Structural and functional similarities between the replication region of the Yersinia virulence plasmid and the RepFIIA replicons.
We sequenced the minimum replication region of the virulence plasmid pYVe439-80 from a serogroup O:9 Yersinia enterocolitica. This sequence is 68% homologous on a 1,873-nucleotide stretch to the sequence of the RepFIIA replicon of the resistance plasmid R100. The sequence contains two open reading frames, repA and repB, encoding proteins of 33,478 and 9,568 daltons, respectively. The amino acid sequences of the two proteins are 77 and 55% identical, respectively, to proteins RepA1 and RepA2 of the R100 replicon. Analysis of minicells transformed with a copy number mutant demonstrated that the replication region of pYVe439-80 directs the synthesis of a 33-kilodalton protein. Disruption of repA, encoding this protein, abolished replication. Two regions of pYVe439-80 are 76 and 70% homologous, respectively, to the copy number control antisense RNA and to the origin of replication region of R100. A mutation introduced in the pYVe439-80 DNA corresponding to the R100 sequence encoding the copy number control antisense RNA resulted in an increase in copy number, indicating a functional homology between the two replicons.
Unité de Microbiologie, Université de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
J C
JC
Vanooteghem
G R
GR
Cornelis
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D004265:DNA Helicases; D004261:DNA Replication; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010957:Plasmids; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011506:Proteins; D011815:R Factors / Q000235:genetics; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics; D016372:RNA, Antisense; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D012093:Replicon; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics; D015008:Yersinia enterocolitica / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D011506:Proteins; D016372:RNA, Antisense; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C048817:RepB protein, Bacteria; D015534:Trans-Activators; C045264:replication initiator protein; D012313:RNA; D004265:DNA Helicases