CO-TRANSCRIPTION OF A HOMOLOG OF THE FORMAMIDOPYRIMIDINE-DNA GLYCOSYLASE (FPG) AND LYSOPHOSPHATIDIC ACID ACYLTRANSFERASE (NLAA) IN NEISSERIA-MENINGITIDIS

We report the identification of an open reading frame in a serogroup B isolate of Neisseria meningitidis that exhibits high nucleotide and p redicted amino acid identity with the fpg gene of Escherichia coli, an d its product, formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase (Fapy-DNA glycosyla se), a DNA repair enzyme. We further show that the meningococcal fpg i s co-transcribed with nlaA, encoding a lysophosphatidic acid acyltrans ferase, and suggest that the DNA repair enzyme may be involved in the regulation of nlaA or its gene product.