Adaptive surface variation in mycoplasmas.
Mycoplasmas excel as infectious agents, despite their very small genomes. In one mycoplasma species, adaptive flexibility is enhanced by an elegant genetic system that diversifies the membrane surface through a set of variable lipoproteins (Vlps). A family of vlp genes supplies divergent coding sequences and undergoes high-frequency mutations, thus creating large repertoires of surface mosaics and structural variants.
Wise
K S
KS
Dept of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia 65212.
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D009174:Mycoplasma / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D013499:Surface Properties
D008074:Lipoproteins