title: Shigella flexneri type-specific antigen V: cloning, sequencing and characterization of the glucosyl transferase gene of temperate bacteriophage SfV.
abstract: With lysogeny by bacteriophage SfV, Shigella flexneri serotype Y is converted to serotype 5a. The glucosyl transferase gene (gtr) from bacteriophage SfV of S. flexneri, involved in serotype-specific conversion, was cloned and characterized. The DNA sequence of a 3.7 kb EcoRI-BamHI fragment of bacteriophage SfV which includes the gtr gene was determined. This gene, encoding a polypeptide of 417 aa with 47.67 kDa molecular mass, caused partial serotype conversion of S. flexneri from serotype Y to type V antigen as demonstrated by Western blotting and the sensitivity of the hybrid strain to phage Sf6. The deduced protein of the partially sequenced open reading frame upstream of the gtr showed similarity to various glycosyl transferases of other bacteria. Orf3, separated from the gtr by a non-coding region and transcribed convergently, codes for a 167 aa (18.8 kDa) protein found to have homology with tail fibre genes of phage lambda and P2.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Life Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra.
authors.forename: P T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Huan
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Whittle
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Bastin
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Lindberg
authors.forename: N K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Verma
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D015870:Gene Expression; D005964:Glucosyltransferases / Q000235:genetics*; D008242:Lysogeny; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012763:Shigella flexneri / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D014170:Transformation, Genetic
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D005964:Glucosyltransferases