The present study was undertaken to examine the extent to which the lgt locus varies among strains of gonococci. This locus encodes five glycosyl transferases involved in the synthesis of the lipooligosaccharide (LOS) of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. We examined seven gonococcal strains and found that the structure of the lgt locus is conserved among six of these strains. The locus is strikingly altered in strain 15253. This is one of the few strains where extensive structural analysis of its LOS is available, and therefore, we defined the altered lgt locus and focused on the reactivity of mAB 2C7. We found that strain 15253 contains only two lgt genes, lgtA and lgtE. As in F62, lgtA encodes a GlcNAc transferase and is subject to phase variation. In addition, by analysis of deletion mutants, we found that lgtE, which encodes a galactosyl transferase that is required for elongating the alpha-chain, is also necessary for completing the beta chain.
Article|
October 01 1996
Conservation of the lipooligosaccharide synthesis locus lgt among strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae: requirement for lgtE in synthesis of the 2C7 epitope and of the beta chain of strain 15253.
A L Erwin,
A L Erwin
Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology, Rockefeller University, New York 10021, USA.
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P A Haynes,
P A Haynes
Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology, Rockefeller University, New York 10021, USA.
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P A Rice,
P A Rice
Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology, Rockefeller University, New York 10021, USA.
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E C Gotschlich
E C Gotschlich
Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology, Rockefeller University, New York 10021, USA.
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A L Erwin
Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology, Rockefeller University, New York 10021, USA.
P A Haynes
Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology, Rockefeller University, New York 10021, USA.
P A Rice
Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology, Rockefeller University, New York 10021, USA.
E C Gotschlich
Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology, Rockefeller University, New York 10021, USA.
Online ISSN: 1540-9538
Print ISSN: 0022-1007
J Exp Med (1996) 184 (4): 1233–1241.
Citation
A L Erwin, P A Haynes, P A Rice, E C Gotschlich; Conservation of the lipooligosaccharide synthesis locus lgt among strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae: requirement for lgtE in synthesis of the 2C7 epitope and of the beta chain of strain 15253.. J Exp Med 1 October 1996; 184 (4): 1233–1241. doi: https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.184.4.1233
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