title: Extended repertoire of genes encoding variable surface lipoproteins in Mycoplasma bovis strains.
abstract: A genomic cluster of vsp genes was previously shown to mediate high-frequency phenotypic switching of surface lipoprotein antigens in the bovine pathogen Mycoplasma bovis. This study revealed that field strains of M. bovis possess modified versions of the vsp gene complex in which extensive sequence variations occur primarily in the reiterated coding sequences of the vsp structural genes. These findings demonstrate that there is a vastly expanded potential for antigenic variation within populations of this organism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Membrane and Ultrastructure Research, The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
authors.forename: Sarit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nussbaum
authors.forename: Inessa
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lysnyansky
authors.forename: Konrad
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sachse
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Levisohn
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yogev
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002417:Cattle; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009174:Mycoplasma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D008074:Lipoproteins; C121437:Vsp protein, bacterial