Skip to main content
PMC home page
Infection and Immunity logoLink to Infection and Immunity
. 1993 May;61(5):1909–1916. doi: 10.1128/iai.61.5.1909-1916.1993

Sequence divergence in two tandemly located pilin genes of Eikenella corrodens.

T Tønjum 1, S Weir 1, K Bøvre 1, A Progulske-Fox 1, C F Marrs 1
PMCID: PMC280783  PMID: 8478080

Abstract

Eikenella corrodens normally inhabits the human respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts but is frequently the cause of abscesses at various sites. Using the N-terminal portion of the Moraxella nonliquefaciens pilin gene as a hybridization probe, we cloned two tandemly located pilin genes of E. corrodens 31745, ecpC and ecpD, and expressed the two pilin genes separately in Escherichia coli. A comparison of the predicted amino acid sequences of E. corrodens 31745 EcpC and EcpD revealed considerable divergence between the sequences of these two pilins and even less similarity to EcpA and EcpB of E. corrodens type strain ATCC 23834. EcpC from E. corrodens 31745 displayed high degrees of homology to the pilins of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. EcpD from E. corrodens 31745 showed the highest homologies with the pilin of one of the three P. aeruginosa classes, whereas EcpA and EcpB of strain ATCC 23834 most closely resemble Moraxella bovis pilins. These findings raise interesting questions about potential genetic transfer between different bacterial species, as opposed to convergent evolution.

Full text

PDF

Images in this article

1910Image
on p.1910
1911Image
on p.1911
1913Image
on p.1913

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Birnboim H. C., Doly J. A rapid alkaline extraction procedure for screening recombinant plasmid DNA. Nucleic Acids Res. 1979 Nov 24;7(6):1513–1523. doi: 10.1093/nar/7.6.1513. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Brooks G. F., O'Donoghue J. M., Rissing J. P., Soapes K., Smith J. W. Eikenella corrodens, a recently recognized pathogen: infections in medical-surgical patients and in association with methylphenidate abuse. Medicine (Baltimore) 1974 Sep;53(5):325–342. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chen C. K., Dunford R. G., Reynolds H. S., Zambon J. J. Eikenella corrodens in the human oral cavity. J Periodontol. 1989 Nov;60(11):611–616. doi: 10.1902/jop.1989.60.11.611. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chen C. K., Potts T. V., Wilson M. E. DNA homologies shared among E. corrodens isolates and other corroding bacilli from the oral cavity. J Periodontal Res. 1990 Mar;25(2):106–112. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0765.1990.tb00900.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dalrymple B., Mattick J. S. An analysis of the organization and evolution of type 4 fimbrial (MePhe) subunit proteins. J Mol Evol. 1987;25(3):261–269. doi: 10.1007/BF02100020. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. EIKEN M. Studies on an anaerobic, rodshaped, gram-negative microorganism: Bacteroides corrodens n. sp. Acta Pathol Microbiol Scand. 1958;43(4):404–416. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Elleman T. C., Hoyne P. A. Nucleotide sequence of the gene encoding pilin of Bacteroides nodosus, the causal organism of ovine footrot. J Bacteriol. 1984 Dec;160(3):1184–1187. doi: 10.1128/jb.160.3.1184-1187.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Fulks K. A., Marrs C. F., Stevens S. P., Green M. R. Sequence analysis of the inversion region containing the pilin genes of Moraxella bovis. J Bacteriol. 1990 Jan;172(1):310–316. doi: 10.1128/jb.172.1.310-316.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Girón J. A., Ho A. S., Schoolnik G. K. An inducible bundle-forming pilus of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli. Science. 1991 Nov 1;254(5032):710–713. doi: 10.1126/science.1683004. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Gold L., Pribnow D., Schneider T., Shinedling S., Singer B. S., Stormo G. Translational initiation in prokaryotes. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1981;35:365–403. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.35.100181.002053. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Henriksen S. D. Corroding bacteria from the respiratory tract. 2. Bacteroides corrodens. Acta Pathol Microbiol Scand. 1969;75(1):91–96. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hobbs M., Dalrymple B. P., Cox P. T., Livingstone S. P., Delaney S. F., Mattick J. S. Organization of the fimbrial gene region of Bacteroides nodosus: class I and class II strains. Mol Microbiol. 1991 Mar;5(3):543–560. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1991.tb00726.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Hull R. A., Gill R. E., Hsu P., Minshew B. H., Falkow S. Construction and expression of recombinant plasmids encoding type 1 or D-mannose-resistant pili from a urinary tract infection Escherichia coli isolate. Infect Immun. 1981 Sep;33(3):933–938. doi: 10.1128/iai.33.3.933-938.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Janda D. H., Ringler D. H., Hilliard J. K., Hankin R. C., Hankin F. M. Nonhuman primate bites. J Orthop Res. 1990 Jan;8(1):146–150. doi: 10.1002/jor.1100080119. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Klein B., Couch J., Thompson J. Ocular infections associated with Eikenella corrodens. Am J Ophthalmol. 1990 Feb 15;109(2):127–131. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9394(14)75975-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Lipman D. J., Pearson W. R. Rapid and sensitive protein similarity searches. Science. 1985 Mar 22;227(4693):1435–1441. doi: 10.1126/science.2983426. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Marrs C. F., Rozsa F. W., Hackel M., Stevens S. P., Glasgow A. C. Identification, cloning, and sequencing of piv, a new gene involved in inverting the pilin genes of Moraxella lacunata. J Bacteriol. 1990 Aug;172(8):4370–4377. doi: 10.1128/jb.172.8.4370-4377.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Marrs C. F., Ruehl W. W., Schoolnik G. K., Falkow S. Pilin-gene phase variation of Moraxella bovis is caused by an inversion of the pilin genes. J Bacteriol. 1988 Jul;170(7):3032–3039. doi: 10.1128/jb.170.7.3032-3039.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Marrs C. F., Schoolnik G., Koomey J. M., Hardy J., Rothbard J., Falkow S. Cloning and sequencing of a Moraxella bovis pilin gene. J Bacteriol. 1985 Jul;163(1):132–139. doi: 10.1128/jb.163.1.132-139.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Mattick J. S., Anderson B. J., Cox P. T., Dalrymple B. P., Bills M. M., Hobbs M., Egerton J. R. Gene sequences and comparison of the fimbrial subunits representative of Bacteroides nodosus serotypes A to I: class I and class II strains. Mol Microbiol. 1991 Mar;5(3):561–573. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1991.tb00727.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Mazodier P., Davies J. Gene transfer between distantly related bacteria. Annu Rev Genet. 1991;25:147–171. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ge.25.120191.001051. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. McKern N. M., O'Donnell I. J., Inglis A. S., Stewart D. J., Clark B. L. Amino acid sequence of pilin from Bacteroides nodosus (strain 198), the causative organism of ovine footrot. FEBS Lett. 1983 Nov 28;164(1):149–153. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(83)80039-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Meyer T. F., Billyard E., Haas R., Storzbach S., So M. Pilus genes of Neisseria gonorrheae: chromosomal organization and DNA sequence. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Oct;81(19):6110–6114. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.19.6110. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Needleman S. B., Wunsch C. D. A general method applicable to the search for similarities in the amino acid sequence of two proteins. J Mol Biol. 1970 Mar;48(3):443–453. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(70)90057-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Nicolson I. J., Perry A. C., Virji M., Heckels J. E., Saunders J. R. Localization of antibody-binding sites by sequence analysis of cloned pilin genes from Neisseria gonorrhoeae. J Gen Microbiol. 1987 Apr;133(4):825–833. doi: 10.1099/00221287-133-4-825. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Nunn D., Bergman S., Lory S. Products of three accessory genes, pilB, pilC, and pilD, are required for biogenesis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa pili. J Bacteriol. 1990 Jun;172(6):2911–2919. doi: 10.1128/jb.172.6.2911-2919.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Pasloske B. L., Drummond D. S., Frost L. S., Paranchych W. The activity of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa pilin promoter is enhanced by an upstream regulatory site. Gene. 1989 Sep 1;81(1):25–34. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(89)90333-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Pasloske B. L., Finlay B. B., Paranchych W. Cloning and sequencing of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAK pilin gene. FEBS Lett. 1985 Apr 22;183(2):408–412. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(85)80821-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Perry A. C., Nicolson I. J., Saunders J. R. Neisseria meningitidis C114 contains silent, truncated pilin genes that are homologous to Neisseria gonorrhoeae pil sequences. J Bacteriol. 1988 Apr;170(4):1691–1697. doi: 10.1128/jb.170.4.1691-1697.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Progulske A., Holt S. C. Transmission-scanning electron microscopic observations of selected Eikenella corrodens strains. J Bacteriol. 1980 Aug;143(2):1003–1018. doi: 10.1128/jb.143.2.1003-1018.1980. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Rao V. K., Progulske-Fox A. Cloning and sequencing of two type 4 (N-methylphenylalanine) pilin genes from Eikenella corrodens. J Gen Microbiol. 1993 Mar;139(3):651–660. doi: 10.1099/00221287-139-3-651. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Rozsa F. W., Marrs C. F. Interesting sequence differences between the pilin gene inversion regions of Moraxella lacunata ATCC 17956 and Moraxella bovis Epp63. J Bacteriol. 1991 Jul;173(13):4000–4006. doi: 10.1128/jb.173.13.4000-4006.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Sanger F., Nicklen S., Coulson A. R. DNA sequencing with chain-terminating inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Dec;74(12):5463–5467. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.12.5463. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Sastry P. A., Finlay B. B., Pasloske B. L., Paranchych W., Pearlstone J. R., Smillie L. B. Comparative studies of the amino acid and nucleotide sequences of pilin derived from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAK and PAO. J Bacteriol. 1985 Nov;164(2):571–577. doi: 10.1128/jb.164.2.571-577.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Shaw C. E., Taylor R. K. Vibrio cholerae O395 tcpA pilin gene sequence and comparison of predicted protein structural features to those of type 4 pilins. Infect Immun. 1990 Sep;58(9):3042–3049. doi: 10.1128/iai.58.9.3042-3049.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Short J. M., Fernandez J. M., Sorge J. A., Huse W. D. Lambda ZAP: a bacteriophage lambda expression vector with in vivo excision properties. Nucleic Acids Res. 1988 Aug 11;16(15):7583–7600. doi: 10.1093/nar/16.15.7583. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Southern E. M. Detection of specific sequences among DNA fragments separated by gel electrophoresis. J Mol Biol. 1975 Nov 5;98(3):503–517. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(75)80083-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Stoloff A. L., Gillies M. L. Infections with Eikenella corrodens in a general hospital: a report of 33 cases. Rev Infect Dis. 1986 Jan-Feb;8(1):50–53. doi: 10.1093/clinids/8.1.50. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Tanner A. C., Haffer C., Bratthall G. T., Visconti R. A., Socransky S. S. A study of the bacteria associated with advancing periodontitis in man. J Clin Periodontol. 1979 Oct;6(5):278–307. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-051x.1979.tb01931.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Taylor R. K., Miller V. L., Furlong D. B., Mekalanos J. J. Use of phoA gene fusions to identify a pilus colonization factor coordinately regulated with cholera toxin. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 May;84(9):2833–2837. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.9.2833. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Towbin H., Staehelin T., Gordon J. Electrophoretic transfer of proteins from polyacrylamide gels to nitrocellulose sheets: procedure and some applications. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Sep;76(9):4350–4354. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.9.4350. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. Tønjum T., Hagen N., Bøvre K. Identification of Eikenella corrodens and Cardiobacterium hominis by genetic transformation. Acta Pathol Microbiol Immunol Scand B. 1985 Dec;93(6):389–394. doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1985.tb02907.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. Tønjum T., Marrs C. F., Rozsa F., Bøvre K. The type 4 pilin of Moraxella nonliquefaciens exhibits unique similarities with the pilins of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Dichelobacter (Bacteroides) nodosus. J Gen Microbiol. 1991 Oct;137(10):2483–2490. doi: 10.1099/00221287-137-10-2483. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  44. West S. E., Clark V. L. Genetic loci and linkage associations in Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Neisseria meningitidis. Clin Microbiol Rev. 1989 Apr;2 (Suppl):S92–103. doi: 10.1128/cmr.2.suppl.s92. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  45. Zhang Q. Y., DeRyckere D., Lauer P., Koomey M. Gene conversion in Neisseria gonorrhoeae: evidence for its role in pilus antigenic variation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992 Jun 15;89(12):5366–5370. doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.12.5366. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Infection and Immunity are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES