title: The expression of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAK pilin gene mutants in Escherichia coli.
abstract: Previous work has demonstrated the expression of the cloned pilin gene of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAK within Escherichia coli and has pinpointed this protein's localization exclusively to the cytoplasmic membrane (Finlay et al., 1986). To define regions of the pilin subunit necessary for its stability and transport within E. coli, we constructed six mutants of the pilin gene and studied their expression and localization using a T7 promoter system. Two of the mutants have either a 4- or 8-amino-acid deletion at the N-terminus and both were stably expressed and transported primarily to the cytoplasmic membrane of E. coli. The other four mutants are C-terminal truncations having between 36 and 56 amino acids of the N-terminal region of the unprocessed pilin. Studies with these truncated mutants revealed that only the first 36 residues of the unprocessed pilin subunit were required for insertion into the E. coli membrane.
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D002872:Chromosome Deletion; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics*; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins; D005796:Genes; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D013604:T-Phages / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins