Vibrio cholerae O395 tcpA pilin gene sequence and comparison of predicted protein structural features to those of type 4 pilins.

Vibrio cholerae O1 expresses a pilus that is coordinately regulated with cholera toxin production and hence termed TCP, for toxin-coregulated pilus. Insertion of Tn5 IS50L::phoA (TnphoA) into the major pilin subunit gene, tcpA, has previously been shown to render the strain avirulent as a result of its inability to colonize. One such insertion was isolated and used as a probe to screen for clones containing the intact tcpA gene. The DNA sequence of tcpA was determined by using the intact gene and several tcpA-phoA gene fusions. The deduced protein sequence agreed completely with that previously determined for the TcpA N terminus and with the size of the mature pilin protein. The reported homology with N-methylphenylalanine (type 4) pilins near the N terminus was extended and shown to include components of the atypical leader peptide as well as overall predicted structural similarities in other regions of the pilins. In contrast to the modified N-terminal phenylalanine residue found in all characterized type 4 pilins, the corresponding position in tcpA contains a Met codon, thus implying that the previously uncharacterized amino acid corresponding to the N-terminal position of the mature TcpA pilin is a modified form of methionine. Except for this difference, mature TcpA has the overall predicted structural motifs shared among type 4 pilins.