Dworkin J, Blaser M J
Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1997 Feb 4;94(3):985-90. doi: 10.1073/pnas.94.3.985.
Programmed gene rearrangements are employed by a variety of microorganisms, including viruses, prokaryotes, and simple eukaryotes, to control gene expression. In most instances in which organisms mediate host evasion by large families of homologous gene cassettes, the mechanism of variation is not thought to involve DNA inversion. Here we report that Campylobacter fetus, a pathogenic Gram-negative bacterium, reassorts a single promoter, controlling surface-layer protein expression, and one or more complete ORFs strictly by DNA inversion. Rearrangements were independent of the distance between sites of inversion. These rearrangements permit variation in protein expression from the large surface-layer protein gene family and suggest an expanding paradigm of programmed DNA rearrangements among microorganisms.
多种微生物，包括病毒、原核生物和简单的真核生物，利用程序性基因重排来控制基因表达。在大多数情况下，生物体通过大量同源基因盒介导宿主逃避，其变异机制被认为不涉及DNA倒位。在此我们报告，胎儿弯曲杆菌，一种致病性革兰氏阴性菌，通过DNA倒位严格地重新排列单个启动子（控制表层蛋白表达）以及一个或多个完整的开放阅读框。重排与倒位位点之间的距离无关。这些重排允许来自大的表层蛋白基因家族的蛋白质表达发生变异，并提示微生物中程序性DNA重排的模式正在扩展。
