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Journal of Bacteriology, August 2001, p. 4839-4847, Vol. 183, No. 16
Unité de Recherche en Biologie Moléculaire
(URBM), Laboratoire d'Immunologie-Microbiologie, Facultés
Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix, 5000 Namur,
Belgium1; Laboratoire de Pathologie
Infectieuse et Immunologie, Institut National de la Recherche
Agronomique, 37380 Nouzilly, France2; and
School of Biochemistry and Genetics, The Medical School,
The University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE2 4HH, Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
United Kingdom3
Received 20 October 2000/Accepted 15 May 2001
Omp2a and Omp2b are highly homologous porins present in the outer
membrane of the bacteria from the genus Brucella, a
facultative intracellular pathogen. The genes coding for these proteins
are closely linked in the Brucella genome and oriented in
opposite directions. In this work, we present the cloning,
purification, and characterization of four Omp2b size variants found in
various Brucella species, and we compare their antigenic
and functional properties to the Omp2a and Omp2b porins of
Brucella melitensis reference strain 16M. The variation of
the Omp2a and Omp2b porin sequences among the various strains of the
genus Brucella seems to result mostly from multiple gene
conversions between the two highly homologous genes. As shown in this
study, this phenomenon has led to the creation of natural Omp2a and
Omp2b chimeric proteins in Omp2b porin size variants. The comparison by
liposome swelling assay of the porins sugar permeability suggested a
possible functional differences between Omp2a and Omp2b, with Omp2a
showing a more efficient pore in sugar diffusion. The sequence
variability in the Omp2b size variants was located in the predicted
external loops of the porin. Several epitopes recognized by anti-Omp2b monoclonal antibodies were mapped by comparison of the Omp2b size variants antigenicity, and two of them were located in the most exposed
surface loops. However, since variations are mostly driven by simple
exchanges of conserved motifs between the two genes (except for an
Omp2b version from an atypical strain of Brucella suis
biovar 3), the porin variability does not result in major antigenic
variability of the Brucella surface that could help the
bacteria during the reinfection of a host. Porin variation in
Brucella seems to result mainly in porin conductivity modifications.
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.16.4839-4847.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Molecular, Antigenic, and Functional Analyses of
Omp2b Porin Size Variants of Brucella spp.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Station de
Pathologie Aviaire et Parasitologie, Institut National de la
Recherche Agronomique, 37380 Nouzilly, France. Phone: (33)
2-47-42-77-50. Fax: (33) 2-47-42-77-74. E-mail:
cloeckae{at}tours.inra.fr.
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