title: Natural transformation and DNA uptake signal sequences in Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans.
abstract: Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans is a member of the family Pasteurellaceae and a major causative agent of periodontitis. While several genera from this family are known to be competent for transformation, A. actinomycetemcomitans has yet to be fully characterized. Here we show that the competence of A. actinomycetemcomitans is remarkably similar to that of Haemophilus influenzae. In addition to having a similar frequency of transformation as H. influenzae, A. actinomycetemcomitans competence could also be induced at least 100-fold by cyclic AMP, suggesting that, as in H. influenzae, at least some competence genes are regulated by catabolite repression. Even more intriguing was the discovery of a putative A. actinomycetemcomitans DNA uptake signal sequence (USS) virtually identical to the USS of H. influenzae. Moreover, we provide evidence that this sequence functions in the same capacity as that from H. influenzae; the sequence appears to be required and sufficient for DNA uptake in a variety of assays. Finally, we have taken advantage of this system to develop a simple, highly efficient competence-based method for generating site-directed mutations in the wild-type fimbriated A. actinomycetemcomitans.
authors.affiliation: University of Southern California School of Dentistry, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Steve D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.forename: Rosemary J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Redfield
authors.forename: Casey
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D016976:Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000378:metabolism; D004247:DNA / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D006193:Haemophilus influenzae / Q000235:genetics; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D014169:Transformation, Bacterial
chemical_list: D004247:DNA; D000242:Cyclic AMP