IDENTIFICATION, SEQUENCE, AND EXPRESSION OF TREPONEMA-DENTICOLA MCPA,A PUTATIVE CHEMORECEPTOR GENE

The nucleotide sequence of a methyl-accepting chemotaxis protein gene, mcpA, from Treponema denticola has been determined. The mcpA gene enc odes a 729-amino acid protein whose deduced amino acid sequence has si gnificant homology with several bacterial MCPs. T. denticola McpA cont ains two N-terminal transmembrane regions and two C-terminal putative methylation sequences that art separated by a highly conserved signali ng domain. The organization of these structural features is characteri stic of MCPs. The observed molecular mass of the in vitro synthesized McpA (76.0 kDa) correlates with the predicted molecular mass of the pr otein (80.1 kDa).