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Journal of Bacteriology, March 2000, p. 1356-1363, Vol. 182, No. 5
Department of Molecular Microbiology and
Immunology, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia,
Missouri 65212
Received 30 August 1999/Accepted 29 November 1999
A prototype family of seven genes encoding the variable surface
lipoproteins (Vlps) of Mycoplasma hyorhinis is
characterized in the pathogenic SK76 strain, using long-range PCR to
amplify and analyze the single chromosomal region containing expressed genes vlpA to -G, each of which is subject to
phase and size variation. Smaller families of vlp genes in
subclones of SK76 or in another strain of M. hyorhinis,
GDL, can be attributed to deletions of specific vlp genes
from the prototype array described here. Two genes, vlpA
and the newly revealed vlpG, contain repeat motifs in their
3' coding regions that differ from the short tandem repeats in other
vlp genes yet retain structural features common to all vlp gene products. SK76 and GDL vlp gene
families are similarly organized and show sequence similarity between
corresponding individual vlp genes. In light of the
extensive potential for diversity within the vlp gene
system, such conservation provides a provisional basis to hypothesize
that vlp genes may exist in specific arrays that endow
selected functions while retaining common structural features required
during phase-variable expression of this set of gene products.
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Gene Families Encoding Phase- and Size-Variable
Surface Lipoproteins of Mycoplasma hyorhinis

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Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, University of Missouri School of
Medicine, Columbia, MO 65212. Phone: (573) 882-5644. Fax: (573) 882-4287. E-mail: wisek{at}health.missouri.edu.
Present address: Institute of Bacteriology, Mycology and Hygiene,
University of Veterinary Medicine, A-1210 Vienna, Austria.
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