Evolutionary relationship among rfb gene clusters synthesizing mannose homopolymer as O-specific polysaccharides in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella.

In order to clarify the evolutionary relationship among rfb gene clusters synthesizing mannose homopolymer as O-specific polysaccharides in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella, we studied the DNA sequence of the boundary region between the rfb and his genes in a series of strains possessing mannose homopolymer as O-specific polysaccharide. All had a characteristic gene organization carrying no gene between the rfb and his genes. Further, the recombination event was suggested to occur at the same site of the hisI gene in those strains. It was suggested that there was a close evolutionary relationship among rfb gene clusters synthesizing mannose homopolymer as O-specific polysaccharide in E. coli and Klebsiella.