FIG. 1.

Multiple sequence alignment of the A. baylyi Hfq amino acid sequence with seven gammaproteobacterial Hfq homologues by CLUSTAL W and visualized with BoxShade 3.2. Capital letters in the consensus sequence indicate conserved amino acids appearing in all aligned sequences. Lowercase letters indicate conserved amino acids appearing in at least two sequences. Numbers indicate the amino acid positions. Amino acids shaded gray have the same polarity as the black-shaded ones, whereas amino acids with a white background differ in their polarity from the black- and gray-shaded amino acids. The Sm domain is marked by a dotted arrow and is encoded by the first 64 amino acids in all compared sequences. The repetitive glycine-rich amino acid pattern of the A. baylyi Hfq sequence starts at amino acid 80 (glycine), ends at amino acid 152 (glutamine), and is outlined by a black box.