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J Bacteriol, February 1998, p. 840-845, Vol. 180, No. 4
0021-9193/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

tRNA^Arg (fimU) and Expression of SEF14 and SEF21 in Salmonella enteritidis

S. C. Clouthier,^1,2 S. K. Collinson,¹ A. P. White,¹ P. A. Banser,¹ and W. W. Kay^1,2,*

Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 3P6,¹ and Microtek International Ltd., Saanichton, British Columbia V8X 3X1,² Canada

Received 21 August 1997/Accepted 16 December 1997

A Tn10 insertion affecting SEF14 fimbrial synthesis in Salmonella enteritidis was located 13 bp upstream of a gene designated fimU. The 77-bp DNA sequence of fimU from S. enteritidis was identical to that of fimU encoding tRNA^Arg (UCU) from Salmonella typhimurium and 96% identical to that of the Escherichia coli argU homolog. Furthermore, the open reading frame adjacent to and overlapping the 3' end of fimU was similar to the prophage DLP12 integrase gene. The fimU-encoded transcript comigrated with total cellular tRNA and was predicted to form a tRNA-like cloverleaf structure containing the arginine anticodon UCU. Thus, fimU encoded a tRNA^Arg specific for the rare codon AGA. fimU mapped to the SEF21 fim operon located 15 C's from the sef14 gene cluster. Although fimU was located within the SEF21 fim gene cluster, the fimU Tn10 insertion mutant of S. enteritidis was found to be defective in SEF14 as well as SEF21 (type 1) fimbria production. SEF17 and SEF18 fimbria production was not affected. Complementation of this mutant with plasmid-borne fimU restored normal production of the fimbrins SefA and FimA as well as their respective fimbriae SEF14 and SEF21. This is the first description of tRNA simultaneously controlling the production of two distinct fimbriae.

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^* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C. V8W 3P6, Canada. Phone: (250) 721 7078. Fax: (250) 721 8882. E-mail: wkay{at}uvic.ca.

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