title: Nucleotide sequence of the Thiobacillus ferrooxidans chromosomal gene encoding mercuric reductase.
abstract: The nucleotide sequence of the Thiobacillus ferrooxidans chromosomal mercuric-reductase-encoding gene (merA) has been determined. The merA gene contains 1635 bp, and shares 78.2% and 76.6% sequence homology with the transposon, Tn501, and plasmid R100 merA genes, respectively. From the sequence, a 545-amino acid (aa) polypeptide was deduced, and comparison with those of Tn501 and R100 revealed 80.6% and 80.0% homology, respectively, at the aa sequence level. Divergence among the three merA aa sequences was clustered within a specific region (aa positions 41-87). By analysis of codon usage frequency, it is speculated that the T. ferrooxidans merA gene originated from Tn501, R100, or a common ancestral gene, but not from T. ferrooxidans itself.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Plant Genetic Engineering, Akita Prefectural College of Agriculture, Japan.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugawara
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shiratori
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kusano
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kitagawa
mesh_terms: D013856:Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D002876:Chromosomes, Bacterial; D003062:Codon / Q000235:genetics; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000235:genetics*; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013855:Thiobacillus / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D003062:Codon; D010088:Oxidoreductases; C021551:mercuric reductase