The O-antigen gene cluster of Shigella boydii O11 and functional identification of its wzy gene.

Jiang Tao, Lu Feng, Hongjie Guo, Yayue Li, Lei Wang

TEDA School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Nankai University, 23Hong Da Street, TEDA, Tianjin 300457, PR China.

FEMS microbiology letters 2004 May 1

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Shigella strains are human pathogens and their identification is usually based on their O-antigens. The O-antigen gene cluster of Shigella boydii O11 was sequenced. All the expected genes for the synthesis of the O-antigen were identified on the basis of homology and genes for the biosynthesis of dTDP-l-Rhamnose, genes encoding sugar transferases, as well as genes encoding O unit flippase (wzx) and O-antigen polymerase (wzy). The identity of the putative wzy gene was confirmed by showing that a wzy deficient mutant strain of S. boydii O11 produced a semi-rough LPS phenotype. The predicted wzx gene has an opposite transcription direction to that of all of the other genes in the S. boydii O11 O-antigen gene cluster. This unusual feature for the wzx gene has only previously been reported in S. boydii O6. Further comparison revealed an evolutionary relationship between O6 and O11 O-antigen gene clusters. Adjacent-gene PCR showed that Escherichia coli O105 and S. boydii O11, which share the identical O-antigen, also have the same genes and organization for their respective O-antigen gene clusters. Three genes specific for the S. boydii O11 and E. coli O105 gene clusters were identified.

Citation

Jiang Tao, Lu Feng, Hongjie Guo, Yayue Li, Lei Wang. The O-antigen gene cluster of Shigella boydii O11 and functional identification of its wzy gene. FEMS microbiology letters. 2004 May 1;234(1):125-32