Wolff K, Stern A
Department of Biotechnology, TB-Z, Boehringer Mannheim GmbH, Penzberg, Germany.
FEMS Microbiol Lett. 1995 Jan 15;125(2-3):255-63. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1995.tb07366.x.
The distribution of distinct sequences in pathogenic and commensal Neisseria species was investigated systematically by dot blot analysis. Probes representing the genes of Rmp, pilin and IgA1 protease were found to hybridize exclusively to the chromosomal DNA of the pathogenic species, Neisseria gonorrhoeae and/or Neisseria meningitidis. In contrast, specific sequences for the genes of the porin protein Por and the opacity protein (Opa) were also detected in a panel of commensal Neisseria species such as N. lactamica, N. subflava, N. flava, N. mucosa and N. sicca. Using opa-specific oligonucleotides as probes in chromosomal blots, the genomes of the commensal Neisseria species show a totally reduced repertoire of cross-hybridizing loci compared to the complex opa gene family of N. gonorrhoeae. DNA sequence analysis of one opa-related gene derived from N. flava and N. sicca, respectively, revealed a large degree of homology with previously described gonococcal and meningococcal genes, e.g., a typical repetitive sequence in the leader peptide and the distribution of the hypervariable and conserved regions. This observation, together with the finding, that the gene is constitutively transcribed, leads to the assumption that some of the commensal Neisseria species may have the potential for the expression of a protein harboring similar functions as the Opa proteins in pathogenic Neisseriae.
通过斑点印迹分析系统地研究了致病奈瑟菌属和共生奈瑟菌属中不同序列的分布情况。发现代表Rmp、菌毛蛋白和IgA1蛋白酶基因的探针仅与致病菌种淋病奈瑟菌和/或脑膜炎奈瑟菌的染色体DNA杂交。相比之下，在一组共生奈瑟菌属物种（如乳酸奈瑟菌、微黄奈瑟菌、浅黄奈瑟菌、黏膜奈瑟菌和干燥奈瑟菌）中也检测到了孔蛋白Por和不透明蛋白（Opa）基因的特定序列。在染色体印迹中使用opa特异性寡核苷酸作为探针，与淋病奈瑟菌复杂的opa基因家族相比，共生奈瑟菌属物种的基因组显示出交叉杂交位点的全部数量有所减少。分别对来自浅黄奈瑟菌和干燥奈瑟菌的一个opa相关基因进行DNA序列分析，结果显示与先前描述的淋球菌和脑膜炎球菌基因具有高度同源性，例如前导肽中的典型重复序列以及高变区和保守区的分布。这一观察结果，连同该基因组成型转录的发现，导致人们推测一些共生奈瑟菌属物种可能具有表达与致病奈瑟菌中Opa蛋白功能相似的蛋白质的潜力。
