Long S Wesley, Zhang Xiao-Feng, Qi Hai, Standaert Steven, Walker David H, Yu Xue-Jie
Department of Pathology and WHO Collaborating Center for Tropical Diseases, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555-0609, USA.
Infect Immun. 2002 Apr;70(4):1824-31. doi: 10.1128/IAI.70.4.1824-1831.2002.
The transcriptional activity and allele variation of the 28-kDa outer membrane protein gene (p28) of Ehrlichia chaffeensis were analyzed to determine the mechanism of the antigenic variation of the 28-kDa outer membrane proteins. Reverse transcriptase PCR amplification of mRNA indicated that 16 of the 22 members of the p28 multigene family were transcribed. Amino acid sequence analysis indicated that the p28-19 protein was produced in vitro in the Arkansas strain. The p28-19 gene and its promoter region were sequenced and compared in 12 clinical isolates of E. chaffeensis to determine allele variation. The variation of the p28-19 gene among the isolates is limited to three types represented by strains Arkansas, 91HE17, and Sapulpa, respectively. These results indicate that the majority of the p28 genes are active genes and that antigenic variation of the E. chaffeensis 28-kDa proteins may result from differential expression of the p28 gene family members rather than gene conversion.
分析恰菲埃立克体28-kDa外膜蛋白基因(p28)的转录活性和等位基因变异,以确定28-kDa外膜蛋白抗原变异的机制。对mRNA进行逆转录酶PCR扩增表明,p28多基因家族的22个成员中有16个被转录。氨基酸序列分析表明,阿肯色菌株在体外产生了p28-19蛋白。对12株恰菲埃立克体临床分离株的p28-19基因及其启动子区域进行测序和比较,以确定等位基因变异。分离株中p28-19基因的变异仅限于分别以阿肯色菌株、91HE17菌株和萨普尔帕菌株为代表的三种类型。这些结果表明,大多数p28基因是活性基因,恰菲埃立克体28-kDa蛋白的抗原变异可能是由p28基因家族成员的差异表达而非基因转换导致的。