DNA sequence and analysis of the bet genes encoding the osmoregulatory choline-glycine betaine pathway of Escherichia coli.

The sequence was determined of 6493 nucleotides encompassing the bet genes of Escherichia coli which encode the osmoregulatory choline-glycine betaine pathway. Four open reading frames were identified: betA encoding choline dehydrogenase, a flavoprotein of 61.9kDa; betB encoding betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase (52.8kDa); betT encoding a proton-motive-force-driven, high-affinity transport system for choline (75.8kDa); and betl, capable of encoding a protein of 21.8kDa, implicated as a repressor involved in choline regulation of the bet genes. Identification of the genes was supported by subcloning, physical mapping of lambda placMu53 insertions, amino acid sequence similarity, or N-terminal amino acid sequencing. The bet genes are tightly spaced, with betT located upstream of, and transcribed divergently to, the tandemly linked betIBA genes.