title: Amino acid and structural variability of Yersinia pestis LcrV protein.
abstract: The LcrV protein is a multifunctional virulence factor and protective antigen of the plague bacterium and is generally conserved between the epidemic strains of Yersinia pestis. We investigated the diversity in the LcrV sequences among non-epidemic Y. pestis strains which have a limited virulence in selected animal models and for humans. Sequencing of lcrV genes from 19 Y. pestis strains belonging to different phylogenetic groups (subspecies) showed that the LcrV proteins possess four major variable hotspots at positions 18, 72, 273, and 324-326. These major variations, together with other minor substitutions in amino acid sequences, allowed us to classify the LcrV alleles into five sequence types (A-E). We observed that the strains of different Y. pestis "subspecies" can have the same type of LcrV, including that conserved in epidemic strains, and different types of LcrV can exist within the same natural plague focus. Therefore, the phenomenon of "selective virulence" characteristic of the strains of the microtus biovar is unlikely to be the result of polymorphism of the V antigen. The LcrV polymorphisms were structurally analyzed by comparing the modeled structures of LcrV from all available strains. All changes except one occurred either in flexible regions or on the surface of the protein, but local chemical properties (i.e. those of a hydrophobic, hydrophilic, amphipathic, or charged nature) were conserved across all of the strains. Polymorphisms in flexible and surface regions are likely subject to less selective pressure, and have a limited impact on the structure. In contrast, the substitution of tryptophan at position 113 with either glutamic acid or glycine likely has a serious influence on the regional structure of the protein, and these mutations might have an effect on the function of LcrV. The polymorphisms at positions 18, 72 and 273 were accountable for differences in the oligomerization of LcrV.
authors.affiliation: State Research Center for Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 142279 Obolensk, Moscow Region, Russia. anisimov@obolensk.org
authors.forename: Andrey P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Anisimov
authors.forename: Svetlana V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Dentovskaya
authors.forename: Evgeniy A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Panfertsev
authors.forename: Tat'yana E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Svetoch
authors.forename: Pavel Kh
authors.initials: PKh
authors.lastname: Kopylov
authors.forename: Brent W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Segelke
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zemla
authors.forename: Maxim V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Telepnev
authors.forename: Vladimir L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Motin
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000235:genetics*; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008239:Lysine / Q000378:metabolism; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D052899:Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D015010:Yersinia pestis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C043908:LcrV protein, Yersinia; D052899:Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors; D008239:Lysine