title: Piliation control mechanisms in Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
abstract: Gonococci (Gc) undergo pilus+ to pilus- "phase transitions" readily in vitro. In the present study we sequenced pilin mRNA from reverting, pilus- Gc by oligonucleotide primer extension and compared these pilin mRNA sequences with those expressed by their pilus+ predecessors and pilus+ revertants. The results suggest that genetic rearrangement within the pilin structural gene can generate defective pilin gene products, resulting in a pilus- phenotype. These pilus- Gc give rise to pilus+ revertants upon reconstitution of their modified pilin gene.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bergström
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Robbins
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Koomey
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Swanson
mesh_terms: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins; D010861:Fimbriae, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D009344:Neisseria gonorrhoeae / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D012995:Solubility
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins