Identification and characterization of a novel fibronectin‐binding protein gene from Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus strain VTU211

This work describes the cloning and sequencing of genes encoding fibronectin‐binding proteins from Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus strain VTU211. A gene encoding a cell‐wall protein FNZ was amplified and sequenced. In the same bacterial strain, a second gene termed fnz2 was now discovered, encoding another fibronectin‐binding protein (FNZ2). The complete amino acid sequence encoded by fnz2 was deduced and compared to that deduced from fnz . The sequence comparison of the fnz and fnz2 predicted that fibronectin‐binding activity is localizing a domain in the C terminal part of FNZ2, since this domain is composed of three repeats, which contain a motif similar to what has earlier been found in other fibronectin‐binding proteins in streptococci. Three parts of fnz2 [ fnz2 ( 1 ‐ 8 ), fnz2 ( 2 ‐ 4 ), and fnz2 ( 4 ‐ 3 )] were amplified using polymerase chain reaction and ligated into an expression vector, and recombinant FNZ2 proteins were produced in Escherichia coli . Fibronectin bound to the FNZ2(1–8) [amino acids 212–396] and FNZ2(2–4) (amino acids 36–448) but not to the FNZ2(4–3) (amino acids 36–191) in a Western ligand blot, showing that repeat domain of FNZ2 protein was sufficient for binding of fibronectin. Purified FNZ2(2‐4) protein was also shown to display collagen‐binding activity to collagen‐coated microtiter wells. These results show that recombinant FNZ2 has fibronectin‐ and collagen‐binding activities.