Genetic organization and molecular characterization of secA2 locus in Listeria species.

The translocation of proteins across the bacterial cell wall is carried out by the general secretory (Sec) system. Most bacteria have a single copy of the secA gene, with the exception of a few Gram-positive bacteria, which have an additional copy of secA, designated secA2. secA2 is present in Listeria monocytogenes and is responsible for secretion and translocation of several proteins including virulence factors; however, little is known about the secA2 gene and its genetic organization in nonpathogenic members of the genus Listeria. The goal of this study was to determine the presence of secA2 locus and analyze the genetic relatedness among pathogenic and nonpathogenic Listeria species. Cloning experiments revealed that secA2 is present in all analyzed pathogenic (L. monocytogenes and L. ivanovii) and nonpathogenic (L. welshimeri, L. innocua, L. seeligeri, L. grayi and L. marthii) Listeria species except L. rocourtiae. Likewise, SecA2 transcripts were also detected in all species. Sequence analysis further revealed that 2331 nucleotides (776 amino acids) are conserved in L. monocytogenes, L. welshimeri, L. innocua and L. marthii. Three nucleotides are deleted in L. ivanovii and L. seeligeri and six in L. grayi, resulting in amino acid counts of 775, 775 and 774, respectively. secA2 is flanked upstream by iap (encoding p60) and downstream by a putative membrane protein (lmo0583, lmo f2365_0613) in all analyzed Listeria species, demonstrating conserved genetic organization of the secA2 locus in pathogenic and nonpathogenic species. Deletion of secA2 in L. innocua impaired accumulation of SecA2 substrate, N-acetyl muramidase (NamA) in the cell wall, providing evidence for the presence of functional SecA2 in nonpathogenic Listeria.