Piliation control mechanisms in Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
Article Details
- CitationCopy to clipboard
Bergstrom S, Robbins K, Koomey JM, Swanson J
Piliation control mechanisms in Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Jun;83(11):3890-4.
- PubMed ID
- 2872674 [ View in PubMed]
- Abstract
Gonococci (Gc) undergo pilus+ to pilus- "phase transitions" readily in vitro. In the present study we sequenced pilin mRNA from reverting, pilus- Gc by oligonucleotide primer extension and compared these pilin mRNA sequences with those expressed by their pilus+ predecessors and pilus+ revertants. The results suggest that genetic rearrangement within the pilin structural gene can generate defective pilin gene products, resulting in a pilus- phenotype. These pilus- Gc give rise to pilus+ revertants upon reconstitution of their modified pilin gene.