Identification and nucleotide sequence of the heat shock protein 60 (GroEL) gene of Bacteroides forsythus.

Bacteroides forsythus is a Gram negative anaerobe associated with human periodontal disease. Heat shock proteins are immunodominant antigens in bacteria that can elicit strong and protective immune responses. The gene specifying the GroEL protein (hsp60, heat shock protein 60) of B. forsythus was isolated by PCR amplification using consensus primers based upon published nucleotide sequences of the groEL genes of several bacterial species. Translation of the gene sequence predicts a protein of 544 amino acids in length with a molecular mass of 58 kDa. B. forsythus GroEL demonstrates identities of 50 to 81% with the predicted amino acid sequences of GroEL proteins of several bacterial species and the human mitochondrial P1 protein.