TABLE 2.

Genes for the biosynthesis of lipid A and peptidoglycan in selected members of the α-Proteobacteria family and other obligate intracellular bacteria^a

Biosynthesis gene for cell wall componentb	α-Proteobacteria results				Results for other obligate intracellular bacteria
	Rickettsiaceae	Anaplasmataceae		Rhizobiaceae
	R. prowazekii and R. conorii	E. chaffeensis, A. phagocytophilum,c and N. sennetsu	Wolbachia sp.c	S. meliloti, M. loti, A. tumefaciens, and B. suis	C. burnetii and C. trachomatis
LPS
Lipid A	+	−	−	+	+
Peptidoglycan
Murein sacculus	+	−d	±e	+	+
Diaminopimelate	+	±f	+	+	+

^aGenes for the biosynthesis of LPS and peptidoglycan in R. prowazekii, the bacterium most closely related to E. chaffeensis and A. phagocytophilum, were used for BLAST searches of genome sequence databases for homologous genes in selected members of the α-Proteobacteria family and other intracellular bacteria. Only genes with E values of ≤10⁻⁵ were considered homologous genes.

^bThe gene names (GenBank accession number) for the biosynthesis genes of cell wall components of R. prowazekii are listed below: for lipid A, lpxA (A71708), lpxB (C71688), lpxC (CAA14716), lpxD (CAA14482), kdsA (F71714), kdsB (D71695), kdtA (H71717), and htrB (E71631); for diaminopimelate, asd (F71687), dapA (CAA14886), dapB (A71725), dapD (E71730), dapE (A71650), dapF (F71699), and lysC (E71635); and for murein sacculus, alr (F71718), dacF (D71696), ddlB (CAA14711), glmU (D71704), mraY1 (E71664), mraY2 (B71644), mrcA (A71642), murA (H71662), murB (D71679), murC (C71679), murD (A71699), murE (G71664), murF (F71664), murG (C71699), phpA1 (C71661), pbpA2 (E71661), pbpE (G71680), and slt (G71697). For complete gene names and functional categories of these genes in R. prowazekii, refer to Andersson et al. (2).

^cIncomplete genome sequences: A. phagocytophilum, >98% completion; Wolbachia endosymbiont of D. melanogaster, ∼85% completion.

^dE. chaffeensis has the homologous gene dacF, A. phagocytophilum has dacF and murB, and N. sennetsu has murB, murE, and murF.

^eThe Wolbachia endosymbiont of D. melanogaster lacks genes alr, mrcA, pbpE, and slt.

^fE. chaffeensis has all homologous genes for the biosynthesis of diaminopimelate. However, only the homologous genes asd and dapA were found in A. phagocytophilum and N. sennetsu.