Genetic organisation and evolution of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis 3,6-dideoxyhexose biosynthetic genes

• Published in: Biochimica et biophysica acta Vol. 1245; no. 3; pp. 273 - 277
• Main Authors: Hobbs, Matthew, Reeves, Peter R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 14.12.1995
• Subjects: Abequose synthetase; Amino Acid Sequence; Base Sequence; Chromosome Mapping; Evolution; Evolution, Molecular; Hexoses - genetics; Insertion sequence; Molecular Sequence Data; O-antigen; Paratose synthetase; Sequence Alignment; Sequence Analysis; Tyvelose epimerase; Yersinia pseudotuberculosis - enzymology; Yersinia pseudotuberculosis - genetics; Tyvelose epimerase; Insertion sequence; O-antigen; Evolution; DDH; Abequose synthetase; Paratose synthetase; LPS
• ISSN: 0304-4165; 0006-3002; 1872-8006
• DOI: 10.1016/0304-4165(95)00126-3

3,6-dideoxyhexose (DDH) sugars occur in some of the O antigens of Salmonella enterica and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, but are otherwise rarely found in nature. Y. pseudotuberculosis DDH biosynthetic genes rfbS (encoding CDP-paratose synthetase) and rfbE (encoding CDP-tyvelose epimerase) were amplified and cloned, and their sequences determined. Comparisons with the equivalent genes of S. enterica show that the genetic arrangement of DDH genes is very similar; however, in Y. pseudotuberculosis there is no suggestion that paratose producing strains are derived from tyvelose-producing strains by inactivation of rfbE, which is the case in S. enterica. The previously determined DNA sequence of the rfb region of an abequose-producing strain was re-examined. It contains the remnants of an insertion sequence (IS) adjacent to a truncated and non-functional rfbE gene. This suggests that the IS was involved in recombination events contributing to O-antigen antigenic diversity in Y. pseudotuberculosis.