ISSN:
1365-2958
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
FetA, the recently characterized gonococcal ferric enterobactin receptor, exhibited extremely rapid phase variation between high- and low-expression levels. The frequency of phase variation was ≈ 1.3% in both directions in gonococcal strain FA1090. FetA expression in the ‘high phase’ was significantly greater than the level of expression in the ‘low phase’. Expression levels correlated with the number of cytosine residues in a string of cytosines located close to the transcriptional start site for fetA between the putative −10 and −35 consensus sequences. Antibody production against FetA commonly occurs in infected patients, and we therefore hypothesize that phase variation reflects a balance between the advantages of being able to use a ferric siderophore as an iron source and evasion of the host immune response.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2958.2000.01873.x
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