acid, methylmalonic acid, or a combination of them (1-3).Cyclic ␤-1,2-glucan synthase (Cgs), the enzyme responsible for the synthesis of cyclic ␤-1,2-glucans (C␤G), is present in a restricted number of symbiotic or pathogenic bacteria, most of them belonging to the ␣-proteobacteria group, in which C␤G are a symbiotic or virulence factor required for successful host interaction (4-9). Brucella abortus Cgs is a 320-kDa (2,867 amino acid residues) polytopic integral inner membrane protein with six transmembrane-spanning segments (TMSs) and with the N and C termini located on the cytoplasmic side of the membrane (10). Cgs, an enzyme using UDP-glucose as sugar donor and Mg 2ϩ as cofactor, functions as an inverting processive ␤-1,2-glucosyltransferase that catalyzes the three enzymatic activities (initiation, elongation, and cyclization) required for synthesis of C␤G. Synthesis is initiated...

The chvA gene product of Agrobacterium tumefaciens is required for virulence and attachment of bacteria to plant cells. Three chvA mutants were studied. In vivo, they were defective in the synthesis, accumulation, and secretion of 0-(1-2)glucan; however, the 235-kilodalton (kDa) protein known to be involved in the synthesis of P-(1-2)glucan (A. Zorreguieta and R. Ugalde, J. Bacteriol. 167:947-951, 1986) was present and active in vitro.Two molecular forms of cyclic 0-(1-2)glucan, designated types I and II, were resolved by gel chromatography.Type I ,-(1-2)glucan was substituted with nonglycosidic residues, and type II P-(1-2)glucan was nonsubstituted. Wild-type cells accumulated type I 0-(1-2)glucan, and chvA mutant cells accumulated mainly type II I0-(1-2)glucan and a small amount of type I 0-(1-2)glucan. Inner membranes of wild-type and chvA mutants formed in vitro type II nonsubstituted 0-(1-2)glucan. A 75-kDa inner membrane protein is proposed to be the chvA gene product. chvA mutant inner membranes had increased levels of 235-kDa protein; partial trypsin digestion patterns suggested that the 235-kDa protein (the gene product of the chvB region) and the gene product of the chvA region form a complex in the inner membrane that is involved in the synthesis, secretion, and modification of ,1-(1-2)glucan. All of the defects assigned to the chvA mutation were restored after complementation with plasmid pCD522 containing the entire chvA region.