STRATEGIES FOR INACTIVATING BACILLUS ANTHRACIS SPORES

炭疽芽孢杆菌是一种潜在的动物和人类病原体。 作为生物战剂。它是一种芽孢杆菌，具有 编码三种毒素成分和一种毒素的质粒基因的致病性 聚谷氨酸胶囊。它作为代理人的有效性是由于它很容易 产生和传播孢子。这些孢子是休眠的，非常 能抵抗各种胁迫条件，如高温、紫外线 辐射和化学处理。因此，孢子可以留在土壤中或 多年来一直是叶型飞机。在适当的条件下，它们可以萌发和 营养细胞会在土壤中繁殖，然后再繁殖。因此，在那里 是维持和传播这种有机体的巨大潜力一旦它 已被驱散。孢子周围有一层多层的蛋白质。 一种涂层，它解释了它的大部分阻力特性，并有助于 孢子对萌发的反应和作为营养繁殖的能力 细胞。详细了解孢子被的结构，它是如何形成的 以及如何具体地破坏它将提供一个有效的 控制这个生化武器的方法。从广泛的研究中收集的信息 枯草芽孢杆菌芽孢衣组分和25个左右的功能 构成这一物种外壳的蛋白质将被用来分离 并对炭疽芽孢杆菌的孢子壳蛋白基因进行了鉴定。这件事会做到的 部分通过鉴定炭疽杆菌基因组中的枯草杆菌同源物和 部分是通过使用纯化的B。 炭疽衣壳蛋白。这些基因将会被破坏，而这些 确定了孢子壳组装和结构上的零突变。一些功能 炭疽杆菌孢子的萌发反应和孢子被 已经证明，孢子的结构随所用条件的不同而不同 队形。最重要的是，文化条件导致了许多 致病基因，包括毒素基因，导致了 孢子壳蛋白图谱。这种相关性可能反映了协调 毒素合成致病力与营养体包埋性的关系 细胞和特殊的孢子特性可以增强感染力。大自然 孢子壳的变化及其对孢子萌发的贡献 将检查抵抗力。这是关于孢子皮成分和 它随着培养条件的变化将被利用来寻找特定的 破坏孢子或抑制孢子的试剂和程序 萌发。一旦这种试剂或方法被确定，它们将被 在各种土壤中的孢子上进行测试，这些土壤应该模拟自然环境和 因此，有效控制这一生物武器所需的条件。

Bacillus anthracis is an animal and human pathogen with potential as a biological warfare agent. It is a spore-forming Bacillus with pathogenicity due to plasmid genes encoding three toxin components and a polyglutamic acid capsule. Its effectiveness as an agent is due to the ease of producing and spreading the spores. These spores are dormant and very resistant to a variety of stress conditions such as heat, ultraviolet radiation, and chemical treatment. The spores can thus remain in the soil or phylloplane for many years. Under suitable conditions, they can germinate and vegetative cells will propagate in the soil and then resporulate. Thus, there is an enormous potential for sustaining and spreading this organism once it has been dispersed. The spore is surrounded by a multilayered proteinaceous coat that accounts for much of its resistance properties and contributes to the capacity of the spore to respond to germinants and propagate as vegetative cells. A detailed understanding of the spore coat structure, how it is assembled, and how it can be specifically disrupted would provide an effective way for controlling this bioweapon. Information gleaned from extensive studies of Bacillus subtilis spore coat assembly and the function of the 25 or so proteins that make up the coat layers of this species will be used to isolate and characterize spore coat protein genes from B. anthracis. This will be done in part by identifying B. subtilis homologues in the B. anthracis genome and in part by reverse genetics using the amino acid sequences of purified B. anthracis coat proteins. These genes will be disrupted and the effects of such null mutations on spore coat assembly and structure determined. Some features of the B. anthracis spore such as germination response and spore coat structure have been shown to vary with the conditions used for spore formation. Most significantly, culture conditions that induce many pathogenicity genes, including the toxin genes, resulted in a major change in the spore coat protein profile. This correlation may reflect coordination between pathogenicity due to toxin synthesis and encapsulation of vegetative cells and special spore properties that could enhance infectivity. The nature of the spore coat changes and their contribution to spore germination and resistance will be examined. This information about spore coat composition and its variation with culture conditions will be exploited to find specific reagents and procedures for destroying the spore or for inhibiting germination. Once such reagents or methods have been identified, they will be tested on spores in various soils that should mimic natural environments and thus the conditions needed for the effective control of this bioweapon.