The repeat structure of two paralogous genes, Yersinia ruckeri Invasin (yrInv) and a “Y. ruckeri Invasin-like molecule”, (yrIlm) sheds light on the evolution of adhesive capacities of a fish pathogen

Publication date: Available online 6 September 2017 Source:Journal of Structural Biology Author(s): Agnieszka Wrobel, Claudio Ottoni, Jack C. Leo, Snorre Gulla, Dirk Linke Inverse autotransporters comprise the recently identified type Ve secretion system and are exemplified by intimin from enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli and invasin from enteropathogenic Yersiniae. These proteins share a common domain architecture and promote bacterial adhesion to host cells. Here, we identified and characterized two putative inverse autotransporter genes in the fish pathogen Yersinia ruckeri NVH_1, namely yrInv (for Y. ruckeri invasin) and yrIlm (for Y. ruckeri invasin-like molecule). When trying to clone the highly repetitive genes for structural and functional studies, we experienced problems in obtaining PCR products. PCR failures and the highly repetitive nature of inverse autotransporters prompted us to sequence the genome of Y. ruckeri NVH_1 using PacBio sequencing, which produces some of the longest average read lengths available in the industry at this moment. According to our sequencing data, YrIlm is composed of 2603 amino acids (7812 bp) and has a molecular mass of 256.4 kDa. Based on the new genome information, we performed PCR analysis on four non-sequenced Y. ruckeri strains as well as the sequenced Y.ruckeri type strain. We found that the genes are variably present in the strains, and that the length of yrIlm, when present, also varies. In addition, the length of th...
Source: Journal of Structural Biology - Category: Biology Source Type: research