DeAngelis P L, Jing W, Graves M V, Burbank D E, Van Etten J L
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 940 Stanton L. Young Boulevard, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA.
Science. 1997 Dec 5;278(5344):1800-3. doi: 10.1126/science.278.5344.1800.
Sequence analysis of the 330-kilobase genome of the virus PBCV-1 that infects a chlorella-like green algae revealed an open reading frame, A98R, with similarity to several hyaluronan synthases. Hyaluronan is an essential polysaccharide found in higher animals as well as in a few pathogenic bacteria. Expression of the A98R gene product in Escherichia coli indicated that the recombinant protein is an authentic hyaluronan synthase. A98R is expressed early in PBCV-1 infection and hyaluronan is produced in infected algae. These results demonstrate that a virus can encode an enzyme capable of synthesizing a carbohydrate polymer and that hyaluronan exists outside of animals and their pathogens.
对感染一种类小球藻绿藻的病毒PBCV-1的330千碱基基因组进行序列分析，发现了一个开放阅读框A98R，它与几种透明质酸合酶具有相似性。透明质酸是一种在高等动物以及一些致病细菌中发现的必需多糖。A98R基因产物在大肠杆菌中的表达表明该重组蛋白是一种真正的透明质酸合酶。A98R在PBCV-1感染早期表达，并且在受感染的藻类中产生透明质酸。这些结果表明，一种病毒能够编码一种能够合成碳水化合物聚合物的酶，并且透明质酸存在于动物及其病原体之外。
