title: Proteins essential for expression of the Hms+ phenotype of Yersinia pestis.
abstract: One characteristic of pigmented (Pgm+) cells of Yersinia pestis is the adsorption of sufficient quantities of exogenous haemin during growth at 26 degrees C to form dark-brown colonies. Carriage of the cloned haemin-storage (hms) locus in pHMS1 restores this phenotype to spontaneous Pgm- chromosomal deletion mutants of Y. pestis. We have mapped the location of the structural genes for four proteins encoded on pHMS1 using minicell, in vitro transcription/translation, and complementation analysis. The hmsH and hmsF genes encode 90 kDa and 72 kDa protein precursors processed to surface-exposed, outer membrane proteins of 86 kDa and 70 kDa, respectively. Beta-galactosidase positive MudII1734 insertions in hmsR suggest that it encodes a protein that is also essential for haemin storage. Finally, the structural gene for a 41 kDa protein lies distal to the hmsH gene but, unlike hmsH, hmsF, and hmsR, its expression is not essential for the Hms+ phenotype in Y. pestis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Louisiana State University Medical Center, Shreveport 71130.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Pendrak
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Perry
mesh_terms: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002876:Chromosomes, Bacterial; D015180:Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D006427:Hemin / Q000378:metabolism*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008970:Molecular Weight; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D010641:Phenotype; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D015010:Yersinia pestis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C082669:HmsF protein, Yersinia pestis; C082666:HmsH protein, Yersinia pestis; C082670:HmsR protein, Yersinia pestis; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D011498:Protein Precursors; D006427:Hemin