Porphyromonas gingivalis FimA fimbriae: fimbrial assembly by fimA alone in the fim gene cluster and differential antigenicity among fimA genotypes.

ABSTRACT: The periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis colonizes largely through FimA fimbriae, composed of polymerized FimA encoded by fimA. fimA exists as a single copy within the fim gene cluster (fim cluster), which consists of seven genes: fimX, pgmA and fimA-E. Using an expression vector, fimA alone was inserted into a mutant from which the whole fim cluster was deleted, and the resultant complement exhibited a fimbrial structure. Thus, the genes of the fim cluster other than fimA were not essential for the assembly of FimA fimbriae, although they were reported to influence FimA protein expression. It is known that there are various genotypes for fimA, and it was indicated that the genotype was related to the morphological features of FimA fimbriae, especially the length, and to the patho

SUBMITTER: Nagano K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3436787 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature