title: Isolation of Borrelia burgdorferi genes encoding homologues of DNA-binding protein HU and ribosomal protein S20.
abstract: Linear DNA with covalently closed ends is the predominant form of DNA in the spirochaete Borrelia burgdorferi. All bacteria examined to date have small DNA-binding proteins related to the Escherichia coli IHF and HU proteins that appear to play roles in DNA compaction and replication, but such proteins had not been isolated from bacteria with linear genomes. We found a single gene in B. burgdorferi (named hbb) whose product (named Hbb) complements the defects for gamma DNA packaging found in E. coli strains mutant in the genes for IHF and HU. The sequence of the predicted B. burgdorferi protein is similar to those of HU and IHF-like proteins in other bacteria. The gene appears to be in an operon with the order rpsT-hbb-orfH, where the rpsT gene is a homologue of the E. coli gene encoding ribosomal protein S20 and the orfH gene encodes a protein of unknown function. This operon is located upstream of the previously identified B. burgdorferi rho homologue.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbial Structure and Function, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Hamilton, MT 59840, USA. ktilly@nih.gov
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tilly
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fuhrman
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Samuels
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000235:genetics*; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015723:Gene Library; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D034982:Integration Host Factors; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009876:Operon; D016364:Reading Frames; D012269:Ribosomal Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C102676:Hbb protein, Borrelia burgdorferi; D034982:Integration Host Factors; D012269:Ribosomal Proteins; C040330:histone-like protein HU, bacteria