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Journal of Bacteriology, November 2001, p. 6494-6497, Vol. 183, No. 21
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.21.6494-6497.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Killing Effect and Antitoxic Activity of the Leptospira interrogans Toxin-Antitoxin System in Escherichia coli

Mathieu Picardeau,^1,* Shuangxi Ren,² and Isabelle Saint Girons¹

Unité de Bactériologie Moléculaire et Médicale, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France,¹ and Chinese Human Genome Center, Shanghai, China²

Received 1 July 2001/Accepted 13 August 2001

We report the first evidence of a chromosome-encoded toxin-antitoxin locus in spirochetes. This locus has been found in the pathogenic spirochete Leptospira interrogans and exhibits homologies with the pem/chp loci. The L. interrogans chp locus consists of two genes: chpK (for "killer protein") and its upstream partner chpI (for "inhibitory protein"). Expression of ChpK in Escherichia coli results in the inhibition of bacterial growth. The coexpression of ChpI neutralizes ChpK toxicity. By Southern blot analysis, chp homologs were found in all representative pathogenic strains of L. interrogans.

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^* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Unité de Bactériologie Moléculaire et Médicale, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du docteur Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France. Phone: 33 (1) 45 68 80 00. Fax: 33 (1) 40 61 30 01. E-mail: mpicard{at}pasteur.fr.

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Journal of Bacteriology, November 2001, p. 6494-6497, Vol. 183, No. 21
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.21.6494-6497.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

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