title: Molecular evolution of class A beta-lactamases: phylogeny and patterns of sequence conservation.
abstract: We present a multiple alignment of the amino acid sequences of eight class A beta-lactamases and utilized it to propose a phylogeny, based on the nucleotide sequences of their corresponding genes. We have also used the alignment, together with the alpha-carbon co-ordinates of the Staphylococcus aureus protein, to search systematically for neighbouring residues that share the same pattern of conservation among the different members of the protein family. The distribution of invariant residues and of groups of residues with co-ordinate changes map, predominantly, at the region of the active site and at interfaces between structural elements, respectively. We have also contrasted the distribution of conserved residues with the positions which are known to differ in mutants and variants of class A beta-lactamases.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigacíon sobre Ingeniería Genética y Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pastor
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Piñero
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Valdés
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Soberón
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001419:Bacteria / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D001618:beta-Lactamases / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D001618:beta-Lactamases