Identification and analysis of a highly conserved chemotaxis gene cluster in Shewanella species.
A conserved cluster of chemotaxis genes was identified from the genome sequences of fifteen Shewanella species. An in-frame deletion of the cheA-3 gene, which is located in this cluster, was created in S. oneidensis MR-1 and the gene shown to be essential for chemotactic responses to anaerobic electron acceptors. The CheA-3 protein showed strong similarity to Vibrio cholerae CheA-2 and P. aeruginosa CheA-1, two proteins that are also essential for chemotaxis. The genes encoding these proteins were shown to be located in chemotaxis gene clusters closely related to the cheA-3-containing cluster in Shewanella species. The results of this study suggest that a combination of gene neighborhood and homology analyses may be used to predict which cheA genes are essential for chemotaxis in groups of closely related microorganisms.
Li
Jun
J
Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, N. Charles St. Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
Romine
Margaret F
MF
Ward
Mandy J
MJ
D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D002633:Chemotaxis / Q000235:genetics*; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D005810:Multigene Family; D010802:Phylogeny; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein; D020592:Shewanella / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*
D001426:Bacterial Proteins