Bergström S, Robbins K, Koomey J M, Swanson J
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Jun;83(11):3890-4. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.11.3890.
Gonococci (Gc) undergo pilus+ to pilus- "phase transitions" readily in vitro. In the present study we sequenced pilin mRNA from reverting, pilus- Gc by oligonucleotide primer extension and compared these pilin mRNA sequences with those expressed by their pilus+ predecessors and pilus+ revertants. The results suggest that genetic rearrangement within the pilin structural gene can generate defective pilin gene products, resulting in a pilus- phenotype. These pilus- Gc give rise to pilus+ revertants upon reconstitution of their modified pilin gene.
淋球菌（Gc）在体外很容易发生菌毛阳性到菌毛阴性的“相变”。在本研究中，我们通过寡核苷酸引物延伸对回复性菌毛阴性的Gc菌毛蛋白mRNA进行测序，并将这些菌毛蛋白mRNA序列与其菌毛阳性的亲本菌株和菌毛阳性回复株所表达的序列进行比较。结果表明，菌毛蛋白结构基因内的基因重排可产生有缺陷的菌毛蛋白基因产物，导致菌毛阴性表型。这些菌毛阴性的Gc在其修饰的菌毛蛋白基因重组后会产生菌毛阳性回复株。
