Abstract

Both Mycoplasma hominis and Trichomonas vaginalis utilize arginine as an energy source via the arginine dihydrolase (ADH) pathway. It was previously demonstrated that Mycoplasma hominis forms a stable intracellular relationship with T. vaginalis, hence in this study we examined the interaction of two localized ADH pathways by comparing T. vaginalis strain SS22 with the laboratory generated T. vaginalis strain SS22-MOZ2 infected with M. hominis MOZ2. The presence of M. hominis resulted in approximately a 16-fold increase in intracellular ornithine and a 3-fold increase in putrescine, compared to control T. vaginalis cultures. No change in activity of enzymes of the ADH pathway could be demonstrated in SS22-MOZ2 compared to the parent SS22 and the increased production of ornithine could be attributed to the presence of M. hominis. Using metabolic flow analysis it was determined that the elasticity of enzymes of the ADH pathway in SS22-MOZ2 was unchanged compared to the parent SS22, however the elasticity of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) in SS22 was small and doubled in SS22-MOZ2 cells. The potential benefit of this relationship to both T. vaginalis and M. hominis is discussed.

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