Research Institute for Plague Control, Volgograd, Russia
The loss of the capacity for the formation of heteropolymer of the protein-carbohydrate nature with a mol. wt. of 800 kD (Ag8), incorporated into a capsule-like formation, by B.pseudomallei led to the loss of its virulence for white mice and guinea pigs after their subcutaneous infection. The Ag8-defective strain induced the disease in animals under conditions of aerogenic challenge. As found in this study, the pathogenicity of the infective agent was manifested due to the sharp activization of hydrolytic enzymes in the microbe (5- to 100-fold higher than in the typical strain). In the atypical strain the mechanism of pathogenicity could be realized only under conditions favorable for the infective agent (in the pulmonary tissue), which was due to pronounced tissue tropism of B.pseudomallei.
Zh. Mikrobiol. (Moscow), 2003, No. 6, P. 15—20