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Journal of Bacteriology, July 2002, p. 3917-3922, Vol. 184, No. 14
0021-9193/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.14.3917-3922.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Group I Self-Splicing Intron in the recA Gene of Bacillus anthracis

Minsu Ko,,{dagger} Hyang Choi, and Chankyu Park*

National Creative Research Initiative Center for Behavioral Genetics, Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Yusong-Ku, Taejon 305-701, Republic of Korea

Received 11 January 2002/ Accepted 22 April 2002

Self-splicing introns are rarely found in bacteria and bacteriophages. They are classified into group I and II according to their structural features and splicing mechanisms. While the group I introns are occasionally found in protein-coding regions of phage genomes and in several tRNA genes of cyanobacteria and proteobacteria, they had not been found in protein-coding regions of bacterial genomes. Here we report a group I intron in the recA gene of Bacillus anthracis which was initially found by DNA sequencing as an intervening sequence (IVS). By using reverse transcriptase PCR, the IVS was shown to be removable from the recA precursor mRNA for RecA that was being translated in E. coli. The splicing was visualized in vitro with labeled free GTP, indicating that it is a group I intron, which is also implied by its predicted secondary structure. The RecA protein of B. anthracis expressed in E. coli was functional in its ability to complement a recA defect. When recA-negative E. coli cells were irradiated with UV, the Bacillus RecA reduced the UV susceptibility of the recA mutant, regardless of the presence of intron.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: National Creative Research Initiative Center for Behavioral Genetics, Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Yusong-Ku, Taejon 305-701, Republic of Korea. Phone: 82-42-869-2629. Fax: 82-42-869-2610. E-mail: ckpark{at}mail.kaist.ac.kr.

{dagger} Present address: SolGent Inc., Seo-gu Taejon 302-858, Republic of Korea.

Journal of Bacteriology, July 2002, p. 3917-3922, Vol. 184, No. 14
0021-9193/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.14.3917-3922.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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