Linked Life Data

10931344

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/10931344

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
2000-9-12
pubmed:abstractText
Ganglioside mimicry by Campylobacter jejuni lipo-oligosaccharide (LOS) is thought to be a critical factor in the triggering of the Guillain-Barré and Miller-Fisher syndrome neuropathies after C. jejuni infection. The combination of a completed genome sequence and a ganglioside GM1-like LOS structure makes C. jejuni NCTC 11168 a useful model strain for the identification and characterization of the genes involved in the biosynthesis of ganglioside-mimicking LOS. Genome analysis identified a putative LOS biosynthetic cluster and, from this, we describe a putative gene (ORF Cj1139c), which we have termed wlaN, with a significant level of similarity to a number of bacterial glycosyltransferases. Mutation of this gene in C. jejuni NCTC 11168 resulted in a LOS molecule of increased electrophoretic mobility, which also failed to bind cholera toxin. Comparison of LOS structural data from wild type and the mutant strain indicated lack of a terminal beta-1,3-linked galactose residue in the latter. The wlaN gene product was demonstrated unambiguously as a beta-1,3 galactosyltransferase responsible for converting GM2-like LOS structures to GM1-like by in vitro expression. We also show that the presence of an intragenic homopolymeric tract renders the expression of a functional wlaN gene product phase variable, resulting in distinct C. jejuni NCTC 11168 cell populations with alternate GM1 or GM2 ganglioside-mimicking LOS structures. The distribution of wlaN among a number of C. jejuni strains with known LOS structure was determined and, for C. jejuni NCTC 12500, similar wlaN gene phase variation was shown to occur, so that this strain has the potential to synthesize a GM1-like LOS structure as well as the ganglioside GM2-like LOS structure proposed in the literature.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Aug
pubmed:issn
0950-382X
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
37
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
501-14
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2000
pubmed:articleTitle
Phase variation of a beta-1,3 galactosyltransferase involved in generation of the ganglioside GM1-like lipo-oligosaccharide of Campylobacter jejuni.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT, UK.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't