Distribution in the genus Streptomyces of a homolog to nusG, a gene encoding a transcriptional antiterminator

• Published in: FEMS microbiology letters 1993-06, Vol.110 (2), p.243-248
• Main Authors: Puttikhunt, Chunya, Okamoto, Susumu, Nakamura, Takahashi, Nihira, Takuya, Yamada, Yasuhiro
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Bacteriology; Biological and medical sciences; Biotechnology; Blotting, Southern; Chromosome Mapping; Chromosomes, Bacterial; DNA Probes; Escherichia coli - genetics; Escherichia coli Proteins; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene distribution; Genes, Bacterial; Genetic Linkage; Genetics; Microbiology; NusG homolog; Peptide Elongation Factors - genetics; Ribosomal Proteins - genetics; rplK; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; Southern hybridization; Species Specificity; Streptomyces; Streptomyces - classification; Streptomyces - genetics; Transcription Factors; Transcription, Genetic
• ISSN: 0378-1097; 1574-6968
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1993.tb06327.x

The presence of the vbrA gene encoding the transcriptional antiterminator NusG equivalent protein of Streptomyces virginiae was tested for in 73 Streptomyces species by Southern hybridization. Fifty‐five strains (75%) including S. griseus, S. lividans TK‐21 and S. coelicolor A3(2) showed clear hybridization signals, indicating wide distribution of vbrA or vbrA homologs in Streptomyces species. With hybridization patterns against 3 different probes, i.e., probes covering vbrA alone, the downstream gene rplK alone, and both vbrA‐rplK, the 55 strains were classified into 4 groups. In the groups I, II and III (total 50 strains) vbrA was found to be adjacent to rplK, indicating that the gene arrangement vbrA‐rplK is common in Streptomyces and that these genes may constitute a part of gene cluster encoding several components of the transcription and translation apparatus, as in Escherichia coli.