title: Sequence analysis and characterization of a 40-kilodalton Borrelia hermsii glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase homolog.
abstract: We report the purification, molecular cloning, and characterization of a 40-kDa glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase homolog from Borrelia hermsii. The 40-kDa protein was solubilized from whole organisms with 0.1% Triton X-100, phase partitioned into the Triton X-114 detergent phase, and purified by fast-performance liquid chromatography (FPLC). The gene encoding the 40-kDa protein was cloned from a B. hermsii chromosomal DNA lambda EXlox expression library and identified by using affinity antibodies generated against the purified native protein. The deduced amino acid sequence included a 20-amino-acid signal peptide encoding a putative leader peptidase II cleavage site, indicating that the 40-kDa protein was a lipoprotein. Based on significant homology (31 to 52% identity) of the 40-kDa protein to glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterases of Escherichia coli (GlpQ), Bacillus subtilis (GlpQ), and Haemophilus influenzae (Hpd; protein D), we have designated this B. hermsii 40-kDa lipoprotein a glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase (Gpd) homolog, the first B. hermsii lipoprotein to have a putative functional assignment. A nonlipidated form of the Gpd homolog was overproduced as a fusion protein in E. coli BL21(DE3)(pLysE) and was used to immunize rabbits to generate specific antiserum. Immunoblot analysis with anti-Gpd serum recognized recombinant H. influenzae protein D, and conversely, antiserum to H. influenzae protein D recognized recombinant B. hermsii Gpd (rGpd), indicating antigenic conservation between these proteins. Antiserum to rGpd also identified native Gpd as a constituent of purified outer membrane vesicles prepared from B. hermsii. Screening of other pathogenic spirochetes with anti-rGpd serum revealed the presence of antigenically related proteins in Borrelia burgdorferi, Treponema pallidum, and Leptospira kirschneri. Further sequence analysis both upstream and downstream of the Gpd homolog showed additional homologs of glycerol metabolism, including a glycerol-3-phosphate transporter (GlpT), a glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GlpD), and a thioredoxin reductase (TrxB).
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA. eshang@microimmun.medsch.ucla.edu
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Shang
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Skare
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Erdjument-Bromage
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Blanco
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tempst
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lovett
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D001898:Borrelia / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D002451:Cell Compartmentation; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003429:Cross Reactions; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D015180:Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000201:enzymology; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006193:Haemophilus influenzae / Q000201:enzymology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010727:Phosphoric Diester Hydrolases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D010727:Phosphoric Diester Hydrolases; C038133:glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase