Natural merodiploidy of the lux-rib operon of Photobacterium leiognathi from coastal waters of Honshu, Japan.

ABSTRACT: Sequence analysis of the bacterial luminescence (lux) genes has proven effective in helping resolve evolutionary relationships among luminous bacteria. Phylogenetic analysis using lux genes, however, is based on the assumptions that the lux genes are present as single copies on the bacterial chromosome and are vertically inherited. We report here that certain strains of Photobacterium leiognathi carry multiple phylogenetically distinct copies of the entire operon that codes for luminescence and riboflavin synthesis genes, luxCDABEG-ribEBHA. Merodiploid lux-rib strains of P. leiognathi were detected during sequence analysis of luxA. To define the gene content, organization, and sequence of each lux-rib operon, we constructed a fosmid library of genomic DNA from a representative merodiploid

SUBMITTER: Ast JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1951928 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature