Isolation and characterization of a Vibrio cholerae gene (tagA) that encodes a ToxR-regulated lipoprotein.

The Vibrio cholerae (Vc) gene (tagA) coding for the TagA lipoprotein has been isolated. Sequencing of tagA revealed the presence of an open reading frame (ORF) of 568 amino acids with a characteristic signal peptidase II cleavage site at the N terminus. Electrophoretic analysis of proteins synthesized by Escherichia coli (Ec) cells following T7 promoter/RNA polymerase-directed expression of tagA, revealed a closely migrating doublet of proteins corresponding to two species of TagA. Computer-generated alignment algorithms predict that a homology exists between Vc TagA and Ec K99 fimbriae biogenesis determinant FanD.