THE ADC LOCUS, WHICH AFFECTS COMPETENCE FOR GENETIC-TRANSFORMATION INSTREPTOCOCCUS-PNEUMONIAE, ENCODES AN ABC TRANSPORTER WITH A PUTATIVE LIPOPROTEIN HOMOLOGOUS TO A FAMILY OF STREPTOCOCCAL ADHESINS
A. Dintilhac et Jp. Claverys, THE ADC LOCUS, WHICH AFFECTS COMPETENCE FOR GENETIC-TRANSFORMATION INSTREPTOCOCCUS-PNEUMONIAE, ENCODES AN ABC TRANSPORTER WITH A PUTATIVE LIPOPROTEIN HOMOLOGOUS TO A FAMILY OF STREPTOCOCCAL ADHESINS, Research in microbiology, 148(2), 1997, pp. 119-131
To identify new components involved in the phenomenon of transformatio
n in Streptococcus pneumoniae, a library of potential mutants has been
generated by random insertion of an erythromycin resistance gene. Tra
nsformation-deficient mutants were screened using an in situ colony tr
ansformation test. The adc locus, which was identified in this search,
was cloned and sequenced. Sequence analysis revealed a putative opero
n of three ORFs (adcC, adcB and adcA) with homology to ATP-binding cas
sette (ABC) transport operons encoding streptococcal adhesins such as
ScaA of S. gordonii and FimA of S. parasanguis. adcA can encode a lipo
protein of 313 amino acid residues containing a putative metal-binding
she. The polypeptide shows about 30% sequence identity with ScaA and
FimA. We discuss evidence which leads us to propose that AdcA, togethe
r with a set of 14 proteins including ScaA, FimA and homologous adhesi
ns, defines a new family of external solute-binding proteins, duster 9
, specific for metals.