Analysis of the Piv recombinase-related gene family of Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

ABSTRACT: Neisseria gonorrhoeae (the gonococcus) is an obligate human pathogen and the causative agent of the disease gonorrhea. The gonococcal pilus undergoes antigenic variation through high-frequency recombination events between unexpressed pilS silent copies and the pilin expression locus pilE. The machinery involved in pilin antigenic variation identified to date is composed primarily of genes involved in homologous recombination. However, a number of characteristics of antigenic variation suggest that one or more recombinases, in addition to the homologous recombination machinery, may be involved in mediating sequence changes at pilE. Previous work has identified several genes in the gonococcus with significant identity to the pilin inversion gene (piv) from Moraxella species and transposases

SUBMITTER: Skaar EP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC545610 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature