Cell division gene cluster in Spiroplasma kunkelii: functional characterization of ftsZ and the first report of ftsA in mollicutes.
Spiroplasma kunkelii is a helical, wall-less bacterium that causes corn stunt disease. In adaptation to its phloem-inhabiting parasitic lifestyle, the bacterium has undergone a reductive evolutionary process and, as a result, possesses a compact genome with a gene set approaching the minimal complement necessary for multiplication and pathogenesis. We cloned a much-reduced cell division gene cluster from S. kunkelii and functionally characterized the key division gene, ftsZ(sk). The 1236-bp open reading frame of ftsZ(sk) is capable of encoding a protein with a calculated molecular mass of 44.1 kDa. Protein sequence alignment revealed that FtsZ(sk) is remarkably similar to FtsZ proteins from other eubacteria, and possesses the conserved GTP-binding and hydrolyzing motifs. We demonstrated that overexpression of ftsZ(sk) in Escherichia coli causes transgression of the host cell division, resulting in a filamentous phenotype. We also report, for the first time, the presence of a ftsA gene in the cell division cluster of a mollicute species.
Molecular Plant Pathology Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland, USA.
Yan
Y
Zhao
Rosemarie W
RW
Hammond
Ing-Ming
IM
Lee
Bruce A
BA
Roe
Shaoping
S
Lin
Robert E
RE
Davis
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002455:Cell Division / Q000235:genetics; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D017931:DNA Primers; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D015870:Gene Expression; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013149:Spiroplasma / Q000235:genetics*
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C065103:FtsA protein, Bacteria; C489310:FtsA protein, E coli; C071525:FtsZ protein, Bacteria