Open AccessTranscription and genetic analyses of a putative N ‐acetylmuramyl‐ l ‐alanine amidase in Borrelia burgdorferi
Author(s) -
Yang Yu,
Li Chunhao
Publication year - 2009
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.1574-6968.2008.01416.x
Subject(s) - borrelia burgdorferi , biology , operon , primer extension , gene , genetics , amidase , escherichia coli , microbiology and biotechnology , bacteria , antibody , rna
In this study, a putative N ‐acetylmuramyl‐ l ‐alanine amidase gene ( bb0666 ) was identified in the genome of the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi . This protein shares c . 30% identity with its counterparts from other bacteria. Reverse transcriptase‐PCR analysis showed that bb0666 along with two other genes ( bb0665 and bb0667 ) are cotranscribed with the motility and chemotaxis genes. This newly identified operon is termed as pami . Sequence and primer extension analyses showed that pami was regulated by a σ 70 ‐like promoter, which is designated as P ami . Transcriptional analysis using a gene encoding green fluorescence protein as a reporter demonstrated that P ami functions in both Escherichia coli and B. burgdorferi . Genetic studies showed that the Δ bb0666 mutant grows in long chains of unseparated cells, whose phenotype is similar to its counterparts in E. coli . Taken together, these results demonstrate that bb0666 is a homolog of MurNac‐LAAs that contributes to the cell division of B. burgdorferi .