Attempts to breed the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) in captivity--a preliminary report.

Three pairs of nine-banded armadillos were successfully kept in wire-fenced pens in natural surroundings with light, temperature, and weather as in the farms of Louisiana, a natural habitat of armadillos. One female delivered quadruplets after being in the experimental pen for 10 months and 11 days. It is possible that in this experiment breeding of nine-banded armadillos in captivity has been achieved under controlled conditions for the first time.

An alternative route for infecting armadillos with Mycobacterium leprae.

A nine-banded armadillo was inoculated with Mycobacterium leprae in both hind footpads. The animals were usually inoculated intravenously, or intradermally in the abdominal skin. Profuse multiplication of the bacilli occurred at the injection sites after more than two years.

Variable lepromin response to Mycobacterium leprae in resistant armadillos.

Eight armadillos resistant to the infection of Mycobacterium leprae were lepromin tested. The tissue response was tuberculoid in 5, borderline in 2, and lepromatous in 1, thus showing a wide variation. It is seen that although cell-mediated immunity as evidenced by a tuberculoid granulomatous response to killed M.

Glutamic acid decarboxylase in Mycobacterium leprae.

Suspensions of Mycobacterium leprae purified from the organs (mostly spleen) of experimentally-infected armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus, Linn) decarboxylated 1-(14C) glutamic acid liberating 14CO2. The reaction was pyridoxal phosphate-dependent and was inhibited by hydroxylamine, suggesting that it is a true amino acid decarboxylase. Loss of the activity at higher temperatures indicated the enzymatic nature of the reaction.

Borderline leprosy in an experimentally infected armadillo.

Out of six armadillos infected intravenously with 4.66 x 10(8) M. leprae, one developed a delayed hypersensitivity tissue response with the formation of an epithelioid cell granuloma.

DNA isolated from Mycobacterium leprae: genome size, base ratio, and homology with other related bacteria as determined by optical DNA-DNA reassociation.

DNA derived from Mycobacterium leprae (grown in armadillos) was isolated, purified, and analyzed spectrophotometrically. The genome size and guanine-plus-cytosine content of M. leprae were 1.

Tissue response to lepromin, an index of susceptibility of the armadillo to M. leprae infection--a preliminary report.

In this preliminary report the histopathological appearance of the lepromin reaction in armadillos was correlated with their response to infection with M. leprae. Three different types of lepromin response were described, namely the lepromatous, the borderline, and the tuberculoid lepromin reactions.

DNA isolated from Mycobacterium leprae: genome size, base ratio, and homology with other related bacteria as determined by optical DNA-DNA reassociation.

DNA derived from Mycobacterium leprae (grown in armadillos) was isolated, purified, and analyzed spectrophotometrically. The genome size and the guanine-plus-cytosine content of M. leprae were 1.

Intraspecies differences of resistance against leprosy in nine-banded armadillos.

Infection of nine-banded armadillos with decreasing doses of armadillo-passaged leprosy bacilli show that most individuals of this species are susceptible and only about 20 percent are resistant regardless of the size of the infecting bacterial dose. It is pointed out that the intraspecies distribution of resistance to leprosy in human beings and in nine-banded armadillos differs because most individuals of the former species are resistant. Attention is drawn to the possibility that the results of anti-leprosy vaccination in armadillos might not apply to vaccination of human beings because the differences in distribution of resistant individuals might also reflect different mechanisms of susceptibility in the two species.

Comparison of 22 species of Mycobacteria by immunodiffusion against an absorbed reference leprosy serum.

Lithium acetate antigenic extracts of 22 species of acetone-treated mycobacteria were tested by immunodiffusion precipitation for reactivity with a pool of sera from treated lepromatous leprosy patients (ARLS). This ARLS had been adsorbed with M. bovis (BCG, M.

Permeability of Mycobacterium leprae to dapsone: alteration by purification procedures.

Permeability of Mycobacterium leprae to dapsone in vitro was determined by the ability of the drug to inhibit o-diphenoloxidase of the bacilli. Dapsone showed little effect on the enzyme activity of the intact organisms. When the M.

A possible method for improving the efficacy of dapsone.

The antileprosy drug dapsone is unable to penetrate intact Mycobacterium leprae in vitro, as determined by its effect on o-diphenoloxidase in the bacilli. When combined with the peptide polylysine, the sulfone drug passes through the bacterial cell membranes, and penetrates the enzyme protein, resulting in a 100% inhibition of its activity.

Identification of a Mycobacterium leprae specific protein antigen(s) and its possible application for the serodiagnosis of leprosy.

Acetone-killed Mycobacterium leprae separated from infected armadillo liver tissue without the use of proteases were treated with 0.2 M lithium acetate, 20 mM EDTA, pH 8.8 solution, and the concentrated antigen extract was analyzed by Ouchterlony immunodiffusion.

Metabolic inhibitors of host-tissue origin in Mycobacterium leprae.

It is not clear why host-derived bacteria are metabolically inert, compared to organisms grown in vitro. o-Diphenoloxidase is the only metabolic property proven to be present in Mycobacterium leprae separated from infected human as well as animal (mouse and armadillo) tissues. However, highly concentrated suspensions of M.