Mooi F R, ter Avest A, van der Heide H G
Laboratory of Bacteriology, National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
FEMS Microbiol Lett. 1990 Jan 1;54(1-3):327-31. doi: 10.1016/0378-1097(90)90307-c.
Bordetella pertussis strains contain at least three distinct genes coding for fimbrial subunits, designated fim2, fim3, and fimX. The sequences of the fim2 and fimX genes have been published. Here we present the sequence of the fim3 gene. Proximal and distal to the fim3 gene, regions were observed that could function as rho-independent terminators, suggesting that the gene is not part of a larger operon. Comparison of the putative promoter regions of the fim2 and fim3 genes revealed a conserved region containing a stretch of approximately 13 C's. This region may be involved in fimbrial phase variation. A comparison of the deduced amino acid sequences of the three fimbrial subunits revealed conserved, variable, and hypervariable regions. The hypervariable regions coincided with predicted antigenic determinants. Peptides derived from the conserved regions may be incorporated into a future pertussis vaccine to induce antibodies which confer protection against strains producing different fimbrial serotypes.
百日咳博德特氏菌菌株包含至少三个编码菌毛亚基的不同基因，分别命名为fim2、fim3和fimX。fim2和fimX基因的序列已发表。在此我们展示fim3基因的序列。在fim3基因的近端和远端，观察到可能作为不依赖ρ因子终止子的区域，这表明该基因不是更大操纵子的一部分。fim2和fim3基因推定启动子区域的比较揭示了一个包含约13个C的保守区域。该区域可能参与菌毛相变异。三种菌毛亚基推导氨基酸序列的比较揭示了保守区、可变区和高变区。高变区与预测的抗原决定簇一致。源自保守区的肽可能被纳入未来的百日咳疫苗中，以诱导产生针对产生不同菌毛血清型菌株的保护性抗体。
