Open AccessIdentification of the serine acetyltransferase gene of Staphylococcus xylosus
Author(s) -
Fiegler Heike,
Brückner Reinhold
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1997.tb10286.x
Subject(s) - staphylococcus xylosus , identification (biology) , serine , gene , genetics , biology , staphylococcus , microbiology and biotechnology , staphylococcus aureus , bacteria , botany , phosphorylation
A transposon Tn 917 ‐induced mutant strain of Staphylococcus xylosus was isolated that required exogenous cysteine for growth. The transposon was found to reside within a gene, designated cysE , encoding a protein of 216 amino acids with a high level of similarity to bacterial serine acetyltransferases. The cysE ::Tn 917 mutant completely lost serine acetyltransferase activity, which is easily detectable in the wild‐type strain. In addition, the mutant strain could no longer grow in minimal medium without cysteine. Therefore, the cysE gene product is essential for the de novo synthesis of cysteine via O ‐acetyl‐ l ‐serine in S. xylosus . The cysE gene is surrounded by genes encoding glutamyl‐tRNA synthetase ( gltX ) and cysteinyl‐tRNA synthetase ( cysS ), as deduced from sequence comparisons. The genetic organisation in S. xylosus , gltX‐cysE‐cysS , is identical to that found in Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus stearothermophilus .