title: Characterization of the type 1 fimbrial subunit gene (fimA) of Serratia marcescens.
abstract: The nucleotide sequence of a DNA fragment that contains the fimA gene, encoding the major fimbrial subunit, of Serratia marcescens IA506 and associated flanking sequences has been elucidated. In addition, the origin of transcription has been identified and is located 120 base pairs upstream of the fimA initiation codon. The predicted amino acid sequence of the FimA polypeptide exhibits some degree of sequence homology with the fimbrial subunits encoded by the fimA determinants of Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella typhimurium, and Escherichia coli and also to Smf2, the major structural component of mannose-resistant (MR) fimbriae of S. marcescens. The Serratia adhesin that facilitates haemagglutination mediated by type 1 fimbriae is less susceptible to inhibition by D-mannose than has been observed to be the case in other type 1 fimbrial adhesins. The molecule conferring this adherence specificity has been shown to be distinct from the fimA gene product and, therefore, is analogous to the fimbrial systems reported in other species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City 52242.
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Nichols
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Clegg
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D010861:Fimbriae, Bacterial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006386:Hemagglutination Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D012706:Serratia marcescens / Q000235:genetics*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial