rhomboids of mycobacteria characterization using an aara mutant of providencia stuartii and gene deletion in mycobacterium smegmatis菱形的分枝杆菌鉴定使用aara突变的providencia stuartii smegmatis分枝杆菌基因缺失.pdfVIP

Rhomboids of Mycobacteria: Characterization Using an aarA Mutant of Providencia stuartii and Gene Deletion in Mycobacterium smegmatis 1 1 1 1 1 David Patrick Kateete , Fred Ashaba Katabazi , Alfred Okeng , Moses Okee , Conrad Musinguzi , 1 1 1,2 3 Benon Byamugisha Asiimwe , Samuel Kyobe , Jeniffer Asiimwe , W. Henry Boom , Moses Lutaakome Joloba1,3* 1 Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Biomedical Sciences, Makerere University College of Health Sciences (MakCHS), Kampala, Uganda, 2 College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity (CoVAB), Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, 3 Tuberculosis Research Unit (TBRU), Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America Abstract Background: Rhomboids are ubiquitous proteins with unknown roles in mycobacteria. However, bioinformatics suggested putative roles in DNA replication pathways and metabolite transport. Here, mycobacterial rhomboid-encoding genes were characterized; first, using the Providencia stuartii null-rhomboid mutant and then deleted from Mycobacterium smegmatis for additional insight in mycobacteria. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using in silico analysis we identified in M. tuberculosis genome the genes encoding two putative rhomboid proteins; Rv0110 (referred to as ‘‘rhomboid protease 1’’) and Rv1337 (‘‘rhomboid protease 2’’). Genes encoding orthologs of these proteins are widely represented in all mycobacterial species. When transformed into P. stuartii null-rhomboid mutant (DaarA), genes encoding mycobacterial orthologs of ‘‘rhomboid protea