title: A novel type A2 neurotoxin gene cluster in Clostridium botulinum strain Mascarpone.
abstract: The partial nucleotide sequence ( approximately 10 kb) of the cluster of genes encoding the botulinum neurotoxin complex in Clostridium botulinum type A strain Mascarpone was determined. The analysis revealed six ORFs (orfs), which were organized as in the type A2 and type A3 botulinum neurotoxin gene clusters of strains Kyoto-F and NCTC 2916, respectively. While the orfs at the proximal and distal ends of the sequence (orfX2 and bont/A genes) shared a high level of similarity with the corresponding sequences of strain Kyoto-F, the segment encompassing the orfX1 and botR/A genes within the sequence exhibited a higher degree of homology to the related region in strain NCTC 2916. The mosaic structure of the Mascarpone neurotoxin gene cluster suggests recombinational exchanges.
authors.affiliation: National Center for Food Quality and Risk Assessment, Laboratory of Food Microbial Hazards, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Franciosa
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maugliani
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Floridi
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Aureli
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019274:Botulinum Toxins, Type A / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D001906:Botulism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D002611:Cheese / Q000382:microbiology; D047013:Clostridium botulinum type A / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein
chemical_list: D019274:Botulinum Toxins, Type A