This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Babb, K.
Right arrow Articles by Stevenson, B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Babb, K.
Right arrow Articles by Stevenson, B.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, June 2006, p. 4331-4339, Vol. 188, No. 12
0021-9193/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00005-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Borrelia burgdorferi EbfC, a Novel, Chromosomally Encoded Protein, Binds Specific DNA Sequences Adjacent to erp Loci on the Spirochete's Resident cp32 Prophages

Kelly Babb,1,{dagger} Tomasz Bykowski,1 Sean P. Riley,1 M. Clarke Miller,2 Edward DeMoll,1,2 and Brian Stevenson1*

Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky 40536-0298,1 Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40536-00552

Received 3 January 2006/ Accepted 3 April 2006

All examined isolates of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, naturally maintain numerous variants of a prophage family as circular cp32 episomes. Each cp32 carries a locus encoding one or two different Erp outer membrane, surface-exposed lipoproteins. Many of the Erp proteins bind a host complement regulator, factor H, which is hypothesized to protect the spirochete from complement-mediated killing. We now describe the isolation and characterization of a novel, chromosomally encoded protein, EbfC, that binds specific DNA sequences located immediately 5' of all erp loci. This is one of the first site-specific DNA-binding proteins to be identified in any spirochete. The location of the ebfC gene on the B. burgdorferi chromosome suggests that the cp32 prophages have evolved to use this bacterial host protein for their own benefit and that EbfC probably plays additional roles in the bacterium. A wide range of other bacteria encode homologs of EbfC, none of which have been well characterized, so demonstration that B. burgdorferi EbfC is a site-specific DNA-binding protein has broad implications across the eubacterial kingdom.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, MS421 W. R. Willard Medical Education Building, Lexington, KY 40536-0298. Phone: (859) 257-9358. Fax: (859) 257-8994. E-mail: brian.stevenson{at}uky.edu.

{dagger} Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907.

Journal of Bacteriology, June 2006, p. 4331-4339, Vol. 188, No. 12
0021-9193/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00005-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Medrano, M. S., Policastro, P. F., Schwan, T. G., Coburn, J. (2009). Interaction of Borrelia burgdorferi Hbb with the p66 promoter. Nucleic Acids Res 0: gkp1027v1-gkp1027 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Mulay, V. B., Caimano, M. J., Iyer, R., Dunham-Ems, S., Liveris, D., Petzke, M. M., Schwartz, I., Radolf, J. D. (2009). Borrelia burgdorferi bba74 Is Expressed Exclusively during Tick Feeding and Is Regulated by Both Arthropod- and Mammalian Host-Specific Signals. J. Bacteriol. 191: 2783-2794 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Riley, S. P., Bykowski, T., Cooley, A. E., Burns, L. H., Babb, K., Brissette, C. A., Bowman, A., Rotondi, M., Miller, M. C., DeMoll, E., Lim, K., Fried, M. G., Stevenson, B. (2009). Borrelia burgdorferi EbfC defines a newly-identified, widespread family of bacterial DNA-binding proteins. Nucleic Acids Res 37: 1973-1983 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bykowski, T., Woodman, M. E., Cooley, A. E., Brissette, C. A., Brade, V., Wallich, R., Kraiczy, P., Stevenson, B. (2007). Coordinated Expression of Borrelia burgdorferi Complement Regulator-Acquiring Surface Proteins during the Lyme Disease Spirochete's Mammal-Tick Infection Cycle. Infect. Immun. 75: 4227-4236 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • von Lackum, K., Ollison, K. M., Bykowski, T., Nowalk, A. J., Hughes, J. L., Carroll, J. A., Zuckert, W. R., Stevenson, B. (2007). Regulated synthesis of the Borrelia burgdorferi inner-membrane lipoprotein IpLA7 (P22, P22-A) during the Lyme disease spirochaete's mammal-tick infectious cycle. Microbiology 153: 1361-1371 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Medrano, M. S., Ding, Y., Wang, X.-G., Lu, P., Coburn, J., Hu, L. T. (2007). Regulators of Expression of the Oligopeptide Permease A Proteins of Borrelia burgdorferi. J. Bacteriol. 189: 2653-2659 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»