SEQUENCE AND PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF THE BORRELIA-BURGDORFERI SECA GENE

A Borrelia burgdorferi secA homologue was cloned and the complete DNA sequence was determined. The deduced protein sequence consists of 899 amino acids and shows a high degree of homology to SecA homologues fro nt other Bacteria and photosynthetic plastids. The presence of the sec A gene in Spirochetes suggests that this gene is present in most if no t all major lineages within Bacteria. The case of isolation of secA by conservation of its ATP-binding motifs combined with its extreme cons ervation in protein secretion, pathways and the presence of a phylogen etic sequence marker in one of its ATP-binding domains makes this gene useful for phylogenetic analysis of Bacteria and photosynthetic plast ids. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.