Abstract
We have characterized a family of repetitive DNA elements with homology to the MgPa cellular adhesion operon of Mycoplasma genitalium, a bacterium that has the smallest known genome of any free-living organism. One element, 2272 bp in length and flanked by DNA with no homology to MgPa, was completely sequenced. At least four others were partially sequenced. The complete element is a composite of six regions. Five of these regions show sequence similarity with nonadjacent segments of genes of the MgPa operon. The sixth region, located near the center of the element, is an A+T-rich sequence that has only been found in this repeat family. Open reading frames are present within the five individual regions showing sequence homology to MgPa and the adjacent open reading frame 3 (ORF3) gene. However, termination codons are found between adjacent regions of homology to the MgPa operon and in the A+T-rich sequence. Thus, these repetitive elements do not appear to be directly expressible protein coding sequences. The sequence of one region from five different repetitive elements was compared with the homologous region of the MgPa gene from the type strain G37 and four newly isolated M. genitalium strains. Recombination between repetitive elements of strain G37 and the MgPa operon can explain the majority of polymorphisms within our partial sequences of the MgPa genes of the new isolates. Therefore, we propose that the repetitive elements of M. genitalium provide a reservoir of sequence that contributes to antigenic variation in proteins of the MgPa cellular adhesion operon.
Full text
PDF




Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Bailey C. C., Bott K. F. An unusual gene containing a dnaJ N-terminal box flanks the putative origin of replication of Mycoplasma genitalium. J Bacteriol. 1994 Sep;176(18):5814–5819. doi: 10.1128/jb.176.18.5814-5819.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Colman S. D., Hu P. C., Litaker W., Bott K. F. A physical map of the Mycoplasma genitalium genome. Mol Microbiol. 1990 Apr;4(4):683–687. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1990.tb00638.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Dallo S. F., Baseman J. B. Adhesin gene of Mycoplasma genitalium exists as multiple copies. Microb Pathog. 1991 Jun;10(6):475–480. doi: 10.1016/0882-4010(91)90113-o. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Devereux J., Haeberli P., Smithies O. A comprehensive set of sequence analysis programs for the VAX. Nucleic Acids Res. 1984 Jan 11;12(1 Pt 1):387–395. doi: 10.1093/nar/12.1part1.387. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ferrell R. V., Heidari M. B., Wise K. S., McIntosh M. A. A Mycoplasma genetic element resembling prokaryotic insertion sequences. Mol Microbiol. 1989 Jul;3(7):957–967. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1989.tb00245.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Fraser C. M., Gocayne J. D., White O., Adams M. D., Clayton R. A., Fleischmann R. D., Bult C. J., Kerlavage A. R., Sutton G., Kelley J. M. The minimal gene complement of Mycoplasma genitalium. Science. 1995 Oct 20;270(5235):397–403. doi: 10.1126/science.270.5235.397. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Haas R., Meyer T. F. The repertoire of silent pilus genes in Neisseria gonorrhoeae: evidence for gene conversion. Cell. 1986 Jan 17;44(1):107–115. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90489-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Inamine J. M., Loechel S., Collier A. M., Barile M. F., Hu P. C. Nucleotide sequence of the MgPa (mgp) operon of Mycoplasma genitalium and comparison to the P1 (mpp) operon of Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Gene. 1989 Oct 30;82(2):259–267. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(89)90051-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jensen J. S., Orsum R., Dohn B., Uldum S., Worm A. M., Lind K. Mycoplasma genitalium: a cause of male urethritis? Genitourin Med. 1993 Aug;69(4):265–269. doi: 10.1136/sti.69.4.265. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Krawiec S., Riley M. Organization of the bacterial chromosome. Microbiol Rev. 1990 Dec;54(4):502–539. doi: 10.1128/mr.54.4.502-539.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Layh-Schmitt G., Hilbert H., Pirkl E. A spontaneous hemadsorption-negative mutant of Mycoplasma pneumoniae exhibits a truncated adhesin-related 30-kilodalton protein and lacks the cytadherence-accessory protein HMW1. J Bacteriol. 1995 Feb;177(3):843–846. doi: 10.1128/jb.177.3.843-846.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Lucier T. S., Hu P. Q., Peterson S. N., Song X. Y., Miller L., Heitzman K., Bott K. F., Hutchison C. A., 3rd, Hu P. C. Construction of an ordered genomic library of Mycoplasma genitalium. Gene. 1994 Dec 2;150(1):27–34. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(94)90853-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Meier J. T., Simon M. I., Barbour A. G. Antigenic variation is associated with DNA rearrangements in a relapsing fever Borrelia. Cell. 1985 Jun;41(2):403–409. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(85)80013-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mernaugh G. R., Dallo S. F., Holt S. C., Baseman J. B. Properties of adhering and nonadhering populations of Mycoplasma genitalium. Clin Infect Dis. 1993 Aug;17 (Suppl 1):S69–S78. doi: 10.1093/clinids/17.supplement_1.s69. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Morowitz H. J. The completeness of molecular biology. Isr J Med Sci. 1984 Sep;20(9):750–753. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Moxon E. R., Rainey P. B., Nowak M. A., Lenski R. E. Adaptive evolution of highly mutable loci in pathogenic bacteria. Curr Biol. 1994 Jan 1;4(1):24–33. doi: 10.1016/s0960-9822(00)00005-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Opitz O., Jacobs E. Adherence epitopes of Mycoplasma genitalium adhesin. J Gen Microbiol. 1992 Sep;138(9):1785–1790. doi: 10.1099/00221287-138-9-1785. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Pearson W. R., Lipman D. J. Improved tools for biological sequence comparison. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Apr;85(8):2444–2448. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.8.2444. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Peterson S. N., Hu P. C., Bott K. F., Hutchison C. A., 3rd A survey of the Mycoplasma genitalium genome by using random sequencing. J Bacteriol. 1993 Dec;175(24):7918–7930. doi: 10.1128/jb.175.24.7918-7930.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Razin S., Jacobs E. Mycoplasma adhesion. J Gen Microbiol. 1992 Mar;138(3):407–422. doi: 10.1099/00221287-138-3-407. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Robertson B. D., Meyer T. F. Genetic variation in pathogenic bacteria. Trends Genet. 1992 Dec;8(12):422–427. doi: 10.1016/0168-9525(92)90325-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ruland K., Himmelreich R., Herrmann R. Sequence divergence in the ORF6 gene of Mycoplasma pneumonia. J Bacteriol. 1994 Sep;176(17):5202–5209. doi: 10.1128/jb.176.17.5202-5209.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Staden R. Automation of the computer handling of gel reading data produced by the shotgun method of DNA sequencing. Nucleic Acids Res. 1982 Aug 11;10(15):4731–4751. doi: 10.1093/nar/10.15.4731. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Su C. J., Baseman J. B. Genome size of Mycoplasma genitalium. J Bacteriol. 1990 Aug;172(8):4705–4707. doi: 10.1128/jb.172.8.4705-4707.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tully J. G., Taylor-Robinson D., Rose D. L., Furr P. M., Graham C. E., Barile M. F. Urogenital challenge of primate species with Mycoplasma genitalium and characteristics of infection induced in chimpanzees. J Infect Dis. 1986 Jun;153(6):1046–1054. doi: 10.1093/infdis/153.6.1046. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wenzel R., Herrmann R. Repetitive DNA sequences in Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Nucleic Acids Res. 1988 Sep 12;16(17):8337–8350. doi: 10.1093/nar/16.17.8337. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]