title: Identification, characterization, and chromosomal organization of the ftsZ gene from Brevibacterium lactofermentum.
abstract: The ftsZ gene was cloned from the chromosomal DNA of Brevibacterium lactofermentum by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using two oligonucleotides designed from two conserved regions found in most of the previously cloned and sequenced ftsZ genes from other microorganisms. ftsZ is a single-copy gene in corynebacteria and is located downstream from ftsQ and murC, indicating linkage between genes involved in peptidoglycan synthesis (mur genes) and genes involved in cell division (fts genes). The organisation of the cluster is similar to that in Streptomyces and different from those of Escherichia coli or Bacillus subtilis because ftsA is not located upstream of ftsZ. The gene was expressed in E. coli using the T7 expression system; the calculated molecular weight of the expressed protein was 50 kDa. Expression of the B. lactofermentum ftsZ gene in E. coli inhibited cell division and led to filamentation. The ftsZ gene of this organism does not complement ftsZ mutations or deletions in E. coli, when cloned on low or high-copy-number vectors.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ecologia, Genética y Microbiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de León, Spain.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Honrubia
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Gil
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001951:Brevibacterium / Q000235:genetics*; D002455:Cell Division / Q000235:genetics; D002876:Chromosomes, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; C071525:FtsZ protein, Bacteria; D011994:Recombinant Proteins