• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제13권4호
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• pp.564-570
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• 2003

The antibacterial mechanism of enterobacter Salmonella typhimurium was studied. The rfa (Waa) gene cluster of S. typhimurium encodes the core oligosaccharide biosynthesis of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Among the rfa gene cluster, we recently cloned the rfaE gene, which is involved in ADP-L-glycero-D-manno-heptose biosynthesis. The rfaE mutant synthesizes heptose-deficient LPS, which consists of only lipid A and 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonic acid (KDO), thus making an incomplete LPS and a rough phenotype mutant. S. typhimurium deep-rough mutants with the heptose region of the inner core show a reduced growth rate, sensitivity to high temperature, and hypersensitivity to hydrophobic antibiotics such as baicalin isolated from the medicinal herb of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi. Thus, in this study, the cloned rfaE gene was added to the S. typhimurium rfaE mutant strain SL1102 (rfaE543), which makes heptose-deficient LPS and has a deep-rough phenotype. The complementation created a smooth phenotype in the SL1102 strain. The sensitivity of SL1102 to bacteriophages was also recovered to that of wild-type strain, indicating that LPS is used as the receptor for bacteriophage infection. The permeability barrier of SL1102 to hydrophobic antibiotics such as novobiocin and baicalin was restored to that of the wild-type, suggesting that antibiotic resistance of the wild-type strain is highly correlated with their LPS. Through an agar diffusion assay, the growth-inhibition activity of baicalin was fully observed in the mutant SL1102 strain. However, only a half of the inhibitory activity was detected in the rfaE complemented SL1102 strain. Furthermore, the LPS produced by the rfaE-complemented SL1102 strain was indistinguishable from LPS biosynthesis of smooth strains.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제12권5호
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• pp.826-828
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• 2002

In our previous studies, we have cloned and characterized a gene region from Bradyrhizobium japonicum ,which is involved in the synthesis of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In this study, we have expanded the sequence analysis of the region and found an additional open reading frame (orf), which appeared to be divergently transcribed from the rfaF gene. Sequence alignment of the orf revealed a significant similarity with rfaD genes of Salmonella typhimurium , Escherichia coli, and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. These genes encode a heptose-6-epimerase, which catalyzes the interconversion of ADP -D -glycerol-D-manno-heptose to ADP-L-glycero-D-manno-heptose. This divergent organization of the rfaF and rfaD genes is different from that of other Gram-negative bacteria where two genes form an operon. A rfaD- mutant of E. coli was successfully transformed with plasmid constructs containing the rfaD gene of B. japonicum. Novobiocin sensitivity test showed that the rfaD gene from B. japonicum could complement the rfaD mutation in E. coli, which confirms the functionality of the cloned B. japonicum gene.

• 한국미생물생명공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국미생물생명공학회 2003년도 2003 Annual Meeting, BioExhibition and International Symposium
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• pp.139-140
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• 2003