The genetic organisation of the capsule biosynthesis region of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serotypes 1, 6, 7, and 12

The aim of the present study was to investigate the organisation of the genes (cps) involved in biosynthesis the capsular polysaccharide (CPS) of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serotypes 6, 7, and 12 and to compare these to the corresponding genes previously described in other A. pleuropneumoniae serotypes.

In serotypes 6 and 7 the sequenced DNA regions comprised five and four open reading frames, respectively, designated cps6ABCDE and cps 7ABCD, whereas the sequenced DNA region in serotype 12 comprised only two open reading frames designated cps12AB. At the amino acid level, CpsA, CpsB, and CpsC of A.pleuropneumoniae serotypes 2, 6, 7, and 8 contained a high degree of homology.

At the amino acid level Cps6D revealed a high degree of homology to Cps8D, whereas Cps7D contained a high degree of homology to the Cps2D. The deduced gene product of the partially sequenced cps6E gene showed no homology to any deduced gene products of any cps genes of A. pleuropneumoniae investigated so far.

None of the deduced gene products of the cps genes involved in encapsulation of A. pleuropneumoniae serotypes 2, 6, 7, and 8 revealed homology to the deduced gene products og the cps genes of serotypes 1, 5A and 12. For some genes, a local homology was found to genes probably involved in teichoic acid synthesis in other bacteria.

The results obtained revealed a high degree of homology among the genes involved in CPS biosynthesis for serotypes 2, 6, 7, and 8 and a different group of homologous cps genes for serotypes 1 and 12. In some serotype 7 strains, including the serotype 7 reference strain, WF83, the cps genes were not located adjacent to the genes responsible for CPS export (cpx), probably due to genetic rearrangements.