Cloning of rfaG, B, I, and J genes for glycosyltransferase enzymes for synthesis of the lipopolysaccharide core of Salmonella typhimurium

R-prime plasmids carrying the pyrE-rfa-cysE region of the chromosome of Salmonella typhimurium were isolated by using the vector pULB113 (RP4::mini-Mu). One of the R-prime plasmids was used as a source of DNA to clone the rfa genes for lipopolysaccharide synthesis to pBR322. The following three hybrid plasmids were constructed: pKZ15, with a 4.0-kilobase EcoRI fragment of S. typhimurium DNA, containing the rfaG gene; pKZ27, a 9-kilobase BglII fragment with the rfaG, rfaB, and rfaI genes; and pKZ26, a 7.7-kilobase HindIII fragment with the rfaG, rfaB, rfaI, and rfaJ genes. We propose that these cloned genes code for four glycosyltransferases used for synthesis of the lipopolysaccharide core region (rfaG for glucosyltransferase I; rfaI for galactosyltransferase I; rfaB for galactosyltransferase II; and rfaJ for glucosyltransferase II). For all four genes, mutants which lacked the appropriate enzyme activity were complemented by the plasmids to give completed core lipopolysaccharide with O (somatic) side chains; for rfaG, rfaB, and rfaI, mutants gave restored or even amplified levels of the appropriate glycosyltransferase in in vitro assays. We show that the order of genes in the region is pyrE-rfaG-(rfaB-rfaI)-rfaJ-rfaL-rfaF -cysE.