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J. Bacteriol., Oct 1996, 6036-6042, Vol 178, No. 20
S Wu, H de Lencastre and A Tomasz
We have identified a gene cluster located on the chromosomal SmaI I
fragment of a highly methicillin resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus,
consisting of four open reading frames (ORFs), named after the number of
deduced amino acid residues, in the sequential order orf333-
orf108-orf159-orf256. The gene cluster showed close similarities to the
Bacillus subtilis sigB operon both in overall organization and in primary
sequences of the gene products. The complete gene cluster (provisionally
named sigma-B or sigB) was preceded by an sigmaA-like promoter (PA) and had
an internal sigmaB-like promoter sequence (PB) between orf333 and orf108,
suggesting a complex regulatory mechanism. The polypeptides encoded by
orf333, -108, -159, and -256 showed 62, 67, 71, and 77% homologies,
respectively, with the RsbU, RsbV, RsbW, and SigB polypeptides encoded by
the B. subtilis sigB operon. A Tn551 insertional mutant, RUSA168 (insert in
orf256 of the staphylococcal sigma-B operon), showed drastic reduction in
methicillin resistance (decrease in MIC from 1,600 microg ml-1 to 12 to 25
microg ml-1off
Copyright © 1996, American Society for Microbiology
Sigma-B, a putative operon encoding alternate sigma factor of Staphylococcus aureus RNA polymerase: molecular cloning and DNA sequencing
The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021, USA.
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