Moraxella osloensis

Moraxella osloensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Bacteria
Phylum:	Proteobacteria
Class:	Gammaproteobacteria
Order:	Pseudomonadales
Family:	Moraxellaceae
Genus:	Moraxella
Species:	M. osloensis
Binomial name
Moraxella osloensis

Moraxella osloensis is a species of Gram-negative oxidase positive, aerobic bacteria within the family Moraxellaceae in the gamma subdivision of the purple bacteria.

The bacterium Moraxella osloensis is a mutualistic symbiont of the slug-parasitic nematode Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita. In nature, Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita vectors Moraxella osloensis into the shell cavity of the slug host in which the bacteria multiply and kill the slug.

Life cycle

This bacterium has been identified as one of the natural symbionts of a bacteria-feeding nematode, Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita (Rhabditida: Rhabditidae), which is an endoparasite of slugs, including the slug Deroceras reticulatum (grey garden slug) which is one of the most serious agricultural and garden slug pests.

In nature, bacteria colonize the gut of nematode infective juveniles which represent a specialized stage of development adapted for survival in the unfavorable environment. The infective juveniles seek out and enter the slug's shell cavity through the posterior mantle region. Once inside the shell cavity, the bacteria are released, and the infective juveniles resume growth, feeding on the multiplying bacteria. The infected slugs die in 4–10 days, and the nematodes colonize the entire cadaver and produce next generation infective juveniles which leave the cadaver to seek a new host. It is the bacteria which are responsible for killing the slugs; nematodes without bacteria do not cause death.

Biochemistry

The lipopolysaccharide, that is an endotoxin, from Moraxella osloensis is a molluscicide for Deroceras reticulatum when applied by injection.

The lethality of these nematodes to slugs has been shown to correlate with the number of Moraxella osloensis cells carried by infective juveniles. Tan and Grewal (2001) demonstrated that the 72 h old Moraxella osloensis cultures inoculated into the shell cavity were highly pathogenic to the slug. They further reported that Moraxella osloensis produced an endotoxin which was identified to be a rough type lipopolysaccharide with a molecular weight of 5300 KD, and the purified Moraxella osloensislipopolysaccharide was toxic to the slug with an estimated 50% lethal dose of 48 μg when injected into the shell cavity.

Infections of humans

Although M. osloensis rarely infects humans, it can sometimes be found in a variety of tissues, where it sometimes causes disease. Antibiotics are usually effective against such infections.

Smelliness

M. osloensis has found to be the bacterium responsible for locker-room smell or shower-curtain odour".

Classification

The species M. osloensis was proposed in 1967; the bacteria which are now considered to be M. osloensis would previously have been considered to be Moraxella nonliquefaciens or Mima polymorpha (var.) oxidans.

See also

• List of restriction enzyme cutting sites

References

This article incorporates CC-BY-2.0 text from the reference.

External links

• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=Moraxella%20osloensis&itool=QuerySuggestion

• An R., SreevatsanS. & Grewal P. S. (2008). "Moraxella osloensis Gene Expression in the Slug Host Deroceras reticulatum". BMC Microbiology 8: 19. doi:10.1186/1471-2180-8-19.
• Tan L. & Grewal P. S. (2003). "Characterization of the first molluscicidal lipopolysaccharide from Moraxella osloensis". Appl. Environ Microbiol. 69(6): 3646-3649. doi:10.1128/AEM.69.6.3646-3649.2003
• Tan L. & Grewal P. S. (2001). "Pathogenicity of Moraxella osloensis, a bacterium associated with the nematode Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita, to the slug Deroceras reticulatum". Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67: 5010-5016. doi:10.1128/AEM.67.11.5010-5016.2001.
• [Moraxella species are primarily responsible for generating malodor in laundry|http://aem.asm.org/content/early/2012/02/21/AEM.07816-11.abstract]