Characterization of Acholeplasma laidlawii ftsZ gene and its gene product

A. V. Kukekova, A. Yu Malinin, J. A. Ayala, S. N. Borchsenius

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The ftsZ gene was found among representatives of all bacterial groups. FtsZ protein is an essential component of cell division ring. Contraction of this cytoskeleton-like ring is believed to be the universal way of bacterial division. Acholeplasma laidlawii possesses all features of the minimal mycoplasma cell and some traits of cell-wall bacteria and seems to be a promising object for study of basic principles of the bacterial division process. We cloned an A. laidlawii chromosomal fragment containing ftsZ gene and two flanking orf which also were identified. A. laidlawii FtsZ protein has been determined with polyclonal antibodies raised in rabbit. It was demonstrated that ftsZ gene of A. laidlawii could be expressed in E. coli cells. We also revealed that A. laidlawii FtsZ had a low similarity to proteins of Mycoplasma genitalium and M. pneumoniae. The comparison of FtsZ structures may be used for investigation of bacterial phylogenetic relations.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)44-49
Number of pages6
JournalBiochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
Volume262
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 19 1999
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Acholeplasma
  • Gene expression
  • Mycoplasma
  • ftsZ gene

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biophysics
  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology

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