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Infection and Immunity, June 1999, p. 2700-2712, Vol. 67, No. 6
Departamento de Microbiología y
Genética, Edificio Departamental, Universidad de Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain,1 and Laboratoire de
Pathologie Infectieuse et Immunologie, Institut National de la
Recherche Agronomique, Centre de Tours, 37380 Nouzilly,
France2
Received 15 January 1999/Returned for modification 22 February
1999/Accepted 15 March 1999
A Brucella melitensis 16M DNA fragment of 17,119 bp,
which contains a large region deleted in B. abortus strains
and DNA flanking one side of the deletion, has been characterized. In
addition to the previously identified omp31 gene, 14 hypothetical genes have been identified in the B. melitensis fragment, most of them showing homology to genes
involved in the synthesis of a polysaccharide. Considering that 10 of
the 15 genes are missing in B. abortus and that all the
polysaccharides described in the Brucella genus (lipopolysaccharide, native hapten, and polysaccharide B) have been
detected in all the species, it seems likely that the genes described
here might be part of a cluster for the synthesis of a novel
Brucella polysaccharide. Several polysaccharides have been
identified as important virulence factors, and the discovery of a novel
polysaccharide in the brucellae which is probably not synthesized in
B. abortus might be interesting for a better understanding of the pathogenicity and host preference differences observed between
the Brucella species. However, the possibility that the genes described in this paper no longer encode the synthesis of a
polysaccharide cannot be excluded. Brucellae belong to the alpha-2 subdivision of the class Proteobacteria, which includes
other microorganisms living in association with eucaryotic cells, some of them synthesizing extracellular polysaccharides involved in the
interaction with the host cell. The genes described in this paper might
be a remnant of the common ancestor of the alpha-2 subdivision of the
class Proteobacteria, and the brucellae might have lost
such extracellular polysaccharide during evolution if it was not
necessary for survival or for establishment of the infectious process.
Nevertheless, further studies are necessary to identify the entire DNA
fragment missing in B. abortus strains and to elucidate the
mechanism responsible for such deletion, since only 9,948 bp of the
deletion was present in the sequenced B. melitensis DNA fragment.
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Molecular Characterization of a Brucella
Species Large DNA Fragment Deleted in Brucella abortus
Strains: Evidence for a Locus Involved in the Synthesis of a
Polysaccharide
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Departamento de
Microbiología y Genética, Edificio Departamental,
Universidad de Salamanca, Avda. Campo Charro s/n, 37007 Salamanca, Spain. Phone: 34-923-294532. Fax: 34-923-224876. E-mail:
vizcaino{at}www-micro.usal.es.
Infection and Immunity, June 1999, p. 2700-2712, Vol. 67, No. 6
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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