A genetic mechanism for deletion of the ser2 gene cluster and formation of rough morphological variants of Mycobacterium avium.

ABSTRACT: A major phenotypic trait of the Mycobacterium avium complex is the ability to produce rough and smooth colony variants. The chemical basis of this morphological variation is the loss of an antigenic surface structure, termed glycopeptidolipid (GPL), by rough variants. Using M. avium serovar 2 strain 2151 as a model system, this laboratory previously reported that rough variants arise via the deletion of large genomic regions encoding GPL biosynthesis. One such deletion encompasses the gene cluster (ser2) responsible for production of the serovar 2 GPL haptenic oligosaccharide. In this study, nucleotide sequencing revealed that both ends of the ser2 gene cluster are flanked by a novel insertion sequence (IS1601) oriented as direct repeats. Detailed analyses of the site of deletion in the ge

SUBMITTER: Eckstein TM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC94754 | biostudies-literature | 2000 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature