FIG. 1.

(A) Scheme of the sae operon based on the sequence of pCWSAE7 (GenBank accession number AJ556795). Transcriptional start points (P1, P2, and P3) were determined by primer extension assays. (B) Northern blot analysis of RNA of strain Newman (lanes 1) and its isogenic sae mutant (lanes 2) grown to the post-exponential-growth phase. The blots were hybridized using different DIG-labeled PCR fragments within the sae operon (probes 1 to 4 [Table 2]) and downstream of the sae operon (probe 5 [Table 2]). The sizes of the labeled transcripts were determined by comparison with a molecular weight marker run in parallel. The positions of the rRNA are marked by black dots.