[Characteristics of genes identified in the 120 MDa plasmid DNA in a mutant of Azospirillum brasilense Sp245 bacteria, defective in polar flagellation and swarming].

The sequencing data were analyzed for two regions of the 120-MDa plasmid (p120) of Azospirillum brasilense Sp245. The 2420-bp region I, which flanks the omegon insertion in the SK048 mutant defective in production of the polar flagellum (Fla-) and swarming (Swa-), was shown to contain a cluster of two open reading frames (orf) that possess properties of coding sequences (CDSs). The NtrA (sigma 54) boxes were found in their upstream regions. The products of orf1 and orf2 are 16.5 and 15.5 kDa in molecular weight and consist of 151 and 152 amino-acid residues, respectively. The PRF1 polypeptide was found to contain a region homologous to the cysteine- and glycine-rich zinc-binding domain of the DnaJ heat-shock protein. ORF2 showed a homology to Haemophilus ducreyi pilin, fragments of Streptomyces and Mycobacterium integral membrane proteins, and eukaryotic transcriptional regulators. The omegon proved to be inserted into orfX1/X2 which possibly has a deletion and shows a GC content untypical for A. brasilense genes. The deduced ORFX2 polypeptide is homologous to fragments of arsenite-translocating ATPase and signal-transducing histidine kinase of archaebacteria. Possible causes of the Fla-Swa- phenotype of the A. brasilense SK048 mutant are considered. One coding orf was identified in the 1194-bp region II located approximately 4 kb away from the omegon insertion. The N-terminal region of the deduced product of this partly sequenced orf was shown to contain a signal sequence typical for secreted proteins.