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Title: EVOLUTION OF THE PROKARYOTIC PROTEIN NUSA: COMPARISON OF NUSA IN CLOVER PHYLLODY (CPH) PHYTOPLASMA AND OTHER FIRMICUTES

Author
item Shao, Jonathan
item Davis, Robert
item JOMANTIENE, R - VILNIUS LITHUANIA
item Dally, Ellen

Submitted to: Phytopathology
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/17/2004
Publication Date: 7/11/2004
Citation: Shao, J.Y., Davis, R.E., Jomantiene, R., Dally, E.L. 2004. Evolution of the prokaryotic protein nusa: comparison of nusa in clover phyllody (cph) phytoplasma and other firmicutes. Phytopathology. p. 129.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Clover phyllody (CPh) phytoplasma is a phytopathogenic, cell-wall less prokaryote classified in class Mollicutes and is believed to descend from walled firmicutes, low G+C Gram-positive bacteria. Because of the inability to culture this or any phytoplasma in artificial media in vitro, recent research has emphasized the study of genes and their products to gain greater understanding of these microbes. We have cloned and analyzed a CPh phytoplasma DNA locus containing three full-length potential coding sequences (open reading frames, ORFs) encoding NusA and two hypothetical proteins, respectively, and two partial ORFs encoding Small protein B and If2, respectively. The present work focused on NusA, a protein involved in transcription elongation, termination, and anti-termination. The NusA protein from CPh phytoplasma contains three conserved RNA-binding domains, S1, Kh1 and Kh2, typical of NusA from other organisms. We carried out a phylogenetic analysis of each of the domains separately. The topologies of the phylogenetic trees indicated the evolutionary history of each domain among firmicutes.