Identification of a novel two-partner secretion locus in Moraxella catarrhalis.

ABSTRACT: Although Moraxella catarrhalis continues to be a significant cause of disease in both children and adults, the steps involved in pathogenesis remain poorly understood. We have identified three open reading frames in the M. catarrhalis genome that encode homologues of the two-partner secretion system (TPS). The sequenced M. catarrhalis hemagglutinin-like locus of strain 7169 has a unique gene organization composed in the order of mchA1, mchB, and mchA2, where mchA1 is divergent. MchA1 and MchA2 are 74% identical at the amino acid level and diverge only in the C-terminal regions. The TPS motif identified in the common N-terminal regions of MchA1 and MchA2 was found to be homologous to the filamentous hemagglutinin of Bordetella pertussis, and MchB has homology to other TpsB transporters. The

SUBMITTER: Plamondon P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1932880 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature