Abstract
Hafnia alvei, a Gram negative bacillus related to the Enterobacteriaceae family, is considered an opportunistic pathogen of several animal species and humans. In this communication, we describe fimbrial-like structures from different strains of H. alvei that cannot be easily ascribed to any of the previously reported fimbrial types in this species (type I or type III). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunofluorescence assays were carried out to study fimbriae and flagella in H. alvei strains isolated from different sources. No correlation between the results obtained by PCR and those obtained by phenotypic methods were found, and the antibodies used gave cross or different recognition patterns of the surface structures present in these strains. We report as well that strain and growth temperature influence fimbriation and expression of flagella in human and animal isolates of H. alvei. This study also indicates that the absence of fimbriae have a significant positive influence on the initial adhesion of H. alvei to human epithelial cells.
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Acknowledgments
We thank JA Robledo, A. Villena and R. Mostany for helpful discussions. The authors want to acknowledge to the Unit of Reproduction (Faculty of Veterinary, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) for providing the rabbits for elaborate the sera.
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Communicated by Jorge Membrillo-Hernandez.
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Padilla, D., Acosta, F., García, J.A. et al. Temperature influences the expression of fimbriae and flagella in Hafnia alvei strains: an immunofluorescence study. Arch Microbiol 191, 191–198 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-008-0442-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-008-0442-y