title: Complete nucleotide sequence of the S10-spc operon of phytoplasma: gene organization and genetic code resemble those of Bacillus subtilis.
abstract: An 11.4-kbp region of genomic DNA containing the complete S10-spc operon was constructed by an integrative mapping technique with eight plasmid vectors carrying ribosomal protein sequences from onion yellows phytoplasma. Southern hybridization analysis indicated that phytoplasmal S10-spc is a single-copy operon. This is the first complete S10-spc operon of a phytoplasma to be reported, although only a part of six serial genes of the S10 operon is reported previously. The operon has a context of 5'-rps10, rpl3, rpl4, rpl23, rpl2, rps19, rpl22, rps3, rpl16, rpl29, rps17, rpl14, rpl24, rpl5, rps14, rps8, rpl6, rpl18, rps5, rpl30, rpl15, SecY-3', and is composed of 21 ribosomal protein subunit genes and a SecY protein translocase subunit gene. Resembling Bacillus, this operon contains an rpl30 gene that other mollicutes (Mycoplasma genitalium, M. pneumoniae, and M. pulmonis) lack. A phylogenetic tree based on the rps3 sequence showed that phytoplasmas are phylogenetically closer to acholeplasmas and bacillus than to mycoplasmas. In the S10-spc operon, translation may start from either a GTG codon or an ATG codon, and stop at a TGA codon, as has been reported for acholeplasmas and bacillus. However, in mycoplasmas, GTG was found as a start codon, and TGA was found not as a stop codon, but instead as a tryptophan codon. These data derived from the gene organization, and the genetic code deviation support the hypothesis that phytoplasmal genes resemble those of acholeplasmas and Bacillus more than those of other mollicutes.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Bioresource Technology, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba Japan.
authors.forename: Shin-Ichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miyata
authors.forename: Ken-Ichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Furuki
authors.forename: Kenro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oshima
authors.forename: Toshimi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sawayanagi
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nishigawa
authors.forename: Shigeyuki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kakizawa
authors.forename: Hee-Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ugaki
authors.forename: Shigetou
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Namba
mesh_terms: D000129:Acholeplasmataceae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001482:Base Composition; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003062:Codon / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D015723:Gene Library; D005815:Genetic Code; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D009174:Mycoplasma / Q000235:genetics; D009876:Operon; D010802:Phylogeny; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003062:Codon; D004269:DNA, Bacterial