title: Isolation of the Staphylococcus aureus hemCDBL gene cluster coding for early steps in heme biosynthesis.
abstract: We have recently reported [Kafala, B., Sasarman, A., 1994. Can. J. Microbiol. 40, 651 657] the cloning and sequencing of the Staphylococcus aureus hemB gene. This gene purportedly encodes the delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase of the heme pathway. In this present communication, we report the sequences and identities of three putative hem genes. Two of these genes are located immediately upstream from hemB. Complementation analysis of Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium hemC and hemD mutants and the comparison of the Sa nucleotide sequences with those of Bacillus subtilis and Ec showed that these two open reading frames, ORF1 and ORF2, are likely to be the hemC gene coding for porphobilinogen deaminase and the hemD gene coding for uroporphyrinogen III synthase, respectively. The third hem gene, hemL, is located immediately downstream of hemB, and encodes glutamate 1-semialdehyde 2,1-aminotransferase. Sequencing of the region which extends past hemL indicates that no further hem genes are located downstream of hemL. In Sa, hemC, hemD, hemB and hemL are proposed to constitute a hem cluster encoding enzymes required for the synthesis of uroporphyrinogen III from glutamate 1-semialdehyde (GSA).
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada. omeish@umdnj.edu
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kafala
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sasarman
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D006418:Heme / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D011163:Hydroxymethylbilane Synthase; D019751:Intramolecular Transferases / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D005810:Multigene Family; D016366:Open Reading Frames / Q000235:genetics; D000623:Porphobilinogen Synthase / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D014576:Uroporphyrinogen III Synthetase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D014577:Uroporphyrinogens / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D014577:Uroporphyrinogens; D006418:Heme; D011163:Hydroxymethylbilane Synthase; C073160:hemC protein, E coli; D000623:Porphobilinogen Synthase; D014576:Uroporphyrinogen III Synthetase; D019751:Intramolecular Transferases; C061049:glutamate-1-semialdehyde 2,1-aminomutase