Localization of the sapA gene on a physical map of Campylobacter fetus chromosomal DNA.

We constructed a physical map of Campylobacter fetus TK(+) chromosomal DNA digested by either SmaI, SalI, or NotI using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and Southern hybridization data. The genome size of C. fetus TK(+) is 2016kb, larger than that reported by the others. To locate the sapA gene, which encodes the surface array protein (SAP), on the physical map, we performed Southern hybridizations with probes based on the conserved region of the sapA gene. The results showed that more than seven copies of the conserved region were present on C. fetus chromosomal DNA and that the sapA gene was located on a limited number of fragments forming a cluster of genes. By comparing fingerprint patterns of strain TK(+) and strain TK(-), which lost the ability to produce SAP during culture on agar medium, an approximately 10kb deletion was observed in the fragments of strain TK(-). The results of Southern hybridization with two probes, one from the upstream region and the other from the variable region of sapA, suggest that the loss of SAP expression might not be the result of the loss of the sapA gene itself, but only a loss of its control systems.