Sequence and Analysis of the DNA Encoding Protective Antigen of Bacillus anthracis

Abstract

The nucleotide sequence of the protective antigen (PA) gene from Bacillus anthracis and the 5' and 3' flanking sequences were determined. PA is one of three proteins comprising anthrax toxin; and its nucleotide sequence is the first to be reported from B. anthracis. The open reading fram (ORF) is 2319 bp long, of which 2205 bp encode the 735 amino acids of the secreted protein. This region is preceded by 29 codons, which appear to encode a signal peptide having characteristics in common with those of other secreted proteins. A consensus TATAAT sequence was located at the putative -10 promoter site. A shine-Dalgarno site similar to that found in genes of other Bacillus sp. was located 7bp upstream from the ATG start codon. The codon usage for the PA gene reflected its high A + T (69%) base composition and differed from those of genes for bacterial proteins from most other sequences examined. The TAA translation stop codon was followed by an inverted repeat forming a potential termination signal. In addition, a 192-codon ORF of unknown significance, theoretically encoding a 21.6-kDa protein, preceded the 5' end of the PA gene Keywords: Recombinant DNA; E. coli host; Signal peptide; Gene mapping; Immunity; Pathogenesis; Vaccines; Reprints.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1988
Accession Number
ADA204674

Entities

People

  • F. Eden-mccutchan
  • J. J. Schmidt
  • J. R. Lowe
  • M. Vodkin
  • S. H. Leppla
  • S. L. Welkos

Organizations

  • United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acids
  • Amino Acids
  • Bacteria
  • Bacteriology
  • Biological Toxins
  • Chemistry
  • Computer Programming
  • Computers
  • Dna Sequence Analysis
  • Genetic Code
  • Microbiology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Nucleic Acids
  • Nucleotides
  • Recombinant Dna
  • Ribonucleic Acids
  • Rodents

Fields of Study

  • Biology

Readers

  • Microbial Pathology
  • Molecular Genetics

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology