Genetics of type IIa heat-labile enterotoxin of Escherichia coli: operon fusions, nucleotide sequence, and hybridization studies.

C. L. Pickett, D. L. Weinstein, R. K. Holmes

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

40 Scopus citations

Abstract

Operon fusions for the Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin type IIa (LT-IIa) operon were isolated and characterized. The LT-IIa genes are organized in a transcriptional unit similar to those of cholera toxin (CT) and the closely related E. coli heat-labile toxin type I (LT-I, with subtypes LTh-I and LTp-I). The nucleotide sequence of the LT-IIa genes was determined and compared with the sequences of LTh-I and CT. The A subunit gene of LT-IIa was found to be 57% homologous with the A subunit gene of LTh-I and 55% homologous with the A gene of CT. Most of the homology derived from the region of the A gene which encodes the A1 fragment. The B gene of LT-IIa was not homologous with the B gene of LTh-I or CT. DNA probes containing various portions of the LT-IIa genes and adjacent sequences were used for hybridization studies with restriction endonuclease fragments of DNA from a collection of LT-II-producing strains. These studies showed that a probe containing much of the A subunit gene hybridized well to DNA from the various strains, but a probe for the B subunit gene did not.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)5180-5187
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Bacteriology
Volume169
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1987

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Microbiology
  • Molecular Biology

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